The global impact of Covid-19 on source-to-pay

In 2020 everything changed! The global impact of Covid-19 changed the game and we are still learning about the new rules. 

2020 has not been a good year. Or has it? No one will say Covid-19 and a global recession are good things but as a possible black swan event, Covid-19 has shown us many things. Specifically, we learned that we take digitalization for granted.  

Pre-2020, we (collectively) felt we had all the time in the world. We felt that we could ignore those suppliers or customers who were slow to adopt digital business processes in source-to-pay. It doesn’t feel as though we are so relaxed about digital transformation anymore. Our customers feel digital transformation couldn’t happen fast enough – and we agree, that digital transformation is essential to mitigating the further impacts of the pandemic or whatever the next thing is that comes along.

Another lesson we have collectively learned is that the source-to-pay process and specifically procurement, are business critical. In the pre-covid days, you had to be in manufacturing for procurement and sourcing to be critical processes – not anymore. These days it’s not so easy. Indirect procurement has suddenly become really important as organizations move to quickly adopt methods for social distancing and employee and customer safety. Paying your invoices takes on a whole new meaning when your supplier is struggling and you aren’t able to pay your invoices because the scanning service has a shortage of manpower due to social distancing guidelines and people calling in sick.

This new normal is requiring something different from all of us. The CPO needs a new perspective but so do all of the rest of us. Relationships between buyers and suppliers are growing closer. Customers are finding they really depend on their suppliers and the opposite. As you read this report, you may view some alarming statistics depending on where you are in the organization and the supply chain. It’s obvious that we will all have to adapt to this volatility and quite likely we will need to plan for future volatility.

We know that we are living through an intense time of change – possibly the largest global recession in 100 years. We have noticed, and possibly you have too, that these challenges are bringing people and organizations together in the supply chain ‘bubble’ communities. It’s never been a better time to be part of the solution.

We want the best for you, so if you haven’t already digitalized your purchase-to-pay messaging processes, click here and we will get the conversation started.