BUSINESSMANAGEMENTREVIEW.COMJUNE 202419with time, quality, and quantity requirements. The Support processes serve to improve the productivity of the other two processes, through activities related to catalog, supplier, and contract management.When implementing these new processes, it is important to prevent them from being executed by the same previous procurement structure. In order to maximize the productivity of the area, it is necessary to restructure the way in which authority and responsibilities were distributed. Typically, in a procurement organization structured by functions, each buyer is responsible for the execution of activities in a specific group of materials for a certain geographical location. For example, buyer A is responsible for the procurement of raw materials and to perform activities of listing, searching for suppliers, negotiating, preparing, shipping, and monitoring purchase orders, and in some cases even monitoring the payment to suppliers of raw materials. Another buyer B is responsible for the purchase of packaging and performs the same activities, but with another group of suppliers and so on, there are buyers of spare parts, services, office supplies, and technology. Each buyer is measured by the same performance indicators and their "driver" is to save and at the same time ensure supply in a timely manner.New Processes require a New Structure. The alignment between the new processes to be executed and a new way of organizing people is the key to the success of the area. Each Process must be executed by a group of people who have the necessary means to do it productively. The name that finally remains in the structure is variable, the important thing is that the responsibilities that each one will have in the execution of the new processes are clear.Figure 3.- New Procurement Structure executing New ProcessesIt is important that each area requires results in accordance with what is expected of the process they execute. Once an organization by process is implemented, we must measure the results of the processes according to the correct "drivers". We cannot expect speed in the purchase from strategic sourcing and we should not expect savings from purchasing. Each process is required to do what it was designed for and no more.Alignment between Processes and CompetenciesJust as each process is executed by a different group of people, the profile of each of the positions in the structure must be different. What can be done is to design a development program where the skills of the people who execute a process are developed so that they are capable of executing other processes. Typically, reorganization processes represent an opportunity for the development of the organization's talent because new skills and knowledge are required in people and whoever has these skills and knowledge will have a guaranteed career plan.Alignment between Processes and the Technological PlatformMany companies that have gone through ERP implementation processes already have a tool that allows them to record purchase and payment transactions to suppliers. However, there are activities in the Procurement process that do not necessarily have the support of any module of these systems. To this end, companies that develop software and computer applications have increased the scope of these tools so almost the entire procurement process can be automated. Obviously implementing them or not depends on the return on investment in these tools.Figure 4.- Main functionalities of the tools that support each Procurement processThis alignment is necessary and make it possible to optimize the synergy between each of the components and ensure good performance in the procurement area. The investments in these tools are significant; however, they generate a significant return on investment, if their use is maximized according to the level of maturity of your procurement organization. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PROCESSES THAT MUST BE EXECUTED AND THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE IS THE KEY TO ACHIEVE EFFICIENCY IN THE PERFORMANCE OF ANY AREA OF THE COMPANY
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