The maritime e-procurement platform Shipserv has published a research whitepaper »e-procurement in Maritime; 2021 and Beyondq, which analyses[ds_preview] the current and future state of e-procurement within the maritime industry based on insights from leading Chief Purchasing Officers and Managers (CPOs/CPMs). According the company, the research showed that while maritime e-procurement is currently at an embryonic level in terms of its evolution – scoring »two out of ten« – over one third of those surveyed believe the market will change beyond all recognition in the next five years, driven by developments in advanced technology and applications.
50% of CPOs and CPMs surveyed stated that they still use their e-procurement systems for purely transactional – and not strategic – purposes.
This is based on a number of key issues within the current market. There is significant fragmentation with suppliers and buyers using different systems, many of which are archaic and not integrated nor have the functionality to interact or ‘talk’ with each other. They are also labour intensive to operate. Despite this, 70% of those surveyed stated that they realised more than 20% in time savings, as well as other OPEX benefits from their e-procurement system. They also reported the benefits of transparency, as well as the ability to track historical data. This demonstrates an understanding of, and appetite for, what a more sophisticated, digitalised e-procurement strategy can deliver.
The whitepaper highlights a number of critical areas where maritime e-procurement will rapidly evolve, creating a more strategic approach to purchasing. It also highlights a number of core areas of technology development that have evolved in other more advanced markets outside of maritime, which will drive the necessary change in e-procurement in maritime over the next few years. »This includes a move from ERP-based systems to cloud computing systems that enable safe and secure application-based interfaces and central analytics that make automation easier and more cost effective.
They also allow purchasing departments to share data directly with their supply chain, eradicating the problem of sharing data with suppliers who use different systems«, it is stated.
Blockchain is said to also be embedded into future systems, »which will solve the challenge of siloed data, distributing data to known and identified members within an agreed network, and increasing efficiencies, because it uses a central, shared, secure record for storing data. In conjunction with this, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning«. These tools will also »solve the problem of the current lack of standardisation« where product descriptors are different from one buyer to another, by analysing and intuitively recognising specific products.
