More than any other administrative area, the Procure to Pay (P2P) process has been engineered and improved in leading companies to increase efficiency. In many leading companies P2P has led and been used as an example of what can be achieved. However, the work is far from complete as new opportunities from organization structure to process engineering, to automation and digitization, to collaboration continue to be identified. This consortium which has been operating continuously since 2012, is designed for leaders of P2P process and Accounts Payable in major companies to share innovations, ideas and leadership issues of common interest. Our members are industry leaders in these endeavors. Our agendas are developed collaboratively with all members and address the four key areas of leadership shown below.
P2P Strategies
- Company, Shared Services and AP/P2P updates
- Digital transformation of businesses, and implications and opportunities for P2P
- Changing structures and strategies for Procure to Pay
- Fraud risks, deterrents and mitigations
Process and Technology
- Digitizing Procure to Pay processes to drastically reduce manual activities
- Efforts to improve workflow utilizing smart OCR and workflow tools
- Other automation and robotics initiatives, including Power Query for management reporting, cognitive “chat bots” to support supplier portal and customer service, automating the closing of PO’s
- Working capital initiatives including dynamic discounting, supply chain financing, extended terms, virtual cards, ACH payments, etc.
- Implementing integrated supplier portals globally
- Blockchain applications
Business Partnership Development
- Walmart’s supplier conference covering “source to pay” to enhance partnership, transparency and efficiency
- Kimberly-Clark’s new case management tool for Accounts Payable
- Round table discussion on how to satisfy different customers, stakeholders and partners
People and Organization
- Acquisition integration and implications for process and technology solutions
- The state of outsourcing in a world of automating and digitizing everything
- Planning for the future and implications on required skills and work force requirements
- Leadership development and mentoring being rolled out to more people
- Organizing for robotics and automation: governance, resources, roles of the functions, GBS and IT
At our meetings P2P leaders gather for two days, three times per year, with meeting locations rotating among the member companies. The meetings are member-driven, and discussions on innovations are led by members who get the conversations started by sharing their innovations and initiatives. Substituting participants is discouraged, as the relationships and ongoing familiarity with one another’s programs are important success factors. Suppliers and consultants rarely participate, which enables open and honest discussions.
The following companies are currently participating in the GBS Leaders Consortium:
- Cemex
- Coca-Cola
- Disney
- Kimberly-Clark
- Lockheed
- Mosaic
- TBC Corporation
- United Technologies
- Veritiv
- Siemens
- Walmart
Our target is to keep membership at about ten, however, leading companies with innovation-rich programs are from time to time invited by the participants to join, and membership may grow slightly beyond ten.
If you would like to learn more or discuss participating in this consortium, please contact Mike Markos at m.markos@experientconsulting.com.