Purchasing platform thresholds for SMEs when tendering

The market for purchasing platforms or e-commerce is growing. More providers are coming. Well-known names include Ariba - from SAP -, Tungsten, GHX, and TBlox. More and more organizations are using it. But purchasing platforms divide the market. Smaller parties are often left out. And how does this relate to tenders with the legislator's intention to increase opportunities for SMEs?

E-commerce for the buyer
Purchasing platforms or e-commerce primarily aim to streamline and automate the buyer's ordering processes. There will be electronic catalogs with products that employees can order via the internal network with a single push of a button. No more order slips, no more emails. The orders are automatically forwarded to the selling party, the order status is always available, as are all kinds of nice graphics for management to be 'in control'. This saves a lot of manpower and money, especially for large organizations.

E-commerce for the seller
The selling party must connect to the e-commerce systems if they want to continue doing business. With Baan, SAP or Oracle, for example, this can be easily adjusted. They process the electronic orders automatically. The picking order list goes to the warehouse robots, the packages are automatically labeled, the invoices and even the payments are processed via the system. The bulk of the orders can be processed completely automatically in this way.

Difficult to integrate for SMEs
This is difficult for smaller companies. Their degree of automation is much lower. The available manpower to delve into the various systems, operate them and adapt the internal processes accordingly is limited. With some systems they can still connect via that system by manually downloading the orders in the portal and uploading invoices, receipts, status and the like. This requires a lot of knowledge of the purchasing platform and does not immediately result in savings.

How many e-commerce systems do you need to join?
The purchasing platforms seem to concentrate on certain industries. Companies with a broad product range, operating in different industries, run the risk of having to be connected to many purchasing platforms in order to generate turnover. Doesn't this lead to a shake-out of all those beautiful smaller companies with specific knowledge, products and skills? In any case, it will mean that they will have to convince buyers to continue placing orders with them manually.

Uniform sales platform and competition…
The problem of all those different interfaces should be solvable. For example, with a sales platform with one uniform interface that can connect to all purchasing platforms at the back. Organized sales without harming competition is difficult to imagine. But a uniform interface should be possible within the limits of competition law.

E-commerce and tendering
Tenders increasingly require that the tenderer must connect to the purchasing platform. This is a problem for parties that do not have the necessary organization, knowledge and capacity. They are excluded by this requirement. It is important to complain about this in a timely manner by asking questions for the information memorandum. This requirement is often disproportionate and does not relate to the subject of the assignment.

Mr. Ing. Frank Meijers