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SAP partner ExceleratedS2P has revamped IDP Education’s procurement process across its global operations, driving cost savings of at least $5 million in the process.
The partner, which is based in the UK and has offices in Melbourne and New York, assisted the Melbourne-headquartered education services provider with the implementation of SAP Ariba and SAP Concur for standardising its procurement processes in 28 out of the 32 countries IDP is based in.
The first phase of the rollout took place in June 2019, and in the first year with the new system, IDP found savings of $5 million – 5 per cent of its addressable spend.
These savings came in part through the education services provider updating its global procurement process for laptops and notebooks. As an example, the combined use of SAP Ariba and SAP Ariba Sourcing saw it reduce the average cost of each laptop by 29 per cent.
“This partnership has already delivered significant benefits by reducing the time spent on procurement processes through automation and standardisation, enhancing the amount of spend under management and providing greater alignment between business units across IDP’s global offices,” said Joe Bellofiore, ExceleratedS2P regional general manager for Asia Pacific.
IDP chief financial officer Murray Walton said the revamp would see it provide the basis for the education services provider’s plans for future growth.
“SAP Ariba and SAP Concur solutions have enabled us to streamline ways of working globally, improve supplier governance and derive data-driven decisions that are helping to create operational efficiencies and deliver cost savings business-wide,” he said.
Henrik Smedberg, SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass regional vice president for A/NZ, added the revamp will continue to drive cost savings for IDP, as well as lead to more efficient operations.
“With intelligent spend management solutions in place, IDP will now be able to extract insights in real time, enabling staff to make more-informed purchasing decisions aligned with corporate compliance goals,” he said.
