A Tale of Two Companies
The Power of Business Networks
$
REDUCE
MANAGE
1%–8%
60%
costs
compliance
and risk
spend savings
60%
reduction in
operating costs
INCREASE
IMPROVE
5%–30%
50%–75%
revenues
improvement in
order accuracy
Find new customers
Reduced
stockout risk
Increase sales
with existing
customers
Name:
Location:
Job:
Patrick
England
Purchasing manager
of a global retailer
Objective: Open new stores in
developing markets
Patrick works from his oﬃce on his laptop.
$
Both Patrick
and Naledi use a
business network
that lets companies
across the globe
discover, connect,
and collaborate.
After visiting Cape Town to assess locations,
Patrick posts a request for information
(RFI) for retail store management on the
business network.
Patrick sees Naledi’s response and views her
proﬁle, which includes a positive review from
another major retailer and third-party risk
information to help him qualify her. Patrick
reveals his ﬁrm’s information and invites
Naledi to bid in his RFP.
Follow Patrick’s next move on page 2
Studio SAP | 32970enUS (14/09) ©2014 SAP SE or an SAP aﬃliate company. All rights reserved.
operational
eﬃciency
OPTIMIZE
cash ﬂow
50%
faster transaction
cycles
improvement in
discount capture
“touchless”
transaction processing
faster payment
cycles
>90%
20%
Name:
Location:
Job:
Naledi
South Africa
Owner of a facilities management
small business
Objective: Grow her business
Constantly on the move, Naledi depends
on her mobile device.
The business network matches Naledi’s
company as a potential supplier and notiﬁes
her. She eagerly responds to the hot lead.
Naledi quotes competitive pricing and service
levels. She also suggests alternate locations and
provides insights into the relative merits of each.
Impressed, Patrick selects
Naledi to manage his ﬁrst store.
They sign a contract.
Patrick communicates with his ﬁnance
team in New York. The company has
record levels of cash, but earns near
0% on short-term deposits, so they
agree and manage the terms through
the business network. Patrick creates
a purchase order (PO) in his purchasing system, which is routed to Naledi
over the business network.
With Naledi’s help, Patrick’s new
store opens on schedule and
exceeds sales and proﬁtability
targets. Plus, he uses her insights to
secure future store locations, and
provides her with a positive review.
Naledi is excited to win a new, big
customer. However, to meet her
service-level agreements and grow,
she needs cash. The standard payment
terms mean Naledi will need to borrow
money, which is hard for her to do.
Instead, she proposes a dynamic
discounting program where she is
paid early in return for a variable
discount. This gives her ﬂexibility and
predictable access to short-term credit.
With one click, Naledi converts the
PO into a tax-compliant, touchless
e-invoice – which is routed back to
Patrick’s ﬁrm. She can see exactly
when she will be paid and uses the cash
to hire extra staﬀ and expand her oﬃce.
The strong reviews from well-known
customers on Naledi’s proﬁle help her
win additional contracts with two more
multinational corporations – tripling
next year’s sales.
Are you leveraging the power of business networks?
Explore the possibilities with Ariba, an SAP company.
To learn more, visit www.ariba.com.
Source:
*All data from customer benchmarking from Ariba
Studio SAP | 32970enUS (14/09) ©2014 SAP SE or an SAP aﬃliate company. All rights reserved.