What is e-Procurement?

The ability to purchase all your organisation's needs from a one-stop-shop offers logical time and money savings benefits - when that location is a web site and orders can be lodged and processed electronically the business case can become compelling.

An increasingly proven method of achieving this is electronic procurement (e-procurement) which uses electronic catalogues and secure access to inventory databases to automate buying and selling.

Benchmark Research reports that 63% of high-performing companies (in the US, the UK and Germany) have saved between 10% and 50% with e-procurement solutions up to the beginning of 2002

Typically, an e-procurement web site allows qualified and registered users to look for buyers or sellers of goods and services who may specify prices or invite bids. Volume purchases may qualify customers for discounts or special offers.

Such sites are designed to streamline a company's purchasing processes by placing and approving orders and arranging delivery thereby eliminating many paper-based procedures and labour-intensive processes.

Using e-procurement allows much tighter control over spending and authorisation, easier transaction processing and helps avoid stockpiling of product because you always know what's available. It also allows companies to place orders for themselves or on behalf of customers at weekends or after hours confident products are available and orders will be processed the next working day.

Remote access via the web to accurate inventory information can improve customer relationships, reduce purchasing overheads, streamline inventory management and improve manufacturing cycles.

How e-Procurement Works?

e-Procurement platforms are set up by either one large buying enterprise, or group of purchasers seeking to capitalize on bulk purchasing power. Alternatively one or more supplying companies or an independent third party may set up an e-procurement site.

The purchasing company(Shree Cements Limited) sets a new auction by putting the requisite material info on the site.Various vendors dealing in the requisite product can go online on Shree cement site and see the requirements after creating a login for themselves.They can see lowest quotes by vendors and bid accordingly.The whole process can be done several time and nobody except the buyer knows about identity of suppliers.

After the specified duration ,a suitable candidate is selected from the bidders.

Technology Adoption by Shree

We are glad to announce to you our new initiatives to transform our business operations by leveraging new emerging technologies. We are well poised to roll out our plants to adopting Internet based web-applications for our business processes of procurement transactions.

In this age of intense global competition it is essential to effect efficiencies across the entire supply chain that is from sourcing material until finally reaching the end user. In order to survive and thrive in this competitive environment we strongly believe that there is a need for us to collaborate and strengthen our buyer-vendor processes. Leveraging the internet for business applications provides an avenue to achieve this. This would translate into advantages such as tremendous savings in cost and more importantly business development models accessing new market places.

This decision would impact the manner in which we conduct transactions between our company as a buyer and you as our supplier. We are firmly committed to our business relationship and hope that you would favorably respond to accepting participation in this initiatives at your end.

We are aware that such a change would require adequate support and expertise for you to smoothly transform your business relationships with us online. In line with the objective stated we have decided to conduct Online Negotiation by using the Reverse Auction engine available on our website.

To be a part of the vendor database who will be contacted for all future requirements we invite you to register online by accessing the following URL http://www.shreecementltd.com .

Once you register , you will receive online RFQ (request for quotation document) and will be able to bid for the services or goods required by Shree Cement Ltd., through and Internet based reverse auction .All new Request for Purchases/ Request for Quotation will automatically be sent your vendor account and an e-mail alert also be sent.

If you require any further assistance in registration for the Shree Cement Ltd., e-procurement system you may get in touch with Mr. Anil Shukla , AGM (Purchase) at anilshukla@shreecementltd.com