Integrating P2P and Procurement | Direct Commerce

At the Shared Services Link 2016 GPO Summit in Seattle, two representatives from Eli Lilly & Co. – a Direct Commerce client – hosted a presentation on the importance of integrating strategic procurement into P2P to create a full Source to Pay package.

During the presentation, GPO P2P executive Diane Coey and procurement executive Jeffrey Guess described their year-long initiative to enhance communications between P2P and procurement so that decisions can be made more quickly and efficiently.

With global sales of close to $20 billion in 120 countries and approximately 41,000 employees worldwide, Eli Lilly:

• Runs a mature and stable P2P organization
• Operates with a single instance of SAP
• Works with four banks that each shared service center coordinates with globally
• Uses one single global scanning validation plan
• Invoices 80% of its invoices online in the U.S.

While Ms. Coey and Mr. Guess described many successes in refining processes, they acknowledged that gaps still exist in integrating P2P and procurement operations to meet automation goals, standardize more processes, and further reduce costs.

Ms. Coey also emphasized the importance of a stronger partnership between P2P and procurement so that timelines, priorities, and goals can be better aligned between the two organizations.

As a Direct Commerce client since 2002, Eli Lilly has deployed solutions such as supplier self-service portals and over 150 validations rules. The company has improved reporting to create more effective processes for integrating systems and functionality across organizations on a global basis and remains committed to further integrating communications, processes, and solutions.