^{Supply Chain Digitalization: What it means and how it applies to your business.}

Digitalization has become the buzzword in today's business world. But what does it mean? A great place to start is by understanding what digitalization is and how it applies to your business. Here, we break down the definition and give three tips that will optimize your business digitalization journey.

What is Supply Chain digitalization?

To begin, let’s start by clarifying the difference between digitization and digitalization for those who are unsure. ‍

Digitization in P2P process allows organizations to convert physical documents into digital ones. Scanning a paper invoice and uploading it as a PDF is an example of digitization.

‍Digitalization involves the transformation of a business model towards digital processes rather than analogue ones. Business digitalization involves the integration of technology that transforms the way organizations operate across their different areas, services and channels, with customers and other stakeholders.

Benefits of Accounts Payable digitalization

At this point, you may be asking yourself: "How do I get started? What does digitalization look like for my company?" Well, the good news is that the benefits of digitalization are numerous and far-reaching.

You can take a team approach to implementing digitalization across your business or start small. Either way, it's never too early or late to start taking concrete steps toward digitalization.

3 tips for getting started with digitalization

Tip #1: Identify where there is room for improvement

Digitalization of your accounts payable processes is the key to unlocking continuous improvements in performance and efficiency. Wherever there are manual steps, or need for human interaction that can be automated, e-invoicing provides an excellent opportunity to reduce admin costs and errors while boosting visibility over company spend.

Tip #2: Get your organization on board

Once you have identified areas of improvement, you must get your whole organization to support your digital business endeavours. Prepare a detailed business case that shows what the company as a whole will gain from this digitalization project. This includes choosing and implementing software solutions that are optimized for mobile devices, integrating all applications and processes into a single solution, and ensuring your internal processes are aligned with customers’ needs.

Tip #3: Integrate with your existing systems

In order to successfully embark on a digital transformation project, make sure your new digital business processes do not disrupt old ones. Look for a service provider who can easily integrate with your current ERP or accounting system without requiring any changes in systems and formats. This will help you minimize the risk of creating more problems than the ones you aim to solve.

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