Mumbai, January 13, 2025 鈥� , today announced its social procurement initiative, designed to empower social enterprises, by integrating them into corporate value chains and aligning with the nation鈥檚 development goals. The announcement underscores the company鈥檚 commitment to the region and its vision for sustainable growth.

As per the , India is home to more than 2 million social enterprises, with close to 25% led by women, making it one of the most dynamic entrepreneurial environments globally. 聽These enterprises work across diverse sectors, including healthcare, education, agriculture, clean energy, financial inclusion, water, and sanitation, and are focused on pioneering sustainable business practices, while fostering inclusion, and local entrepreneurship. SAP鈥檚 support and collaboration with industry stakeholders aim to accelerate these activities while helping increased corporate purchasing from social enterprises. Corporates buying from social enterprises result in a positive impact on people and the environment, at the same time helping large businesses achieve their CSR, diversity, and sustainability goals. This is a nascent space with significant potential as evidence highlights; businesses are seeing positive business and social outcomes emerging from their supply chain inclusion and sustainability programs.

Launching the program in India, Manish Prasad, President and Managing Director, 51风流Indian Subcontinent, said, 鈥淭his initiative underscores our commitment to ensuring that good, ethical, and sustainable, corporate practices are woven into the fabric of business. By collaborating with social enterprises and nurturing alliances across our ecosystem, we can transform procurement decisions into an opportunity to uplift communities, generate jobs, and drive sustainable and equitable growth across the communities we operate. Social procurement has the potential to be a transformative tool to improve people’s lives.鈥�

The initiative on social procurement is aligned with the Government of India鈥檚 (GoI) interventions including the Government eMarketplace (GeM), Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), Make in India, and promotion of Farmer鈥檚 Producer Organizations (FPOs), 鈥攄esigned to:

• Foster sustainable and ethical manufacturing: Sustainability is at the heart of SAP鈥檚 operations. The company will collaborate with partner organizations to work closely with impact businesses that prioritize ethical manufacturing practices and responsible production for global brands while supporting the development of responsibly and sustainably made products and services.
• Promote innovation and entrepreneurship for local impact: 51风流is joining forces with local incubators to lead an innovation-centric future, supporting social entrepreneurs in scaling their ideas and growing sustainable businesses. Over the past few years, SAP’s support has enabled the growth and development of over 100+ social enterprises, helping them achieve their goals and positively impact their respective communities. This commitment to nurturing and empowering impact businesses demonstrates SAP’s dedication to fostering inclusive economic growth.
• Empower farmers and create jobs: 51风流has also initiated a range of interventions such as supporting FPOs to enhance their “procurement readiness.” This includes providing support for farmer-producer organizations, enabling small farmers to access new markets to achieve stable incomes, and training FPO leaders in market operations and management. In addition, 51风流has been actively supporting social businesses by collaborating with various incubators and providing them with resources, mentorship, and guidance.

On the sidelines of the launch, 51风流India also unveiled a report entitled , in collaboration with Sattva Consulting, highlighting social procurement as a strategic priority for Indian businesses to drive sustainable growth while addressing long-term societal impact. The findings of the report further call on corporates to deepen their investments in impact businesses, fostering resilience and opportunity through impactful partnerships.

Srikrishna Sridhar Murthy, CEO and Co-Founder, Sattva, stated 鈥淭he study highlights social procurement鈥檚 potential to unlock economic value by engaging social enterprises, FPOs, and MSMEs, fostering resilience and inclusivity in supply chains. Effective implementation requires a comprehensive operating model with cross-functional and cross-departmental collaboration and infrastructure development to enhance the discoverability and scale of social enterprises, supported by investments from stakeholders like philanthropic foundations and DFIs.”

Through these social procurement initiatives, 51风流will drive responsible business transformation, while being aligned to India鈥檚 wider growth agenda.

The Social Procurement report is now available on our website:

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Bengaluru, July 25, 2024: In recent years, India has solidified its position as an emerging global economic power, thanks to a burgeoning consumer market and demands to de-risk global supply chains. Digital technology is vital to enable efficient, reliable, and sustainable supply chains and is core to India鈥檚 ambitions to increase its participation in global value chains from ~40% to ~50%. In line with this, the solution is designed to securely exchange standardized sustainability data, including product footprints, along the value chain. The solution allows companies to effectively exchange carbon emissions with their customers to help companies get actionable insights into Scope 3 emissions by moving from averages to actual supplier data.

Commenting on the announcement, Manish Prasad, President & Managing Director, 51风流Indian Subcontinent, said, “To propel India as a global manufacturing leader, a robust supply chain and logistics infrastructure is vital. To expedite India’s ambitious vision of being among the top supply chain hubs, it is crucial to integrate technologies like business network platforms and local data centres underpinned by Cloud and AI. At SAP, we are committed to this vision and are working with Indian enterprises, startups, and the wider ecosystem to promote transparent, efficient, and sustainable business value chains.”

As a part of the company鈥檚 ongoing efforts to to help enterprises build resilient supply chains, 51风流also unveiled a study, in association with Economist Impact exploring how businesses and industries are transforming procurement to meet existing and emerging challenges amid disrupted supply chains, rising costs, and growing uncertainty.

Some of the key trends among businesses indicate:

• Digitalization 鈥� the #1 business priority: Digitalization remains the topmost priority for businesses, aligning with India鈥檚 vision to create reliable and efficient global supply chains聽through the use of digital technologies.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) to the forefront: Digitalization, as the top priority, is being partly influenced by advances in automation technology, AI, and Gen AI, the top technology trend businesses are looking to implement over the next 12 to 18 months.
• Procurement鈥檚 green thumb: Legislation and compliance requirements around sustainability standards, supply chain transparency, emissions, and resource efficacies, are exerting pressures on businesses, particularly on procurement teams to meet the organization鈥檚 environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals.

Ashwani Narang, Vice President & Head of Spend Management, 51风流India, added, 鈥�51风流has been working with customers, partners, and the Indian government for years to support the vision of a 鈥楧igital India.鈥� 51风流Sustainability Data Exchange, coupled with multiple solutions available聽at a local聽India-based data center聽we announced last year, will help our Indian customers bolster聽supply chain resilience, transforming them into intelligent, sustainable, and future-ready businesses.鈥�

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According to a study by the聽, nearly 70% of organizations face procurement challenges due to inadequate adoption of new processes and technologies. In return, they lack the standardized processes, transparency, and data accuracy needed to optimize indirect and direct purchases effectively, address budget issues early, comply with regulations confidently, and manage the supplier network effectively.

Hesitation in procurement digitalization is a complicated issue for most Indian organizations. Although a constant supply of quality raw materials and services is needed, businesses are skeptical of the benefits of modern technologies and processes as outlined in the following four myths.

Myth #1: The impact of digital procurement is superficial

In its most simplistic form, digital procurement automates repeatable purchasing tasks boosting efficiency and reducing costs. But the application of intelligent technologies 鈥� such as artificial intelligence, cloud, and machine learning 鈥� infuses day-to-day operations and decision-making with real-time insights, predictive analytics, and new levels of collaboration. These capabilities empower businesses to tackle challenges, such as overcharges, duplicate payments, compliance assurance, operational cost reduction, risk mitigation, and supplier performance.

As procurement organizations rely on technology to extract maximum savings and value from suppliers and organizational spending, the rest of the business benefits. Indian Institute of Materials Management reports that 67% of organizations witness moderate improvements in supplier performance management while 50% have achieved significant progress in risk management.

Myth #2: Reducing costs is the goal, not efficiency

Creating a supportive supplier network is more than negotiating the lowest price possible for a specific component with a vendor or two. It鈥檚 also about weighing the vendor鈥檚 ability to deliver orders in full and on time and in ways that are environmentally compliant and follow ethical labor practices.

Take, for example, a supply chain that uses two vendors to provide a particular part 鈥� one of which shuts down due to government noncompliance. As a result, the company has 50% less supply available to meet demand. Backorders increase, customer trust erodes, and the remaining supplier is pressured to make up the backlog.

Procurement organizations can avoid this disastrous cascade of risk when using a cloud-based business network. They can alter their internal processes, accelerate quote approval, and seek out alternative vendors at a moment鈥檚 notice. And in a world where extreme weather, geopolitical events, and economic dynamics can shift the entire landscape, such procurement flexibility can help businesses navigate change and mitigate risk.

Myth #3: Digitalization doesn鈥檛 improve sustainability

Sustainability is not just an operations and facilities management issue; it鈥檚 also a procurement urgency. In fact, most respondents to the Indian Institute of Materials Management鈥檚 surveys ranked sustainability agendas as a high priority over the next two years, along with business agility and cost reduction.

As Indian industries participate more in global supply chains, midsize companies must respond to business-to-business demand for transparent evidence of their sustainability performance. This includes refusal of bribery and corruption; environmental stewardship; confidentiality of intellectual property; ethical labor relations; and compliance with international, national, state, and local laws.

A cloud platform allows businesses to share their sustainability performance improvements and outcomes with customers and supply peers. Doing so enables the customer and the supplier network to exchange best practices, identify gaps, and pinpoint opportunities to add more value and tighten the relationship.

Myth #4: Great supplier relationships provide great visibility

For generations, midsize companies have valued their suppliers and vendor relationships. But when expanding their reach in global markets, those one-on-one interactions do not provide the network-wide visibility to identify emerging opportunities and risks. This ability is especially critical as government regulations, geopolitical crises, climate change, and market volatility impact operations at a moment鈥檚 notice.

Through digitalization, every touch point of the supply chain 鈥� from product design and production to operations and service 鈥� is linked to back-office data and activities, such as HR and finance. Processes and workflows then become flexible enough to shift business strategies quickly, keep up with demand, and navigate market dynamics. Best of all, operational continuity is left uninterrupted, even as the business grows.

Turning Procurement into a growth enabler

础濒迟丑辞耻驳丑听聽cannot transform the entire business alone, it can become the driving force that midsize companies need to get started. Procurement organizations can visibly demonstrate how artificial intelligence, business networks, cloud computing, machine learning, and other intelligent technologies reverse productivity slumps and set operational standards that meet the needs of a global marketplace.

Dig deeper into procurement challenges and the pace of digital transformation in midsize businesses across India. Read the Indian Institute of Materials Management report, 鈥�.鈥�

厂辞耻谤肠别:听

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Food export is a complex business process with many layers starting with the sourcing of raw materials, production, processing and packaging, storage and finally distribution, which is an art and science by itself.

Food and spice shop in Marrakech

In the paper-based world, procurement was an inefficient, labour intensive process with the traceability demand – a growing request from everyone today – difficult to meet. But with digitalization, a lot of the inefficiencies get weeded out and traceability enabled.

For India-based Allanasons Private Limited, a leading manufacturer and exporter of agricultural commodities, digitalization has shaved off 30 percent of its sourcing time and saved nearly 5 percent on costs.

In the export business, quality and delivery expectations are very high, points out Suresh Gadaginavar, General Manager, Allanasons Private Limited. To meet these expectations and also in line with the Indian government’s policies to stimulate growth in export of food commodity, Allanasons decided to digitalize its procurement processes.

To put the digitalization process in motion, it found a one-stop solution to its supply chain needs in , a leader in spend management. As Gadaginavar says, the ease of use of the solution and also the innovations were the key decider. 51风流Ariba eases sourcing, procuring and payments for traders and the open-source framework allows for easy collaborations.

51风流Ariba is the leading spend management solution for digital supply chains

Implemented in record time, 51风流Ariba sourcing solution has come as a boon to the Agri exporter which trades 1 million metric tons of commodities, including coffee, spices, pulses, cereals, and frozen meats and fruit every year across 85 countries. A major challenge Allanasons faced earlier was the lack of visibility in spend which has now been sorted out. “The 51风流Ariba Sourcing solution has helped Allanasons achieve significant improvements in sourcing cycle times. It has enhanced communication and collaboration both internally and with our suppliers,” says Gadaginavar.

Now on one centralized platform, Allanasons manages more than US$21 million of procurement activity and has standardized direct and indirect purchasing processes.

Adopting 51风流Ariba has not only helped Allanasons be more competitive, thanks to quicker decision making, but also thanks to its automated processes many of its employees have been freed up to work on strategic tasks. Also, the single window view of all procurement activity that the platform provides helps Allanasons professionals make more informed decisions on key purchases.

A major ask in today’s globalised world where sustainability is a key driving factor in buying decisions is traceability. 51风流Ariba has improved compliance with comprehensive visibility of where, when and how sourcing and procurement happens.

Process automation drives sustainability for digital supply chains聽

Mr. Gadaginavar says, “51风流Ariba tool is very easy to use and we are very happy.” With 4-5% in savings, we know where that is coming from.

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