e-Procurement: From Strategy to Implementation

Buy-Side One-to-Many Model

In the buy-side one-to-many model (shown in Figure 6.2), the buyer maintains in-house the catalogs and databases of multiple suppliers’ goods and services, and is responsible for tying all transactions into the company’s purchasing and financial systems. Although the vendors (sellers) provide catalogue information on products, services, prices, availability, and so on, the buyer, as host, is responsible for keeping that information up to date. Most systems will then tie the purchase order to an electronic invoice, providing for simultaneous settlement through electronic funds transfer, and through the ERP system, will automate the workflow and approval processes. All of this is integrated into the desktop-based requisition ...