SAP Ariba’s Spot Buy Launches In Australia

SAP Ariba’s eProcurement solution Spot Buy is launching in Australia, reports said Friday (March 17).

Spot Buy, which will also be available in New Zealand, enables businesses to make their spot buying practices more efficient by matching buyer demand with supplier supply in an online marketplace.

“Spot buys are a huge category of indirect spend that is largely undermanaged because companies lack effective tools to facilitate the time-sensitive supplier identification, qualification and bidding involved,” said SAP Ariba Spot Buy General Manager Tony Alvarez in a  statement. “SAP Ariba Spot Buy changes all of this.”

Spot Buy enables businesses to ensure these one-off purchases remain compliant with company spend, SAP Ariba explained.

In another statement, the Hackett Group associate principal advisor, Kurt Albertson, explained why spot buying can be a source of friction for the enterprise: An entire assembly line may shut down because a single part has broken, which could take weeks to reorder and procure.

“Companies shouldn’t have to distract category managers with these types of emergency needs who are better equipped to support larger and planned spent requirements using sourcing processes taking six to 30 weeks and aimed at delivering savings,” he said.