FTP Fuels Procurement Transformation with SAP Ariba
Oil and gas companies need tens of thousands of products to keep their operations humming. And to create advantage in an increasingly competitive market, they need to buy them from the right suppliers at the right times and prices.
With the help of SAP Ariba, FTP is enabling them to do it. The Memphis-based procurement consulting firm has tapped into Ariba’s cloud-based applications and business network to create fair and transparent markets for everything from emergency vehicles and valves to pumps, hoses, drilling rigs and office supplies. And in doing so, it has opened a gusher of savings and efficiencies for its clients around the world.
“The oil and gas industry is more competitive than ever. And to be successful requires a global network of partners who can reliably deliver goods and services at optimal prices,” said Thomas Pandola, President, FTP. “But building this network isn’t easy to do – particularly on a global scale.”
Discovering a Better Way
So FTP signed on to the Ariba® Network - the largest, most global business network on the planet - and began using Ariba Discovery™ in conjunction with Ariba Sourcing™ to source goods and services on behalf of its customers.
The premier service for matching business buyers and sellers globally, Ariba Discovery eliminates the hassle of discovering qualified partners by instantly matching buyer requirements to supplier capabilities. Fully integrated with Ariba Sourcing, the service allows buyers to quickly identify and qualify partners from a global community of over one million selling organizations across 20,000 categories and sellers to connect with more than $5 billion in business opportunities that are posted on an annual basis.
“Everything we need to help our customers was there for us,” Pandola said.
In one event conducted for a large Caribbean-based global petroleum company using the solutions, FTP was able to find suppliers for industrial tubing equipment in a matter of hours and secure the goods at a savings of $9 million.
“We never knew those kinds of savings and efficiencies were just a click away, but SAP Ariba makes it that easy,” Pandola says.
While he appreciates the simplicity that SAP Ariba brings to the procurement process, Pandola says the real value of the company’s solutions are the transparency and compliance they drive.
“There are plenty of places where you can find and buy industrial goods and services fast and cheap,” he says. “The key is to find a fair and open marketplace where buyers and sellers can collaborate on transactions and grow their relationships, and this is exactly what SAP Ariba provides.”
To learn more about SAP Ariba’s solutions and they value they are delivering to more than 2 million companies around the world, visit www.ariba.com
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