Aligning purchasing operations with company strategy

Companies that come to Vintly for help have a few things in common; they’re ambitious and eager to scale, they crave automation and they love numbers. Moreover, they strive to monitor their supplier relationships, manage hundreds to thousands of PO’s per year and a limited team to manage and track purchasing and inbounds; a complex equation that, if not solved, results in inefficiencies and unnecessarily costly operations.

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These inefficiencies reveal themselves in the form of unpredictable cash flow, inventory mismanagement and delays in time to market. And, although management and operations are theoretically aligned on the strategy on how to tackle these issues, execution is key to actually achieving the desired results. Therefore, in this case study, we’ve summarised some of the most frequently occurring challenges faced by our clients and how they turned to Vintly to overcome them. 

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The typical Vintly user

But before we dig into the outcome of the implementation, let’s introduce two common Vintly users; The coordinator and The manager.

The coordinator is a supply chain professional with experience from purchasing, inbound planning and/or logistics. They know that being in the midst of supply chain operations often feels like a whirlwind where proactiveness is a far fetched dream, and the reality is about putting out operational fires to keep suppliers on track, prevent delays and quality issues as well as ensuring stable inventory levels. For the coordinator, most days evolve around putting together the purchasing and inbound puzzle using excel, emails, manually updating the ERP, as well as keeping the organisation informed on stock levels. 

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The manager is all about data and performance, and to share this information with other parts of the organisation to increase transparency within the area of supply chain and inbounds. The manager relies heavily on the coordinator for data collection and status reporting and is responsible for providing the coordinators with relevant tools to help them execute their tasks in the most efficient way possible, which in turn can enable real-time tracking of supply chain performance; for example delivery performance, supplier performance and cash flow expectations.

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Vintly Implementation

With Vintly, our clients have successfully implemented an advanced Purchase Order Management platform tailored to their needs. Thanks to ERP integrations, data and order updates can move seamlessly between platforms and relieve resources of repetitive and time consuming manual system updates. The implementation has facilitated efficient purchase order management, improved supplier communications, as well as enabled real-time tracking of all PO updates.

From a user perspective, the platform has provided end-to-end visibility into their procurement processes and facilitated efficient purchase order management, automated supplier communications, as well as enabled real-time tracking of all inbounds. 

From a management perspective, the platform has unlocked the data required to make informed decisions and track progress throughout the whole production and inbound supply chain.

Below we list some specific key metrics achieved with Vintly.

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1. Centralized Procurement 

With Vintly, brands can achieve a centralized procurement process. All purchase orders, price lists, and order updates are now managed within a unified system. This centralization simplified the purchasing workflow, reducing duplication of efforts and ensuring consistency in supplier interactions, creating a more predictable cash flow and improving financial forecasting.

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2. Streamlined Purchase Order Management

The platform streamlined the purchase order management process. Purchase orders are synced between Vintly and ERP’s and once in Vintly, the team can add on important milestones and follow up on deadlines for each PO towards the suppliers. Any order update is transferred back to the ERP, eliminating the task of manual ERP updates, resulting in reduced errors and an accelerated procurement cycle.

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3. Supplier Collaboration

Automated communication tools within the platform have allowed our users to collaborate effectively with suppliers. Order confirmations, shipment notifications, and delivery schedules are shared and updated in real time, enabling to let go of endless excel spreadsheets and email threads. Thanks to this real-time communication our clients experienced enhanced supplier relationships, reduced misunderstandings, as well as more prompt issue resolution, ensuring a more stable and reliable supply chain.

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4. Real-time inbound Visibility

The platform provides real-time visibility into ongoing purchases and inbounds. Project managers and purchasing teams can monitor and track articles in transit, and anticipate shortages and delays. This visibility allows for proactive inventory management, preventing delays due to material shortages and optimizing stock levels to minimize carrying costs.

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‍5. Performance tracking and Data Analytics

Vintly enables users to review and extract all data related to the purchasing process, including supplier and delivery performance. This data-driven approach enables users to access real time data and review the performance of their supply chain operations. They no longer have to spend a lot of resources collecting data, it’s automatically updated and readily available at any time, meaning less time spent on data collection and more time spent on negotiating better terms with suppliers, optimising procurement strategies and identifying potential bottlenecks.

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6. Efficient Inbound Logistics

With Vintly, users can track shipments in transit, predict arrival times, and coordinate delivery schedules at various receiving sites. This has resulted in reduced more on-time deliveries, minimized last minute complementary purchases, as well as optimized project timelines and time-to-market.

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Conclusion

Our clients recognize the need to automate and scale their operations, and that applying manual tools, such as excel and emails, often lead to inefficiencies that are not helping them reach their strategic goals. By implementing Vintly, they have successfully transformed their supply chain processes—shifting from repetitive, time-consuming tasks to streamlined, automated workflows. Centralized procurement, streamlined order management, efficient supplier collaboration, and real-time visibility have empowered them to achieve substantial cost savings, greater scalability, enhanced efficiency, and improved project timelines.