Use Cases

Supplier Consolidation | Competition | simple system

Admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 11:21:57 GMT

Initial Situation

A mid-sized company works with over 200 active vendors for indirect needs. Many vendors deliver only small volumes. Administration costs disproportionate time. Prices are rarely challenged as the effort for alternative quotes is too high. Procurement estimates that 30% of vendors could be eliminated without endangering supply security.

Standardize Approval Processes | Decentralized Ordering | simple system

Admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 11:21:56 GMT

Initial Situation

A manufacturing multinational with 5 plants has different ordering systems: vending machines, cafeteria ordering system, vendor portals for third-party components. Each plant has different approval processes – plant manager in Plant A approves from €500, in Plant B from €1,000. Central control is practically impossible. Spending is uncontrolled – on average 15% of orders bypass approval process (maverick buying). Compliance risk: auditor criticizes "lack of uniform approval processes". Rework: 40% of orders require post-hoc approval, another 20% have cost assignment errors.

Centrally Manage Vending Machines | Vending Fleet Control | simple system

Admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 11:21:55 GMT

Initial Situation

A large multinational with 15,000 employees across 22 locations operates 80+ distribution vending machines (office supplies, IT accessories, tools). Each location manages machines separately – no central overview. Approximately 12,000 small orders monthly (average €25) through the machines. Problem: No spending control, no approvals, cost assignment manual (15% error rate). Controllers receive invoices without assignment to locations or cost centers – reconciliation takes days. Suspected maverick buying: employees order via Amazon in parallel – uncontrolled volume unknown.

Digitize Internal Service Charging | simple system

Admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 11:21:54 GMT

Initial Situation

A manufacturing company with its own workshop and central warehouse processes approximately 200 internal services monthly. Charging happens via Excel lists and manual bookings. Cost center assignments are frequently incorrect or delayed. The effort for internal charging occupies half a full-time position in accounting. Actual costs per department are only visible with weeks of delay.

Budget Monitoring for Procurement in simple system

Admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 11:21:53 GMT

Initial Situation

Procurement leaders manage budgets for multiple departments, management wants real-time visibility, manual tracking processes are error-prone and time-consuming

Eliminate Maverick Buying with OCI Punchout | SAP | simple system

Admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 11:21:52 GMT

Initial Situation

A financial services provider with 3,000 SAP users struggles with uncontrolled spending: employees order from everywhere – Amazon, direct vendor contact, traditional purchasing channels. The CFO estimates that about 35% of total spend (about €5 million) is out of control. Compliance policies exist but are not enforced because the system has no barrier. Accounting is overwhelmed with receipt chaos and unassigned materials. Vendor terms are poor because volume is fragmented.

Configure Ordering Rights per Department | simple system

Admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 11:21:51 GMT

Initial Situation

A company with 12 departments has very different ordering needs: Production needs tools and lubricants, marketing orders printed materials and promotional items, IT needs hardware and software. Currently, there is one universal rule for everyone – or no rule at all. Production sees marketing promotional items, marketing can order tools. There are neither department-specific budgets nor appropriate approval rules.

Increase Catalog Adoption through SAP Integration | OCI Punchout | simple system

andy.freund@simplesystem.com (Andy Freund [Senior Growth Manager]) — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 11:21:50 GMT

Initial Situation

A large industrial company with 5,000 SAP users has simple system catalogs with good contracts and discounts. However, the catalog adoption is only 40% – many employees continue to order uncontrollably through traditional purchasing channels or other vendors. The IT team has to manually transfer orders to SAP or employees leave the SAP system to use the catalog. This is time-consuming and error-prone. The negotiated discount advantage is not fully realized. An estimated €2-3 million in optimizable spend is on the table.

Manage Multi-Channel Procurement Centrally | simple system

Admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 11:21:49 GMT

Initial Situation

Organizations use an average of 5-8 different procurement channels in parallel: SAP vendors, ERP-bound vendors, Amazon Business, specialized e-commerce shops, direct purchases through vendor portals, and additional marketplaces. This leads to data silos, duplicate catalogs, lack of visibility, and price inconsistencies. 20-30% uncontrolled "maverick" purchases occur outside procurement processes.

Ensure Procurement Compliance | Audit | simple system

Admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 11:21:48 GMT

Initial Situation

A regulated healthcare company must prove that all procurement activities – including small orders – follow a defined approval process and are documented in an audit-proof manner. Current practice: employees order consumables via private Amazon accounts and submit receipts as expenses. During internal audits, evidence for order approval of 30-40% of all small orders is regularly missing. Compliance risk increases with every audit cycle.