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Effective RFX sourcing for all requirements

RFX sourcing is at the heart of an effective e-sourcing process. It combines structure, flexibility and automation to make requests of any kind efficient and transparent. FUTURA Smart enables a high degree of automation and ensures seamless integration of the source-to-contract process in SAP S/4HANA – with such ease of use that every need can be advertised regardless of value limits.

RFX-based procurement

Not only to achieve short-term savings, but also to develop long-term successful and sustainable procurement strategies – FUTURA Smart supports a systematic and comprehensive approach, e. g. for the bundling of volumes or the consolidation of expenses, as well as for the development of negotiation strategies to optimize price, quality, delivery conditions and other important factors.

Optimal bidding competition

Be it to achieve cost reductions or to prevent price increases, e-sourcing can be used to include a larger number of bidders in the process, thus increasing competition on price and performance. Further price reductions can be regularly achieved by using a second or even several bidding rounds, after technical clarification discussions and commercial negotiations.

Applied AI in the sourcing process

Futura Solutions relies on best practices. This also applies to the various AI assistants used in the purchasing and procurement process. The FUTURA Smart AI assistants support both consumers and purchasers. For our use cases, we pay particular attention to data quality and the potential for optimization. This is a prerequisite for efficient automation.

Integration of RFX processes into the SAP system

Straightforward and seamless – real-time integration is the key. Purchase requisitions, material masters or contracts or existing purchase orders are transferred from SAP to FUTURA Smart – including file attachments. All sourcing activities as well as the communication with suppliers are documented in an audit-proof manner. After the award of the contract, SAP purchase orders and contracts are created via FUTURA Smart – automatically, of course.

From easy sourcing to multi-stage sourcing

Different material groups, purchasing volumes and project types require customized approaches, ranging from simple price inquiries to complex requests for quotations – for example, by efficiently handling routine requirements via Easy Sourcing (RFQ), while multi-stage sourcing, a combination of RFI, RFP and RFQ, allows for detailed analyses for strategic procurements.

Requests for information to qualify suppliers

Use case

General questions about skills, experience and qualities

  • Used to obtain information about potential suppliers and their quotations
  • Used in the early stages of the procurement process to gain an overview of the market
  • Helps with the pre-selection of suitable suppliers for more detailed requests 

FEATURES

  • Questionnaires with weighting
  • Scoring
  • Evaluation matrix

Requests for quotation for more complex measures and projects

Use case

Questions about the details of a product (specification) or a service (functional description)

  • Requests detailed proposals from suppliers 
  • Used when complex solutions or services are required where not only price but also qualitative aspects such as technical solutions, implementation plans or service offerings are crucial.
  • Enables a comprehensive comparison of quotations in terms of technical and qualitative aspects and contains evaluation criteria for the selection of suppliers 

FEATURES

  • List of services or products 
  • Questionnaires with weighting
  • Scoring 
  • Evaluation matrix 
  • Price comparison list 
  • Utility value analysis

Price inquiries with
easy comparability

Use case

Price inquiries and other commercial criteria such as delivery and payment terms

  • Aims at specific quotations for specific products or services  
  • Used when the exact requirements are already known
  • Enables a direct price comparison between different providers and is used to select the most economical quotation.

FEATURES

  • Requirement specification 
  • Easy Access for suppliers  
  • CO2 footprint (PCF) query and comparison in the price comparison list 

Transparent negotiations with suppliers in real time

Use case

Maximizing cost efficiency and fast decision-making 

  • Used when pre-qualified suppliers are already available and the focus is on optimizing prices and conditions  
  • Enables transparent, data-based, real-time pricing between qualified providers

FEATURES

  • Various auction options, designed for different initial situations

Plug-and-play – highly functional, maximally adaptive, intuitive usage

Issuing requests just as easily as sending an e-mail – that is the aim of FUTURA Smart and the key to a high level of user acceptance. All you need is an e-mail address to invite suppliers to requests for quotation or to send price inquiries – and it takes suppliers just a few clicks to view requests for quotation and to conveniently process quotations – via “Easy Access” they can access the system without going through a time-consuming registration process, but with a high level of security.

AI assistants, cockpits and monitors pick up the SAP purchasers where they work every day: In the launchpad, conveniently with single sign-on. User-friendly and intuitive, FUTURA Apps enable even casual users or new users to start their first requests for quotation without a long training period.

AI-BASED REQUIREMENT SPECIFICATION

QM manager for the specification

AI-BASED RFQ AUTOMATION

Convert automatically requirement descriptions into RFQs

AI-BASED ANALYSIS & SIMULATION

Point out anomalies in quotations

ADVERTISE PURCHASE REQUISITIONS

Search and read purchase requisition items

CALL FOR TENDER
by free text

SAP-based free text requests for quotation

Advertise material
masters

Writing out material master data           

Renegotiate purchasing contracts

Search for contracts and transfer to RFQ

Overview and control
of all RFQs

Track and control requests for quotation

Evaluate offers

Analyze and sucessfully
negotiate quotations

NEGOTIATE EFFICIENTLY ONLINE

Create auctions with predefined prices

show savings

Determining and identifying potential savings

Track purchase order confirmations

Manage order confirmations

With FUTURA Smart, we have found an S2C tool that integrates seamlessly with SAP S/4HANA. What is particularly convincing is that purchasers can launch requests for quotations in FUTURA Smart with just a few mouse clicks. All the data already available in SAP for requests for quotations and inquiries can be transferred at the push of a button, including documents. Our users also responded very positively to the modern user interface, which clearly dates from 2024.

Project Manager FUTURA Smart C. Zimmermann, RWE Offshore Wind GmbH

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