E-procurement is an online procurement behavior initiated by the purchaser, which can realize online bidding and online negotiation. E-procurement can not only complete procurement, but also optimize the supply chain of enterprises and realize the seamless flow of order fulfillment information from manufacturers to suppliers. It has more potential than online retail and enterprise resource planning (ERP) in reducing costs and improving operational efficiency [1]. It is of great significance for enterprises to reduce inventory, stabilize logistics and weaken bullwhip effect. E-procurement activities can be realized on the Internet through a specific platform or system software. The platform usually includes the following modules or technologies:
Bidding procurement: it means that the purchasing owner sets the trading conditions and rules, selects the suppliers, and then replaces the traditional negotiation process through online public bidding. This technology makes the transaction price automatically approach the bottom line in a short time, effectively changing the procurement process [2].
Inquiry and price comparison purchasing system: when purchasing, an inquiry sheet is automatically issued, and quotations are automatically collated and compared. Based on the latest quotation of supplier inquiry collected by the internet, the purchase is made on this basis. It is an auxiliary tool in the procurement process and a perfect and powerful negotiation tool.
Collaborative bidding management system: provides a collaborative and integrated bidding and procurement management platform, so that all relevant subjects of procurement activities can work together in the same personalized information portal and get rid of time and geographical restrictions. Can maximize the interests of the tenderee.
Electronic catalog procurement system: it is a comprehensive solution integrating office automation, product catalog management, supplier management and electronic procurement.
Second, the status of e-procurement platform in China
At present, Netta Xinlian Company is the most powerful developer of electronic procurement platform in China, and its products include electronic bidding procurement system (RAT), material procurement management system (IPS), electronic bidding procurement system E-BID, bidding intermediary collaborative work system and so on. It is also the most widely used, involving home appliances, steel, railways, petroleum, medicine, electricity and other fields. In 2002, the electronic procurement scheme, electronic sales scheme and electronic market scheme of China Petroleum Group and Hutchison Information Technology Co., Ltd. were widely used in the field of petroleum and petrochemical industry. The electronic procurement system of Beijing Lian Bi Information Technology Co., Ltd. has been applied to the telecom industry (Bird Company) in 2005. Tianhongxun Technology Development Co., Ltd. cooperated with e-procurement system to apply to manufacturing industry (WISCO Group); The e-procurement platform of Zhejiang Cyberport Information Technology Co., Ltd. was applied to sanitary products, pharmaceutical industry and real estate (Bao Si Group) in 2007. In addition, the platform development companies include Beijing Zhonglian Yuan Jing Technology Co., Ltd. and Odie Office (Shang Ya Online). The application form includes China Hotel Procurement Network and the coal industry electronic procurement platform. Some companies have relatively weak R&D strength, so there is no fierce competition in platform development.
Enterprises applying e-procurement platform are generally large domestic enterprise groups, which have a certain radiation effect on enterprises in the same industry. However, because the application history is generally less than three years, the field is relatively narrow compared with the whole national economy. Statistics show that the industries with the largest e-procurement volume are mainly concentrated in the petrochemical and pharmaceutical fields. In 2007, China Petrochemical purchased 654.38+045.5 billion yuan online. By the first half of 2006, Haihong Pharmaceutical Group had involved more than 654.38+05 billion yuan in bidding, and realized online drug purchase of 50 billion yuan. However, e-procurement in education, agriculture, real estate and other industries is still in a marginal position in China.
In terms of government procurement, Zhuhai has incorporated procurement informatization into the 65438-0999 plan. In 2004, the procurement card system and online procurement system were officially put into use and achieved good results. It is reported that by 2006, complete government online procurement has been realized. Wuxi and Shaanxi provincial government procurement networks have been opened one after another. In 20001year, the state promulgated and implemented the bidding law, the government procurement law in 2003 and the electronic signature law in 2005. According to this, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Information Industry have issued special management regulations, and various provinces and cities have also implemented some local laws and regulations. The opening of the central government procurement network in 2005 marked that the government's support for e-procurement entered a substantive operational stage. It can be said that the social foundation for the healthy development of e-procurement industry in China is gradually taking shape.
Third, the development of e-procurement countermeasures
1. The media should vigorously publicize and popularize the knowledge of e-procurement.
At present, the public still lacks sufficient understanding of e-procurement. Some people think that e-procurement is the procurement of electronic products or electronic components, which is not unrelated to the misleading of some websites. For example, e-procurement network is the B2C business website of wtoic Group, a spot distributor of electronic components; China E-Procurement Network is the gateway website for domestic electronic enterprises to promote global trade. International e-procurement network is an electronic information platform for China's business electronic information. There are also a number of enterprises that believe that corporate websites are e-procurement platforms. As long as you have your own website, you can realize B2B e-commerce, that is, you can realize online procurement. All these directly hinder the development of e-procurement. It can be seen that the only way to develop e-procurement is to publicize and popularize the knowledge of e-procurement.
2. Enterprises should break through the misunderstanding and use Scientific Outlook on Development to guide the use of e-procurement platform.
In recent years, the competition in many industrial markets is fierce, and the pressure on the sales department is increasing day by day. Enterprises must increase revenue and reduce expenditure from all aspects and angles, and improve efficiency to deal with competitors. Procurement is the consumption link of funds, and cost saving is very important to reduce the cost of products or services. At the same time, with the intensification of market competition and the shortening of the new product listing cycle, the purchasing department should not only cooperate with the R&D department to ensure the material supply, but also put forward the material supply scheme with timely supply, the best quality and the lowest cost. Therefore, the purchasing department is not only the executive department, but also more and more involved in enterprise decision-making. Therefore, enterprises should not only actively explore the feasibility of implementing e-procurement, but also rush headlong into it in the wave of enterprise informatization.
First of all, we must realize the limitations of e-procurement. Both theory and practice have proved that the industries suitable for e-procurement are generally limited to those that are easy to organize, manage and control, such as electronic manufacturing, petrochemical industry, pharmaceutical management and so on. Some fields (such as engineering construction projects) are not suitable for bidding through e-procurement, because their project bidding usually involves complex laws and regulations and a large number of documents. At the same time, the main procurement method of e-procurement system is competitive bidding, and not all procurement methods are suitable for e-procurement. Therefore, enterprises must decide whether to use e-procurement platform according to their own industry characteristics and procurement methods.
The second is to calculate the percentage of purchasing cost saved by e-procurement platform, which must be combined with its own business attributes and market conditions. Enterprise procurement costs, like other operating costs, depend on investment, consumption, market and other factors. Generally, the licensing cost and network cost of e-procurement platform are very high. The proportion of initial investment and maintenance cost to enterprise assets, the frequency of using the platform, the enthusiasm of suppliers to participate in e-procurement and the bidding results, and the proportion of e-procurement to the total procurement of enterprises all affect the economic benefits of the platform. Therefore, whether an enterprise uses an e-procurement platform or which platform to choose must depend on its own operating characteristics and the market equilibrium of the purchased goods. In order to give full play to the role of e-procurement platform, it is necessary for buyers and supply chain related parties to discuss together in practice.
3. Platform developers should strengthen technical difficulties and serve more buyers and suppliers.
E-procurement requires the full participation of suppliers. Without suppliers, there is no supply, and without enough suppliers, there is no fierce bidding competition. Without the basic atmosphere of competitive procurement, there would be no supply chain management (SCM). Because e-procurement has changed the traditional procurement method, the suppliers who participate in bidding need to spend a lot of energy to formulate a unified electronic catalogue, and even need to invest in new software and hardware. All these increase the sales cost of suppliers. Obviously, only when the expected cost of participating in e-procurement bidding is significantly lower than other forms of promotion, suppliers will gladly participate in bidding. Therefore, it is the task of every e-procurement to attract the participation of suppliers. Youmai e-commerce paper > service is not only the task of purchasing owners, but also the task of e-procurement platform. When designing an e-procurement platform, platform developers should not only consider the needs of buyers, but also pay attention to the needs of suppliers.
Each module of a large-scale e-procurement platform must have a system interface to run smoothly. At present, some e-procurement platforms still need procurement personnel to search for procurement information before entering the subsequent bidding procedures, and in fact, procurement has not been fully realized. It can be imagined that when there are many bidding enterprises involved, if the related enterprises adopt different e-procurement solutions and are incompatible with each other, it is easy to form an "electronic puzzle" or an information island, and it is impossible to realize the integration of procurement information within and between enterprises. If enterprises have to use multiple systems to complete the most basic procurement activities in order to obtain more comprehensive bidding information, the construction of multiple platforms will not only increase investment, but also reduce work efficiency, and the advantages of e-procurement have been lost. The integration and compatibility of different technical solutions are
Popularize the technical basis of e-procurement. In addition, it should be one of the efforts of enterprises and developers to realize the combination of large-scale ERP system with e-commerce and the docking with e-procurement system and build an e-procurement system for e-commerce.
4. The state should improve and guide relevant operational mechanisms.
At present, there are still some difficulties in implementing e-procurement in China, such as infrastructure construction and organizational change resistance. These problems cannot be solved by e-procurement or its platform itself. It is necessary to improve legislation and set an example and guide through platforms such as the central government procurement network. It should be said that laws and regulations that have been promulgated and implemented have greatly promoted the standardization of e-procurement management. At present, the industry is more concerned about the transparency, fairness and justice of government e-procurement, and looks forward to the promulgation of the Anti-monopoly Law. We should encourage and guide the healthy development of e-procurement, expose violations of laws and regulations in e-procurement in various media, and increase penalties.
Shenzhen successfully held a transnational e-procurement forum. In April this year, China Household Electrical Appliances Association and China Electronics Enterprise Association jointly held a new round of transnational e-procurement forum, which made a gratifying step in the development of e-procurement in China. At present, under the situation that platform R&D enterprises are fragmented, the state should encourage and advocate the exchange and cooperation of e-procurement platform developers; Relevant technical standards should also be issued as soon as possible to standardize the R&D activities of the e-procurement platform to ensure that it is scientific, reliable and practical.