SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) recently announced that leading companies across the globe selected SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass solutions to continue their digital transformation journeys, reducing risk, managing costs and getting work done while keeping supply chains intact to successfully navigate through the current economic upheaval.

Organizations around the globe chose procurement solutions from SAP in the first quarter of 2020, including Latin America’s No. 2 Coca-Cola bottler Arca Continental S.A.B. de C.V., German commercial bank Helaba, Japanese IT services provider Hitachi Systems Ltd., Mexican home appliance maker Mabe, U.S. energy company Murphy Oil Corp. and U.S.-based PSEG Energy Holdings LLC.

During the first quarter, hundreds of companies completed new implementations of SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass solutions, including these:

• Carlsberg Group A/S, a Danish global brewing company, went live with SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing and SAP Ariba Catalog solutions as part of its migration from the SAP Supplier Relationship Management application to increase compliance and improve spend visibility and control, accounts payable automation and overall user experience.
• Vestas Wind Systems A/S, a Danish company that designs, manufactures, installs and services wind turbines across the world, continues to drive efficiency in its procurement operations with its latest rollout of SAP Ariba Sourcing and SAP Ariba Contracts solutions integrated with the SAP Signature Management applications by DocuSign. The company is now expanding its digital transformation to streamline collaboration with suppliers and mitigate risk with SAP Ariba Supply Chain Collaboration for Buyers and SAP Ariba Supplier Risk solutions.
• Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd., a Japanese high-tech manufacturing company with Latin American headquarters in Brazil, recently rolled out SAP Ariba solutions, automating and standardizing its sourcing and supplier lifecycle and performance processes. By digitally transforming its procurement function, Furukawa Electric expects to improve productivity and realize savings within a few months.
• Grundfos, a Danish provider of pumps for heating, air conditioning, irrigation and other uses, recently implemented SAP Ariba Supply Chain Collaboration for Buyers, with support from Accenture, to streamline processes, transactions and interactions with suppliers. Onboarding suppliers globally will continue in the upcoming years.

In response to supply chain disruption caused by COVID-19, SAP opened access to the SAP Ariba Discovery solution, allowing buyers to post immediate sourcing needs and permitting suppliers on Ariba Network to respond. Since the March 10 announcement, buyer postings and supplier responses increased by 58 percent and 404 percent respectively.

More than 25,000 new suppliers joined Ariba Network in the first quarter, bringing the total number of companies connected to 4.8 million and providing organizations with more sourcing options as they adjust supply chains in this state of disruption. More than US$3.3 trillion in global commerce flows annually through Ariba Network. Concurrently, SAP Fieldglass solutions added nearly 1 million new workers. More than US$55 billion in spend on external workforce flows annually through SAP Fieldglass solutions.

“Together with our customers and partners, we are navigating this new normal,” said SAP Procurement Solutions President Chris Haydon. “We will continue to break down barriers in matching supply with demand and give customers the visibility they need to make informed decisions faster so their businesses, and the global economy, continue to move forward.”

The SAP Procurement Solutions group includes SAP Ariba, SAP Fieldglass and SAP S/4HANA-based offerings for operational procurement, delivering a comprehensive suite for goods and services procurement and external workforce management.

SAP Ariba solutions provide collaborative commerce capabilities from sourcing and orders through invoice and payment along with expertise to help customers optimize their spends. The solutions drive simple, intelligent exchanges between millions of buyers and suppliers across both direct and indirect expense categories.

SAP Fieldglass solutions are market leading for external workforce management and services procurement, helping global organizations find, engage and manage all types of flexible resources including contingent workers and services providers. SAP Fieldglass solutions connect customers with approximately 6.7 million active external workers.