- Energy giant slashes purchase requisition processing time by 80%.
- AI-enabled tools transform procurement from transactional to strategic.
- Future vision includes conversational AI assistants for internal customers.
Uniper, a critical player in the European energy sector, is leveraging SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) to dramatically accelerate its energy transformation journey, aiming for carbon neutrality by 2040. The company showcased how innovative solutions are not only streamlining operations but also empowering its workforce.
Uniper, employing 7,500 people across 40 countries, is at the forefront of Europe's energy system. With a bold commitment to the capital market, the company aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. This ambitious goal necessitates significant operational transformation, particularly in its extensive procurement processes involving numerous strategic suppliers, including SAP. Initially, Uniper faced considerable inefficiencies, with procurement colleagues spending excessive time on manual purchase request details, leaving limited capacity for strategic analysis and value-adding negotiations. The predominantly manual requisition process involved laborious supplier and contract checks, and catalog searches, hindering overall productivity.
To address these challenges, Uniper developed a "perfect purchase requisition app" utilizing SAP Build and SAP BTP tools. The benefits were immediate and profound. The application enabled buyers to get requests right the first time, slashing requisition processing time by an impressive 80% and reducing errors by 40-50%. This not only led to significantly better data quality but also instilled greater trust in the data being used across the organization. Axel Whitfield, Chief Procurement Officer of Uniper, emphasized the success, stating, "we could cut requisition processing time by 80% and we could reduce errors from 40 to 50%."
Beyond efficiency gains, the transformation has had a significant human impact. With 95% of operational purchases now utilizing AI-enabled tools, and 85% of searches being accurate on the first try, procurement teams have more time for strategic negotiations, supplier analysis, and identifying savings. This marks a cultural shift from transactional to strategic work, requiring a new skill set that most purchasers are embracing with excitement. Crucially, Uniper highlighted the importance of integration. The new solutions seamlessly connect procurement with finance, operations, and HR, ensuring an automatic data flow from requisition to payment, eliminating duplicate entries, and unlocking the full potential of AI.
Looking ahead, Uniper's vision extends to an advanced AI assistant capable of engaging in dialogue with internal customers. This assistant would understand user needs, correctly fill purchase requests, or direct users to the appropriate platforms, further simplifying the requisition experience. Leveraging SAP Joule and Joule agent for real-time process status, Uniper anticipates a future with fully automated routines and tasks. This ongoing journey promises higher efficiency, enhanced reliability, and an improved quality and design of work, fostering more strategic discussions both internally and with suppliers.
“we could cut requisition processing time by 80% and we could reduce errors from 40 to 50%.”
- Alex Wietfeld, Chief Procurement Officer
