E-Procurement via BIOS Sets International Standards: BayWa Handles the Needs of All Its Employees with a Central Platform

The pens are out of ink. Or they have disappeared. There are also no more envelopes – such situations happen in the office every day, calling for replenishment via the internal procurement system. However, employees do not only get office supplies from their employers: computers, tablets, smartphones – in short: hardware – is another important element. In addition, there are industry-specific things such as overalls, gumboots, special measuring devices and safety clothing.

E-Procurement Platform: Internal Online Shop at Its Best

BayWa AG, Germany’s largest agricultural trader, also faced the challenge of handling the needs of its own employees quickly, efficiently and in one place. Founded in 1923 as a cooperative in Munich, the group does not only offer products for the agricultural industry, but also for the construction industry. It also has an energy segment and provides a wide range of services. The group operates globally, has around 19,200 employees and generated a turnover of 17.1 billion euros in 2019.

The group is clearly one of the pioneers in its industries when it comes to digitisation strategy: for its customers, for example, the company operates a state-of-the-art e-commerce platform. In terms of the internal procurement of necessary working materials, the own employees are the customers, so why not offer them a platform with an ideal customer journey and a maximum of user-friendliness, in other words: the customer experience that is the key to success in B2B and B2C e-commerce? Why not make procurement easier for them through digital optimisation and thus allow them to have more time for their actual work?

dotSource is the long-standing digitisation partner of BayWa AG. Therefore, the Munich-based group approached the Jena digital agency with the request to develop a central e-procurement platform. Consequently, BayWa BIOS – the BayWa Internal Order System – was designed and developed in 2019. It is now actively used by BayWa employees and has successfully replaced the previous six different digital procurement channels.

E-Procurement Benefits: Meeting Internal Needs Digitally

The new e-procurement platform is based on SAP Commerce – just like the group’s e-commerce platform. In order to develop BayWa BIOS as a platform based on SAP Commerce that sets international standards in the field of e-procurement, dotSource first held workshops for the requirements elicitation together with BayWa. During these workshops, goals were defined, measures were derived and the necessary steps were prioritised before the development was carried out in sprints and using agile methods.

During a joint hackathon, which all participants have fond memories of, the system was thoroughly tested and readjusted over three days before BayWa BIOS was finally launched across the company in summer 2019.

The new e-procurement platform offers BayWa numerous added values: not only have the internal procurement processes been standardised, thus giving employees more time for other tasks, but reorders can also be automated and consumption as well as needs are clearly displayed in dashboards.

Thanks to mobile optimisation, employees can access the system via smartphone or tablet from anywhere and at any time. The group-wide single sign-on simplifies approval processes and efficiently handles rights and role management digitally.

Find out here how BayWa managed to turn six different systems into one central procurement platform.

A uniform e-commerce platform is an advantage for all user groups. BayWa meets this requirement internally with BIOS and externally with its cross-channel platform. Read our success story to get more insights.