SOURCE-TO-PAY ( S2P )
“Supplier is actually a way of describing a company , and a company is like a node in the network , which is the economy ”
IAN THOMPSON VP OF NORTHERN EUROPE , IVALUA
“ But there are developmental aspects to S2P that will have a great impact ,” he says .
“ S2P can produce a lot of data , and with machine learning and AI , we ' ll be able to better understand that data .
“ On the payments side of things , there ' ll be more effective and efficient ways that organisations can provide financing to suppliers , such as helping to receive them in a much faster , more secure manner .”
I ask him what the one message is that he ’ d like his audience to know . Quoting Voltaire , Thompson replies : “ Don ’ t let the perfect become the enemy of the good . Just because it ' s difficult to map supply chain emissions , it doesn ' t mean you shouldn ' t try . Just because your supplier master data is in a huge mess , it doesn ' t mean you shouldn ' t launch a program to try to address that .
“ We deal with a lot of people who want to make changes , but they can be overwhelmed and suffer from decision paralysis , so I ’ d say this : although it sounds simple , the important thing is to just begin .”
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