What goes wrong today
Supplier quotes arrive as attachments, the comparison happens in a spreadsheet that nobody keeps, and six weeks later no one can explain why that supplier was chosen.
S2P · Source-to-pay
You need to buy something, and the choice of supplier stays explainable.
Source-to-pay covers the path from a purchasing need through supplier options and an approval to the purchase order and the supplier payment status.
ReadyAvailable
What Operant is meant to show
Operant keeps the need, the compared options, the person who approved, the order, and the payment status in one place—so the decision stays explainable after the fact.
- Purchasing needOperant prepares
- Supplier optionsOperant prepares
- ApprovalA person decides
- Purchase orderState of the work
- Supplier payment statusState of the work
Selected step
Purchasing need
A need is raised with quantity, date, and the reason for it.
- Need
- PR-0318 · bearings
- Quantity
- 40 units
- Needed by
- In 14 days
- Options compared
- 2 suppliers
Procurement manager
Owns supplier selection for this category
Suggested by OperantOperant ranks the cheaper option and flags the longer lead time.
Approved by a personA person selects the supplier and records why.
Operant workspace · Product preview.
Frame 1 · Need raised
PR-0318 · 40 units
- Needed in 14 days
- Category: bearings
- Raised from an order commitment
Frame 2 · Options compared
Two supplier quotes
- Northaxle Supply · lower price
- Vireo Components · shorter lead time
- Operant ranks, nobody buys yet
Frame 3 · Approved and ordered
PO issued · payment tracked
- Procurement manager approved
- Terms attached to the order
- Payment status on the need
The other two paths
- O2Corder-to-cashOrder-to-cash covers the path from a customer request through a reviewed quote and an order to the invoice and its payment status.
- S2Csource-to-cashSource-to-cash is the join: the supplier and purchase decision behind an item stay connected to the customer order it was bought for, and to the revenue at the end.