Case study
From PO to GRN in One Portal: Real-Time Supplier Collaboration on SAP BTP
Part 2 of our work with the group: one portal where buyers and suppliers manage orders, shipments, invoices and quality, in sync with SAP in real time.
Overview: bringing suppliers into the process
This is part 2 of our work with the India arm of a global engineering group. After automating receivables, payables and statements of account, TechCarvings built an SAP BTP vendor portal that brings suppliers directly into the procure-to-pay process.
Purchase orders already lived in SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud. Everything that happened next, from acknowledgements to shipments, invoices and quality issues, ran over email and phone.
Operational challenges
Buyers, stores, finance and quality teams all spent time chasing suppliers for information SAP should have had.
- 1
Orders confirmed by email. Buyers chased suppliers to acknowledge POs and confirm quantities and dates.
- 2
Goods arrived without notice. Stores had little warning of what was coming, so receiving and GRN took longer.
- 3
Payment queries. Suppliers called finance to ask about invoice and payment status.
- 4
Quality issues by email. Rejections and replacements were tracked outside SAP.
- 5
Documents scattered. Drawings, agreements and compliance documents sat in inboxes.
The transformation: what the group wanted
The portal had to make collaboration faster without adding work in SAP.
The solution: an SAP BTP vendor portal with buyer and vendor views
TechCarvings built a vendor–buyer portal on SAP BTP, with separate views for buyers and suppliers and real-time integration with SAP S/4HANA.
Purchase orders and acknowledgement
POs created in SAP flow to the portal after approval. Suppliers acknowledge them, adjust quantity or schedule, and buyers are alerted to any mismatch.
ASN to GRN
Suppliers create partial or full advance shipment notifications. Buyers confirm them, the inbound delivery posts in SAP automatically, and GRN is a single click.
Invoices and payment status
Suppliers submit invoices against POs and track payment status, so finance gets fewer calls.
Quality and performance
Buyers share quality reports and rejection slips; suppliers respond with replace or reject. Scorecards track on-time delivery, rejections and responsiveness.
RFQs and forecasts
Multi-vendor RFQs with quote comparison, plus forecasts that suppliers acknowledge.
Documents and support
Drawings, agreements and compliance documents in one place, with support tickets and notifications for every action.
Technology used for this SAP BTP vendor portal project
Learn more on SAP.com: SAP Business Technology Platform, SAP Integration Suite.
How we delivered
The portal was designed with buyers, stores, finance and quality teams, and with a group of suppliers, so each screen matched how people actually work.
Buyers and suppliers sign in through SAP Build Work Zone with two-factor authentication or single sign-on. SAP Integration Suite keeps POs, acknowledgements, ASNs and invoices in sync with SAP S/4HANA, and connects to bank APIs for payment status and to document storage.
Business impact
With the SAP BTP vendor portal, suppliers now work in the same process as the group’s teams, in real time.
Suppliers acknowledge orders on the portal, and buyers see mismatches immediately.
Confirmed ASNs become inbound deliveries in SAP, so receiving is faster.
Suppliers check invoice and payment status themselves.
Scorecards and quality responses are tracked in one place.
What’s next
With the SAP BTP vendor portal live, the group can onboard more suppliers and extend the portal with new apps on SAP BTP, without changing its SAP core.
Want suppliers working in your process?
TechCarvings builds vendor portals on SAP BTP that stay in sync with SAP S/4HANA in real time.