The client
The client is a large food and beverage enterprise headquartered in Toronto, with operations across North America.
Its procurement teams buy from many vendors on behalf of several departments and locations. Vendor details and purchase records were kept, but in separate places, and sourcing relied on manual messages and repeated follow-ups.
The challenge
Vendor information existed, but nothing connected it to the purchases made from each vendor. Coordinating with suppliers and tracking orders took repeated manual effort.
- Vendor details and purchase records sat in separate files.
- Sourcing depended on manual messages and repeated follow-ups.
- Departments and locations handled vendor purchases in different ways.
- Little central visibility of purchases by vendor.
- Limited control over purchasing across the business.
What they set up in Asset Infinity
The enterprise moved vendors and purchasing into Asset Infinity’s Suppliers feature, linking each vendor to the requests and orders placed with it.
One vendor register
Vendor details are held centrally and are available to every procurement team, instead of sitting in separate files. (Suppliers)
Purchases linked to vendors
Purchase requests and purchase orders are tied to the vendor, so every purchase can be traced to the supplier it went to. (Suppliers)
One workflow for every location
Vendor-related purchasing follows the same configured steps and approvals across departments and operational locations. (Platform)
Vendor activity and spend
Reports show purchases and spend by vendor, department and location, giving procurement a view across the business. (Insight)
How it works day to day
Here is how a purchase from a vendor now runs.
- Department user: raises a purchase request. A department or site raises a request for what it needs in the web app, in the same format everywhere.
- Approver: approves the request. The request passes through the approval steps configured for that department, with reminders if it waits.
- Buyer: chooses the vendor. The buyer picks the vendor from the central register, with contact details and past purchases in one record.
- Buyer: issues the purchase order. The approved request becomes a purchase order to that vendor, so the order and the vendor stay linked.
- Requester: follows the order. The requester sees the status of the request and order in the system, which replaces status calls and follow-up emails.
- Procurement head: reviews vendor activity. Reports show purchases by vendor, department and location, giving a basis for supplier reviews and buying decisions.
Before and after
| Before | With Asset Infinity | |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor information | Kept in separate records | One central vendor register |
| Purchase tracking | Hard to follow across teams | Requests and orders linked to each vendor |
| Coordination | Manual messages and repeated follow-ups | Status visible in the system |
| Process | Different by department and location | One workflow across the business |
| Control | Limited central oversight | Purchasing visible by vendor and location |
How it rolled out
- Records reviewed. Vendor records, purchase workflows, coordination issues and process gaps were reviewed.
- Vendors centralized and linked. Vendor information was centralized and connected to purchase activity, with structured workflows across departments.
- Teams trained. Procurement teams were trained, and records and workflows were refined for stronger control.
The results
- Vendor information and purchase records available in one place.
- Clearer visibility into vendor-related requests and procurement activity.
- Fewer manual follow-ups in routine vendor purchasing.
- One consistent procurement workflow across departments and locations.
- Better coordination between procurement teams and vendors.
- Stronger oversight of purchasing across the business.
Why it worked
Vendor and purchase together
Each order is tied to its vendor, so procurement can see the whole relationship in one place.
Same steps everywhere
Departments and locations follow one workflow, which makes purchasing comparable across the business.
Fewer follow-ups
Requesters see status themselves, so procurement spends less time answering questions.
Looking ahead
With Asset Infinity, the enterprise moved from fragmented vendor coordination to one structured way of managing vendors and purchases across its business. Vendor information and purchasing activity now sit together.
Procurement teams spend less time following up and have better control over purchasing across departments and locations, with the records to review each supplier relationship.