| Company | Industry | Company Size | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air Canada | Airline carrier | 21,000 | US$4.82 billion |
Executive Overview
Among the 20 largest airlines in the world, Air Canada strives to continually improve the customer experience and employee engagement while creating value for its shareholders. To achieve this mission, an enterprise of this size needs a procurement organization operating at the top of its game. Having already replaced its global invoicing software with a next-generation system, the flag carrier wanted to implement a fully integrated suite of procurement solutions in its Canadian operations to gain a consolidated view of spend and increase automation. Little did it know that deploying these solutions would also help it deal with the disruption in the airline industry wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before: Challenges and Opportunities
- Deploy an integrated suite of procurement solutions to enhance transparency and compliance
- Automate manual processes to reduce paperwork and increase efficiency
- Support the demand for remote working among staff and suppliers caused by the COVID-19 pandemic
Why SAP
- SAP Ariba Sourcing solution, helping streamline critical tasks to drive faster, sustainable results
- SAP Ariba Contracts solution, automating and simplifying contract management
- SAP Ariba Buying solution, maximizing efficiency and increasing spend control
- SAP Ariba Invoice Management solution, automating invoice capture, processing, matching, and approval
- Ariba Network for a dynamic digital marketplace that lets buyers and suppliers collaborate smoothly
- SAP Signature Management application by DocuSign, option for SAP Ariba solutions for greater security, reduced costs, increased compliance, and faster contract execution
After: Value-Driven Results
- Greater visibility and control of procurement processes
- Reduced costs and burden on employees, thanks to process automation
- Enhanced business continuity support and agility during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Improved supply chain continuity
- A better experience for suppliers, who benefit from efficiencies such as digital invoicing and automated contract signing
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167%
Increase (in one quarter) in spend volume processed by SAP Ariba Buying for all channels, increasing control
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33%
Reduction (in one quarter) in average processing time of non-PO invoices
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43%
Increase (in one quarter) in purchase volume made through catalogs, aiding spend compliance
Success Story
Saving Costs and Supporting Business Continuity in a Period of Industry Turbulence
In setting out to unify its procurement function with an integrated suite of SAP Ariba solutions, Air Canada is advancing the company’s digital transformation agenda. The airline’s new business network also provided the agility it needed to withstand the intense disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the aviation sector.
Already working with the SAP Ariba Sourcing and SAP Ariba Contracts solutions, employees were able to switch overnight to working from home on a shared system in the cloud, with paperless invoicing using the SAP Ariba Invoice Management solution further aiding remote workers. And teams were able to gather internal signatures with the SAP Signature Management application by DocuSign, an option for SAP Ariba solutions, preventing the need to mail documents to locations such as private homes and reducing lead times.
Process automation has enabled cost reductions and increased productivity. For example, three-way matching with the SAP Ariba Buying, SAP Ariba Contracts, and SAP Ariba Invoice Management solutions has reduced the resource burden on staff. Teams benefit from efficiencies such as streamlined contract creation and the automatic conversion of purchase requisitions to purchase orders (POs). Meanwhile, a smooth transition of many suppliers to Ariba Network has safeguarded supply chain continuity and helped reduce risk.
Thanks to SAP Ariba solutions, we’re gaining a consolidated view of spend, enhancing process automation and compliance, and contributing to the digital transformation of our organization.Coralyn Ah-Moy Director Strategic Procurement, Center of Excellence, Air Canada
Featured Solutions and Services
Sourcing for Indirect and Direct Materials
Source services, indirect materials, and direct materials using SAP Ariba Sourcing, SAP Source-to-Contract Suite, or SAP Strategic Sourcing Suite.
See sourcing software options
SAP Ariba Contracts
Speed up contract cycles by 50% and reduce administrative and legal costs by up to 30% when you rid yourself of the paper and ink.
SAP Ariba Contracts
SAP Ariba Buying
Choose this solution to automate your procure-to-order process and integrate with your back-end system to let your ERP handle invoice and payment processing.
SAP Ariba Buying
SAP Ariba Invoice Management
Increase the accuracy of invoices to speed up both processing and payments. Let SAP Business Network do the work of pre-validating invoices so any missing or incorrect information gets corrected and you see fewer exceptions.
Learn about invoice management
SAP Ariba Spend Analysis
Organize all spend data from across different systems and identify and prioritize sourcing opportunities more easily.
SAP Ariba Spend Analysis
Guided Buying
Guided buying delivers a simple experience for purchasing goods and services. It guides employees to use preferred suppliers, processes, and policies, resulting in happy employees and compliant spend.
Guided Buying