E-procurement practices to improve the efficiency of vendor transactions in Indian cement companies

Abstract

E-procurement ensures an end-to-end integrated purchase of materials right from indent management until final payment through internet which results into cost efficiency in a supply chain management. While the e-procurement has been successfully practiced in global markets, it is in the early stage of adoption among cement companies in India. The main objective of this study is to explore the factors influencing e-procurement of materials in the cement industry. The other objective is to measure the impact of e-procurement practices on materials purchase in the value chain of the said industry. Initially, the study conducted a Delphi interview with selected managers. Based on the information from interview, a structured questionnaire was framed and the same was used to collect information from 126 employees of five cement companies. Besides descriptive analysis, the factor analysis was applied to identify the significant factors in e-procurement. A confirmatory factor analysis was carried out to verify the factor structure of the set of observed variables. The study identified the significant factors that contribute to e-procurement practices in India. Interestingly, it was also found that the employees are comfortable to use e-procurement but require adequate training and better e-infrastructure.