Why should I consider using automation and technology for procurement?

Utilizing automation and technology can significantly reduce manual errors associated with data entry, ultimately saving thousands of dollars by minimizing mistakes and streamlining processes.

How can manual data entry errors impact procurement costs?

Even a small error rate of 1% in manual data entry can lead to thousands of errors down the road, resulting in substantial financial losses.

What is Arkestro's role in reducing procurement costs for Dover Chemical Corporation?

Arkestro provided Predictive Procurement Orchestration (PPO) capabilities to analyze and process Dover Chemical’s internal procurement data, resulting in significant cost savings.

What challenges did Dover Chemical face before implementing Arkestro?

Dover Chemical struggled with internal misalignment and lacked clarity in their procurement data, hindering effective decision-making and process optimization.

How did Arkestro address Dover Chemical's challenges?

Arkestro simplified data analysis, eliminated manual data entry processes, reduced MRO spend, improved supplier outreach, and enhanced overall procurement efficiency.

What were the results of Dover Chemical's partnership with Arkestro?

Dover Chemical achieved impressive results, with 95% of spend going through Arkestro and a 44% reduction in MRO costs. They completed 1,000 projects within the Arkestro platform, leading to significant annual savings.

How did Dover Chemical integrate Arkestro into their existing systems?

Dover Chemical seamlessly integrated Arkestro with Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP, expanding their data ingestion capabilities and driving further process improvements.

How does Arkestro continue to support Dover Chemical's procurement goals?

Arkestro constantly evolves with Dover Chemical’s needs, incorporating feedback and implementing new features to optimize procurement processes and maximize savings.

What are Dover Chemical's future plans with Arkestro?

Dover Chemical aims to incorporate more materials into the Arkestro platform, expand procurement events, integrate with Microsoft D365, and utilize spend analysis for enhanced category management.

How can my company get started with Arkestro to achieve similar results?

To explore how Arkestro’s data-driven insights and Predictive Procurement Orchestration can benefit your company, set up a chat with a procurement expert today.

Resources / Blog / Empowering Procurement Efficiency: The Dover Chemical Arkestro Case Study

Sourcing Success Stories

Empowering Procurement Efficiency: The Dover Chemical Arkestro Case Study

May 7, 2024

If you want to reduce procurement costs, putting your data to work is a great place to start. The seemingly small 1% error rate associated with manual data entry can end up creating thousands of errors down the road — and cost you thousands of dollars. That’s why using automation and technology to sort, clean, and process your procurement data can make a huge difference in savings in the near term and over time.

For Dover Chemical Corporation, an Arkestro customer since 2020, applying Arkestro’s Predictive Procurement Orchestration (PPO) capabilities to their internal procurement data did just that. In this blog we’ll explore the challenges, approach, and results we applied to help Dover Chemical achieve its procurement goals.

The Challenge: Too Much Data, No Internal Alignment

Dover Chemical Corporation is a leading producer of chemical additives and polymers for customers around the world. Like many other procurement teams in the last few years, Dover Chemical realized their manual processes were holding them back from much more important work — namely, negotiating pricing and improving supplier relationships.

Not only this, but Dover Chemical was sitting on 1-2 years of data from a recent maintenance system implementation that had initialized a process of using part numbers for their MRO (maintenance, repair, and operations) items. All that data needed to be analyzed and scrubbed, and manual data entry tasks associated with it needed to be eliminated.

Sensing they could do more with that data, Dover’s new CFO asked Patti DeVault, a Senior Buyer with 18 years of procurement and MRO buying experience at Dover, to approach Arkestro in early 2020 with two main problems:

Internal misalignment: Coordinating efforts and communication across different teams would be crucial for the successful implementation of any solution. Therefore, Dover needed a resource that was easy to use, simple to implement, and robust enough to meet everyone’s needs.
Lack of data clarity: Without clear and complete descriptions and data, the procurement team knew they’d have a hard time finding success. For effective decision-making and streamlined processes, Dover needed a way to get accurate information organized and analyzed.

In short, DeVault needed something that could fit into Dover’s daily process and address those problems. Also ready to move beyond their cumbersome procurement process that included spreadsheets, floods of emails, and printed materials for requisitions, Dover Chemical turned to Arkestro to see what would be possible.

The Arkestro Approach: Ingest Data, Find Efficiency Opportunities

From the beginning, Dover Chemical came to Arkestro with several key objectives:

Ingest and analyze existing data
Eliminate manual data entry processes (without increasing headcount)
Reduce MRO spend
Improve cost savings
Broaden and improve supplier outreach

While skeptical at first, DeVault’s doubts were cleared when she saw Arkestro’s deep capabilities, how simple it was to use, and how quickly she could use Arkestro for cost savings with large events. Dover Chemical easily implemented Arkestro during the height of the global pandemic in 2020, meeting weekly with their Arkestro representative to create new plans and adjust their strategy as the market changed.

For example, when Dover’s pricing challenges and parts scarcity started to arise, DeVault turned to Arkestro to save money on suggested prices that went out to suppliers from Arkestro. As a result, Dover was able to extend procurement’s impact by increasing the amount of spend they could oversee and manage.

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Over the following years, Dover and DeVault have made the most of the Arkestro platform by asking what the platform could do for them and then working with their Arkestro representatives to make it happen. Here are just a few examples of how Arkestro’s approach has made a difference:

Dover easily integrated Arkestro with Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP, expanding their ability to ingest relevant data and drive action with process improvement opportunities.
By inviting more suppliers on Arkestro, Dover’s supplier relations improved by increasing their opportunity to win new business through Arkestro’s uniquely fair and transparent process.
Single-sourced items were now competitively quoted due to Arkestro’s suggested pricing.
By adding all MRO to Arkestro, Dover can use the platform as a single source of truth for documentation vs. emails.

Dover Chemical started 2022 with just 22 projects on Arkestro. But by the end of 2023, they had 450 on the platform, enabling them to reach consistent cost savings and reach their goals.

Read case study

Results: 95% of Spend Through Arkestro and 44% MRO Cost Savings

Dover Chemical saw impressive results with Arkestro right out of the gate. “Ecstatic” to share Dover’s story, DeVault recalled the first event they ever ran with Arkestro resulted in $10,000 of savings. She was immediately sold. Not only was Arkestro able to provide clear insights and process improvements, but it was also able to quickly consume all relevant data to uncover improvement opportunities.

“We’ve seen 12% savings year over year, and it continues to grow,” DeVault said. “Arkestro is not a stagnant platform where you see no growth. We’ve continued to grow and make the platform work for us, and we gain more savings by using it.”

To date, Dover Chemical has completed 1,000 projects within the Arkestro platform, averages two bids per day, and 95% of all spend goes through Arkestro. In 2023, Arkestro played a significant role in achieving Dover’s cost-saving initiatives, contributing to 44% of their total MRO cost savings. The consistent savings and results Dover has achieved with Arkestro speak for themselves.

Historical Impact

2020: 22 projects, 14% in annual savings
2021: 396 projects, 12% in annual savings
2022: 382 projects, 10% in annual savings
2023: 450 projects, 12% in annual savings

DeVault credits their success to the partnership established with Arkestro and the willingness of the product team to communicate and accept feedback to improve the platform.

“As we have grown with Arkestro, Arkestro has grown with us. That is a huge factor, because Arkestro listens to our needs,” DeVault shared.

What’s Next?

As the future of procurement becomes increasingly strategic and automated, Dover Chemical has its sights set on getting even more materials onto the Arkestro platform. With some ingenuity and Arkestro’s help, DeVault believes even the more complex procurement projects can become simple. Some of the goals on Dover’s future Akestro roadmap include:

Incorporating 20% of raw materials as platform events.
Increase MRO events and expand Arkestro to a second Dover location.
Integrate engineering capital project events.
Implement a new integration with Microsoft D365.
Utilize the platform for spend analysis by categories.

By using Arkestro’s data-driven insights, machine learning, and Predictive Procurement Orchestration, Dover Chemical Corporation achieved its initial goals and keeps climbing higher. Learn more about PPO and how Arkestro could help your company achieve similar results. Set up a chat with a procurement expert to get started today!

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