Discover strategic procurement solutions for your industry

Energy and utilities

The energy sector faces rapid change. Firms are focusing on optimisation and innovation to secure energy supplies while cutting costs and meeting carbon-neutral targets. Strategic procurement and digital transformation are key parts of this. Providers are turning to the latest digital tools to build robust, sustainable supply chains in a changing energy landscape.

Unite’s procurement platform catering for energy firms protects supply chains by giving you a single place to source millions of indirect products. You get access to pre-vetted suppliers from 12 European countries while dealing with a single contact, contract and creditor.

You can tailor the platform to reflect your priorities. For example, sustainability filters let you find suppliers that align with your ESG goals. It’s also easy to identify products that meet industry standards, helping you achieve regulatory compliance across every purchase.

EnBW, a German energy supplier, uses Unite to drive sustainability and efficiency across its indirect spend:

Read the EnBW success story to learn more about streamlining procurement in your energy or utilities firm.

Mechanical engineering

Products made by the mechanical engineering sector are crucial to almost every other industry. This huge output means purchasing can be a long and complex process. Plus, it can account for as much as 50% of total spend. As such, it’s vital firms have an efficient, cost-effective approach.

Procurement teams also need to deliver strategic value to the wider business. That means ensuring long-term growth by optimising investments with trusted suppliers that align with business objectives.

Unite’s tailored solution for mechanical engineering firms cuts costs, saves time and improves procurement transparency:

• Find products fast: Search Unite’s B2B marketplace to find what you need quickly. Automated processes reduce buying cycle time. You can filter suppliers by ESG criteria to ensure compliance with corporate guidelines.

• Safely delegate buying: Give staff the freedom to choose products that meet their needs. You retain control by limiting choice to suppliers that meet your criteria or fall within existing agreements.

• Strengthen supply chains: Instant access to over 1,500 suppliers means you can quickly find alternative and competitive products. You deal with a single creditor no matter how many suppliers you use.

Over 150,000 B2B brands use Unite, including HOERBIGER. This mechanical engineering firm reduced costs, improved supplier diversity and safely decentralised purchasing with Unite’s procurement platform and integrated marketplace. Read HOERBIGER’s success story to learn more.

Healthcare

The healthcare sector has a unique set of procurement challenges. Essential, life-saving services depend on timely procurement and resilient supply chains. Cost-saving is also a priority as healthcare providers look to boost margins and work within tight budgets.

Strategic purchasing enables healthcare providers to deliver quality care, but they often face procurement skills shortages and limited in-house expertise.

A marketplace catered to procurement for the healthcare industry gives buyers the tools to overcome these issues. Unite increases the resilience of your tail-end supply chain by giving you access to pre-vetted, compliant suppliers across 12 European countries. You get transparency into your spend – from ordering to invoicing. You can also automate routine tasks to speed up buying cycles and free up staff for strategic work.

Automotive 

The automotive sector is encountering radical change. The shift to electric vehicles and the focus on sustainability is putting pressure on brands to find future-proof solutions. Supply chains in the automotive industry are also vulnerable to global component shortages and geopolitical disruption.

Procurement process optimisation is vital for overcoming these challenges. That’s why leading automotive brands use Unite, like SEW-EURODRIVE, which uses the platform to optimise tail-spend management:

• The company freed up staff to focus on strategic work by increasing the automation of one-off tasks from 40% to 65%.

• Unite integrates easily with the company’s SAP system, plus it provides a single place to consolidate existing framework agreements.

• Over 2,900 staff across 50 locations use Unite to meet tail-end needs from a wide assortment of compliant suppliers.

Read the SEW-EURODRIVE success story to learn how to reduce costs, strengthen supply chains and stay competitive in a changing industry.

Chemical industry

The chemical industry has huge purchasing needs, including a long tail of low-volume raw materials and indirect products. Without a standardised approach, indirect spend can spiral as each site and department makes its own buying decisions.

Efficient, transparent sourcing is essential for keeping costs in check and staying compliant across every purchase.

Unite caters to the chemical industry by letting you safely delegate purchasing to individual locations. The platform gives you visibility into spend per site. You can also bring existing framework agreements into the platform to create catalogues of approved suppliers for staff to choose from. You get peace of mind about decentralised spending while staying in control of overall strategy and costs.

Unite gives you the convenience of dealing with one contact, one contract and one credito – no matter how many suppliers you use.

This has been crucial for saving time and simplifying processes at Arkema, a chemical brand with over 21,100 staff across 55 countries. Arkema uses Unite to delegate tail spend, allowing staff to concentrate on high-value tasks and strategic procurement decisions. Learn how Arkema drives procurement efficiency with Unite.

Pharmaceutical

The pharmaceutical industry is fast-paced and highly regulated. Strategic procurement is essential for delivering innovations quickly and within budget. Robust supply chains are also crucial for the timely production of essential medicines.

Unite for pharmaceutical brands helps you comply with quality controls while managing the cost and efficiency of your tail spend:

• Secure your supply chain: Access millions of products from vetted suppliers on a single platform. It’s easy to find alternative suppliers if one can’t meet your needs, which helps your business stay agile and competitive.

• Comply with regulations: Visibility into supplier and product standards makes sure the items you source meet the right regulations.

• Control costs and workloads: Unite’s Smart Basket feature ensures you get the best deals. You can automate routine tasks to reduce operational costs, plus you get the time-saving benefits of dealing with a single contact, contract and creditor.

Transport and logistics

Efficient procurement is essential for transport and logistics firms. The industry is vulnerable to global trade dynamics, plus it faces labour shortages, rising fuel costs and pressure to cut CO₂ emissions. Logistics is the backbone of commerce, so disruptions in this industry have a knock-on effect in other sectors.

Procurement plays a strategic role in facing these challenges. Many firms are looking to digital transformation in procurement to build resilient supply chains – like LGI, a market leader with over 5,000 employees.

LGI uses Unite for transport firms to unify processes and streamline tail spend. A standardised P2P process lets the company safely decentralise purchasing. This gives hundreds of staff access to a huge product assortment from approved supplier catalogues.

The result is shorter lead times, reduced costs and greater supply chain resilience. Read LGI’s procurement success story here.

Why choose Unite?

You can tailor Unite’s B2B procurement platform with integrated marketplace to the needs and priorities of your business. You get the tools to speed up purchasing, strengthen supply chains and hit ESG goals.

Access a broad B2B assortment across 12 European countries. All suppliers are pre-vetted, and you get the convenience of dealing with a single contact, contract and creditor.