How ELT Group achieved a time and resource saving of one-third with Unite

Optimising procurement processes

ELT Group was founded in 1951 in Italy. It operates in the defence sector and has been one of Europe’s industry leaders since the 1970s. Today, ELT Group is active in 11 countries across four continents and has also expanded to the cyber, space and biodefence sectors. 

Up until 2022, ELT Group was struggling to cover its indirect procurement activity, which was spread across dozens of internal stakeholders and several departments via punch-out catalogues. The procurement process involved more than ten steps, including market research, order requests, orders approvals, order setup in SAP and lengthy approval and order management processes. 

On top of this, internal users often struggled to source niche items, leading to ad-hoc purchases via e-commerce sites or one-off suppliers, paid for by credit card. These unoptimised purchasing habits led the company to experience difficulties in managing suppliers and, most notably, a considerable effort in terms of time and resources. 

An effective solution 

Having already begun connecting indirect supplier catalogues via punchout, ELT Group was looking for a new platform. It wanted a solution that could do the same for many other indirect materials that its existing e-procurement platform didn’t cover. 

After some research and analyses, ELT Group identified Unite’s procurement solution as the right match to cover its current business needs. Thanks to Unite’s technology, which supports punchout on all major ERPs and management systems, ELT Group was able to connect the platform to its existing architecture on SAP Ariba and start automating its procurement processes. 

Using the Mercateo Marketplace for ad-hoc orders proved to be an effective strategy. Its catalogue gives users access to over 100 million items across more than 12 categories. It also features hundreds of vetted and pre-integrated suppliers, laying the foundation for a secure and fair procurement environment. The easy-to-use item comparison features and convenient Single Creditor Solution let ELT Group’s users manage their ad-hoc purchases through a standardised process, eliminating the need for lengthy and complex procurement steps. 

ELT Group also decided to activate BusinessShops with dedicated suppliers through the Unite Network and agreed on individual conditions for packaging materials and tools. The business gave all its departments access to Unite, with a spending cap to keep costs under control. 

Getting users on board 

Unite worked with ELT Group to further support its end users in familiarising themselves with the new tool by running dedicated training sessions. This onboarding plan was a great success and resulted in widespread use of the platform with high levels of satisfaction thanks to Unite’s intuitiveness. This led to the first positive results within less than six months after the business started using Unite. 

Faster procurement times and optimised processes

Integrating Unite’s solution helped ELT speed up indirect purchasing processes and simplify how it handles invoicing processes thanks to having only one creditor for all purchases made on the platform. 

After an analysis of purchases made using standard methods compared to those made on Unite, ELT Group has recorded a reduction in management costs related to issuing and approving purchase requests and purchase orders within the relevant scope. 

“For the ELT Group, it took about three weeks to complete a ‘standard’ order for indirect categories, because our process involved multiple approval levels and about ten stakeholders. A punch-out order, on the other hand, only takes a few days of processing and a third of the personnel”, explains Alberto Angeli, Category Specialist at ELT Group. He adds, “in 2023, we placed many orders via Unite and managed to save the equivalent of one third of the time and resources we’d been spending previously.”

Next steps with Unite 

The platform is used across all product categories, but the most popular ones currently are Professional and Industrial Tools, Information and Communication Technology, and Stationery. ELT Group plans to also use the Unite Procurement Portal and Mercateo Marketplace for other product categories to reduce lead times.

As sustainability becomes an increasingly important part of ELT Group’s procurement strategy, there’s a big shift towards low-emission products. Unite already provides generic CO₂e data for every item ordered on Unite, helping suppliers to meet regulations and stay compliant.