Fujitsu is a global leader in business, information technology, and communication solutions, with the vision to “harness the power of technology innovation to benefit society as a whole”. Aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goal agenda, one initiative of their sustainable development goals is Fujitsu’s Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), a commitment to partner with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and businesses for a shared, equitable, and prosperous future. To achieve this, Fujitsu has adopted SAP Ariba, a cutting-edge solution designed to foster a more inclusive and diverse supply chain.
Recognising its third-party suppliers as true partners impacting its customers directly, Fujitsu prioritised enhancing its procurement function for better governance, compliance, and visibility. It faced challenges like limited visibility of active supplier contracts, lack of a centralised platform for spend data, and a fragmented procurement function. Fujitsu created a dedicated dashboard to track spending with First Nations suppliers and developed a focused buying channel, boosting their product engagement. The results were remarkable: the spend with First Nations suppliers surged from $200,000 to over $4.0 million in a few years.
This transition wasn’t limited to just supplier diversity. Fujitsu has also automated and streamlined its procurement processes, established a standardised hub for end-to-end procurement activities offshore, and built a central contract repository with over 2,000 workspaces. This transformation significantly enhanced Fujitsu’s procure-to-pay (P2P) processing efficiency and compliance, with all internal use purchase orders now managed in Ariba P2P while fully integrated with Fujitsu Financial Limited of Authority.
With Ariba’s Supplier Lifecycle and Performance (SLP) module, Fujitsu embedded a robust supplier management framework, giving visibility to over 380 total supplier lifecycle projects and more than 300 supplier request/registration projects. This reduced new vendor processing time by over 65%. The Ariba Supplier Risk Module now provides full coverage for risk monitoring and compliance assessment, enhancing Fujitsu’s capability to manage supplier performance effectively.
Moreover, the establishment of the Fujitsu Central Contract Repository has led to over 600 active contract workspaces, with 30% of contracts operationalized for downstream P2P. The launch of the Fujitsu First Nations Supplier portal through Ariba’s Guided Buying platform marks another significant stride, enhancing user experience and driving supplier diversity & inclusion initiatives. Fujitsu has achieved over $4.5M in spend with First Nations suppliers to date and an impressive $12.5M+ per annum spend with SME partners since the program’s launch.
These accomplishments underline Fujitsu’s commitment to sustainable, diverse, and inclusive supply chains, reflecting its mission of making a positive impact on environmental sustainability and empowering local communities. Nicole Forrester, APAC Vice President, Purpose, People & Culture, said, “SAP Ariba is an enabler for Fujitsu in creating a prosperous, vibrant, and sustainable Indigenous engagement.”
Fujitsu’s journey shows SAP Ariba’s transformative power in creating a business-centric model, integrating the procurement operations team into various business units, and driving initiatives such as RAP. Ariba’s scalability enables the creation of operational support hubs and business process standardisation across the APAC region, reflecting Fujitsu’s vision of a centralised business model.
In leveraging the power of SAP Ariba, Fujitsu has made a paradigm shift towards more inclusive, efficient, and sustainable procurement practices. Their journey underlines the transformative potential of Ariba for organisations striving for operational excellence and a more equitable, sustainable world.