JAKARTA — The Indonesian banking industry has experienced significant improvement during 2022, marked by high profitability and consistent growth, as well as stability that allows sustainable development. According to PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Indonesia is one of the countries with the largest economic growth in the world in the 21st century. Now, the banking industry is undergoing a massive digital transformation phase to keep up with the fast-paced business environment.
For this reason Bank KB Bukopin has undergone a digital transformation to increase efficiency in their business model. The transformation at Bank KB Bukopin itself began with replacing its procurement process from a traditional system to a digital one. To implement this transformation, Bank KB Bukopin uses SAP Ariba Discovery to run its e-procurement system.
I Putu Adi Saputra, Head of Asset Management & Procurement of KB Bukopin explained the company’s commitment to digital transformation for the efficiency of its operational activities. “Digital transformation in the banking sector means redefining business processes in this digital era. The four main areas of digital transformation are process, technology, data, and organizational change. At Bank KB Bukopin itself, we started with the support of SAP Ariba Discovery for the procurement process,” he explained.
Digital transformation in the banking industry refers to the integration of technology to automate, optimize and digitize processes. Banks that carry out digital transformation can generally expect cost reductions and simplification of operational processes. This development in operational activities also encourages employees by enhancing their digital skills to keep up with this fast-changing online reality. The transformation also opens opportunities for anyone who wants to survive and achieve success more easily.
Andreas Diantoro, Managing Director of SAP Indonesia stated that the application of SAP Ariba Discovery in the banking system of Bank KB Bukopin is aligned with SAP’s mission in Indonesia. “SAP innovation is indeed focused on preparing technology to strengthen digital transformation companies. The expectation is that technology can be integrated into business processes, so that decision makers are assisted by having automated recommendations based on data throughout the entire process. Of course this is very important in the Indonesian banking industry, including Bank KB Bukopin,” said Andreas.
Broadly speaking, the banking industry is often known to have a multi-way bureaucratic system because its business model requires a high-level of security. Every transaction that occurs between companies and consumers needs to be closely and strictly monitored. One of the efforts that can be done is to carry out strategic and systematic reforms to create a service system that is not only safe and efficient, but also secure and integrated.
“By relying on service efficiency, an integrated digital system has proven to be essential for operations at KB Bukopin. We have also succeeded in increasing the Service Level Agreement (SLA) that we run. Of course this is expected to lead to increased efficiency and in turn affect services to customers. By optimizing the digitalized system, KB Bukopin is trying to speed up the required time for procurement and data-based decision making to improve the business process experience so that the digital integration process can run smoothly,” said Putu.
After some time, KB Bukopin began to experience a number of benefits, including the availability of an integrated system for the company’s business operations, which made the SAP Ariba Discovery one of the main and most reliable solutions. In addition, during its implementation, the procurement process, namely distribution, receipt of goods and documents, as well as approval, has become faster and more efficient.
“This transformation has proven to bring many benefits. First, from the speed of the process, we used to have to go around carrying document folders for any approval process. Now with Ariba, things like human error can be minimized and made the process much faster. Second, in the past, if a branch needed something, it needed to be done by request . Now it can be done directly in the system (Ariba). Everything will be easily fulfilled and tracked, which is also very helpful,” added Putu.
As a follow-up to the success in the early stages, the implementation of digital transformation which is currently being intensified will soon be scaled up. Currently, KB Bukopin has implemented SAP Ariba Discovery at the head office and all branch offices. The scope of procurement that has been carried out through SAP Ariba is around 80% of branch expenditures while 50% of departmental expenditures have been carried out at the head office with the SAP solution. This percentage will increase, and is targeted that 90%-95% of general expenditures and administration are done through SAP Ariba, so that any control over the procurement process can be carried out more effectively.
“We hope that our SAP solution that has been implemented can help Bank KB Bukopin in modernizing their main business processes to create a strong and resilient business in each of its ranks, and is oriented towards sustainability. We hope that the digital transformation at Bank KB Bukopin will be more solid and we are always ready to support Bank KB Bukopin’s digital transformation,” concluded Andreas Diantoro.
