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Customer Stories

Air Canada: Overcoming turbulence through agility and automation with SAP Ariba solutions

Explore Air Canada’s journey with SAP

As one of the largest airlines in the world, travelers rely on Air Canada to get them from point A to point B safely, comfortably, and economically. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the company’s procurement team was able to change course midflight, saving costs and supporting business continuity with SAP Ariba solutions.

51

 million+

passengers a year to 220 destinations.

167

%

increase in processing spend volume, improving control.

33

%

less time to process non-PO invoices.

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Coralyn Ahmoy
Director Strategic Procurement, Center of Excellence / Air Canada

SAP Ariba solutions have increased our agility during a time of great uncertainty for our industry.

The Challenge

Managing costs and business continuity in volatile times

When the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic, the world came to a grinding halt. With global lockdowns and constantly shifting travel restrictions, airline passenger traffic collapsed.

 

Air Canada had already been undergoing its digital transformation to improve experiences and business processes. As part of the transformation, the flag carrier wanted to implement a fully integrated suite of procurement solutions to increase automation and gain a consolidated view of spend.

 

Little did the company know that unified and streamlined procurement would help it address the unprecedented disruption to its business in the days, months, and years ahead.

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Coralyn Ahmoy
Director Strategic Procurement, Center of Excellence / Air Canada

SAP Ariba solutions’ streamlined, simplified procurement processes are helping our teams perform at their best.

The Solution

Taking off with agile procurement in the cloud

Automate manual processes. Check. Reduce paperwork. Check. Increase transparency and compliance and support remote working. Check, check, and check.

 

Like completing a preflight checklist, Air Canada ticked all its strategic procurement requirement boxes with SAP Ariba solutions.

 

The integrated suite of procurement solutions includes SAP Ariba Sourcing to streamline critical tasks and SAP Ariba Contracts to automate and simplify contract management. 

 

SAP Ariba Invoice Management powered the move to paperless invoicing by automating invoice capture, processing, matching, and approvals, while SAP Signature Management by DocuSign, option for SAP Ariba solutions facilitates getting internal signatures.

 

The company also implemented SAP Ariba Buying to maximize efficiency and increase spend control, as well as SAP Business Network to enable buyers and suppliers to collaborate smoothly in a dynamic digital marketplace.

The Result

Flying high with automated, streamlined procurement processes

“Thanks to SAP Ariba solutions, we’re gaining a consolidated view of spend, enhancing process automation and compliance, and contributing to the digital transformation of our organization,” said Coralyn Ah-Moy, Air Canada’s Director of Strategic Procurement, Center of Excellence.

 

The unique software-as-a-service solutions enabled employees to switch overnight to working from home. Automating processes has reduced the administrative burden on staff, enabling them to be more productive with higher-value work while reducing costs.

 

Streamlined contract creation and the automatic conversion of purchase requisitions to purchase orders improved supply chain continuity and reduced risks, particularly important for both the airline and its suppliers during the pandemic. Air Canada’s new business network also delivered the agility needed to withstand the intense disruption caused by COVID-19.

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Coralyn Ahmoy
Director Strategic Procurement, Center of Excellence / Air Canada

With SAP Ariba solutions, Air Canada automated its procurement processes and enabled remote collaboration, supporting operations across six continents.

SAP helps Air Canada run better

Key business outcomes and benefits

  • Increased visibility into procurement processes
  • Greater control of spend volume and spend compliance
  • Guided buying capabilities to help enforce procurement guidelines and best practices
  • Improved business continuity support and agility during the COVID-19 pandemic

Featured solutions and services

  • SAP Business Network allows you to connect and collaborate with any company anytime, anywhere on the world’s largest supplier network.
  • SAP Ariba Buying helps ensure control and compliance between vendors, contracts, regulations, and buyers, and enables dynamic global supplier, process, and budget management.
  • SAP Ariba Contracts enables legal, finance, procurement, and sales operations teams to manage all types of agreements, including procurement, sales, and internal contracts.
  • SAP Ariba Invoice Management handles the complexities of invoice scenarios, including PO, non-PO, maintenance repair and operations (MRO), and service invoices.
  • SAP Ariba Sourcing drives fast, sustainable results by automating and streamlining critical sourcing tasks.
  • SAP Ariba Spend Analysis supports better procurement decisions with clear insight into your company’s total combined spend and suppliers.
  • SAP Signature Management by DocuSign, an option for SAP Ariba  solutions, lets customers, employees, and suppliers e-sign documents from anywhere.
  • Guided buying capability directs buyers to the right items and preferred suppliers with smart guidance, predictive search functionality, and built-in rules and information.

About Air Canada

Air Canada is Canada’s largest domestic and international airline and was among the top 20 largest airlines in the world in 2019. 

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