Customer Stories
Los Alamos National Laboratory Scales Procurement and External Workforce Management
Explore Los Alamos National Laboratory’s journey with SAP
At the forefront of science and innovation for 80 years, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is undergoing significant expansion. To support this growth, the organization chose SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass solutions to streamline procurement and contingent labor management with digitalized and automated processes.
Growth in purchasing spend in two years.
To process commercial transactions under US$250,000, down from 30 days
Projected increase in contingent labor over a two-year period
SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass solutions have enabled us to drastically change the way we do business, so we can grow rapidly and support an important national security mission.
Christine Hipp
Head of Procurement Center of Excellence, Los Alamos National Laboratory
The Challenge
Manual processes can’t keep up with tremendous growth
Los Alamos National Laboratories (LANL) is expanding fast. The organization aims to grow its contingent workforce by over 250% in the next few years. Spend has already doubled in the last two years – and continues to grow.
To keep pace with this growth, LANL had to change that way it managed procurement and its contingent workforce. It needed to replace paper-based, time-consuming, manual processes with streamlined and automated digital workflows.
LANL sought an integrated, standardized technology foundation that would enable it to scale procurement operations quickly while also meeting the compliance demands of a highly regulated environment.
The Solution
Automate processes, accelerate workflows, reinforce security
LANL soon realized that SAP solutions could truly transform the way it manages procurement and contingent labor processes, while still meeting strict security protocols.
SAP Fieldglass Contingent Workforce Management and SAP Fieldglass Services Procurement applications support LANL’s external workforce management with an emphasis on efficiency, security, and agility. SAP Ariba solutions provide rich functionality for sourcing, contract, and risk management, as well as supplier performance management, and buying and invoicing.
Impressed by SAP’s road map and the comprehensive capabilities of SAP® Ariba and SAP Fieldglass solutions, the organization decided to implement the software with help from SAP Services and Support. In close collaboration with SAP experts, as well as with extensive consultation with employees and suppliers, LANL’s deployment went smoothly and adoption has been high.
We experienced real synergy in our joint LANL-SAP team. Committed SAP experts helped us push the boundaries of what we can do with the software, enabling us to achieve a truly transformational go-live.
Christine Hipp
Head of Procurement Center of Excellence, Los Alamos National Laboratory
The Result
Automated workflows moving 18x faster than before
With the implementation of SAP solutions, LANL can now rely on digitalized and automated processes to scale its operations, support its organizational growth, and meet strict compliance standards.
Extensive consultation with employees and suppliers meant that the deployment went smoothly and adoption is high. LANL now has the visibility it needs to manage procurement and contingent labor management processes efficiently while meeting the compliance demands of a highly regulated environment. Purchasing workflows are faster and more efficient, enabling the procurement function to scale its operations to support rapid organizational growth. Meanwhile, the supplier experience has improved, with increased transparency of opportunities and faster invoice processing.
With digitalized procurement processes enabled by SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass, we can scale our operations to support rapid organization growth.
Drew Fuller
Chief Procurement Officer, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Future Plans
Continuous innovation with an ambitious roadmap
LANL looks forward to continuous innovation in SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass solutions based on an ambitious roadmap and SAP’s ability to easily customize and optimize software configurations according to changing needs. There is also an opportunity for future integration with SAP Concur and SAP SuccessFactors solutions to further support connected processes within an intelligent enterprise.
SAP helps LANL run better
Key business outcomes and benefits
- Keep pace with rapid operational growth
- Digitalize and automate manual processes
- Meet strict compliance requirements
- Establish a standardized, integrated digital foundation
- Provide comprehensive reporting
Featured solutions and services
- SAP Fieldglass Contingent Workforce Management helps initiate, engage, manage, and complete all projects with contingent workers with one cloud-based application.
- SAP Fieldglass Services Procurement simplifies how projects with external, people-based services providers are initiated, engaged, managed, and completed.
- SAP Ariba solutions connect virtually every step and piece of data across the entire source-to-pay process, so you can increase speed and strengthen control over spending.
- SAP Signature Management with DocuSign lets people inside and outside an organization to securely access, sign, and send documents electronically — anywhere, anytime, and on any device.
About Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has been a leader in science and innovation for 80 years. Their mission is to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the U.S. nuclear deterrent, reduce global threats, and solve emerging national security and energy challenges.