CODELCO (Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile) - SAP Innovation Awards 2026

Finalist in the Procurement Visionary category: Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, automated RFQs to ensure operational continuity and drive efficiency at scale. The solution integrated SAP Ariba and SAP BTP, providing real-time visibility, reducing cycle times, and increasing productivity while maintaining compliance and transparency. Entry 26058 Download the Document

Innovation StoryPUBLICTail-spend Auto-RFQ for theSpot marketCodelcoMiningProcurement Visionary
Automating Request for Quotations(RFQs) to Ensure Operational Continu-ity and Drive Efficiency at ScaleCodelco, the world’s largest copper producer, faced a critical challenge: managing nearly 200 daily spottenders across multiple divisions to secure essential stock, in an environment where operational continuitycannot fail. These processes demanded precision, agility, and real-time visibility, while handling thousandsof ongoing transactions and hundreds of suppliers under extremely tight response times. At the same time,the company needed to replace its SAP Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) reaching end-of-lifeand migrate to SAP Ariba without disrupting operations. The stakes were high: failure could compromiseproduction, regulatory compliance, and global competitiveness. This transformation was not just abouttechnologyit was about safeguarding resilience, strengthening transparency, and enabling a new era ofefficiency and sustainability in procurement.2© 2026 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC
EXECUTIVE SUMMARYCHALLENGE SOLUTION OUTCOMETail-spend Auto-RFQ for the Spot market High Volatility: Managing approximately 200 daily tendersin the spot market with critical response times. Technological Obsolescence: Urgent need to replace SAPSRM with SAP Ariba without interrupting operations. Operational Complexity: Thousands of simultaneousprocesses requiring public traceability and strict regulatorycompliance.Comprehensive Automation: Implementation of an Auto-RFQsystem integrated with SAP Ariba.Sourcing Control Tower: Custom development in SAP BTPfor complete visibility of the purchasing cycle.Native Integration: Seamless connection from MRP Live inSAP S/4HANA to the publication of events in SAP Ariba. Proven Scalability: Increase from approximately 71,000 toapproximately 79,000 positions managed annually. Process Efficiency: Increased position-to-RFQ ratio (from1.52 to 1.66). Time Reduction: The purchase cycle decreased from peaksof 32 days to a range of 26-29 days.200 Daily spotpurchases 100% Full processvisibility 10% Reduction in thecycle1,66Positions/RFQ Ratio26-29 DaysCurrent buying cycle
Project detailsPROJECT OBJECTIVES USE CASEDEPLOYMENT COUNTRY DEPLOYMENT DATE NUMBER OF END USERS TRANSACTION VOLUME Ensure operational continuity during the migration from SAP SRM (end-of-life in 2024) to SAP Ariba, without interruptions in the purchasing process. Automate the management of nearly 200 daily spot tenders, reducing cycletimes and increasing efficiency. Consolidate positions by category and site to optimize process volume andimprove public traceability. Comply with regulatory requirements and strengthen business resilience,driving efficiency, sustainability, and global competitiveness. Integrate SAP S/4HANA with SAP Ariba Guided Sourcing through a customdevelopment on SAP BTP (Sourcing Control Tower) to guarantee real-timevisibility and agility in decision-making.Codelco leveraged SAP technology to transform its critical spot purchasingprocess.The solution combined SAP Ariba, SAP S/4HANA, and a custom developmenton SAP BTP to automate Requests for Quotation (RFQs), consolidate lineitems, and standardize evaluation criteria. The workflow connects MRP Livewith SAP Ariba Guided Sourcing, enabling automatic event publication andthe management of thousands of tenders with full traceability.Innovation: Ensuring operational continuity through a seamless documentcutover between SAP SRM and SAP Ariba systems, creating a new SpotPurchasing process from the Go-Live stage. The deployment strategyconsisted of gradually enabling each work center (10 in total), with a one weekinterval between each rollout.From that point onward, all new Purchase Requisitions (PRs) were migratedto the new operating model (PR RFQ SCT (SAP BTP) SAP Ariba).Thisapproach reduced cycle times and increased productivity in a high-pressureenvironment.This project redefines efficiency in tactical materials purchasing for the miningindustry.Chile February 2025 150+ users (procurement andoperations teams) 78.813 line items for bidding (2025)• 4.400 5.000 monthly orders• 350 average invited suppliers• Competitiveness Index: 87%.4© 2026 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC
InnovationsINNOVATIVE USE OF SAP TECHNOLOGYWHY SAPCodelco leveraged SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) to integrateSourcing Control Tower, a custom-built integration layer designed by Kyyte.This innovation connects MRP Live in SAP S/4HANA with SAP Ariba GuidedSourcing, automating the end-to-end RFQ processfrom requirementgeneration to event publication.The solution provides real-time visibility, advanced analytics, and the ability toorchestrate thousands of spot tenders, ensuring agility and compliance. Inaddition, it enables each supplier to clearly view the specific parts andcomponents to be quoted, accelerating processes and fostering greatercompetitiveness. This capability was particularly recognized and valued by thesupplier market following the go-live.Codelco chose SAP for its proven reliability in mission-critical operations andits ability to integrate advanced procurement solutions with ERP systems. As along-standing SAP customer, Codelco trusted SAP’s ecosystem to deliverscalability, security, and innovation aligned with global best practices.This integration through SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP)and SAP Ariba transformed how we manage the tail spend, bringingautomation, visibility, and speed to a process.Andrea Rojas, Supply Excellence Manager, CodelcoThe true innovation was not just technology, but the ability to integrateSAP platforms through SAP BTP to orchestrate complex processes in ahigh pressure environment, ensuring efficiency, sustainability, andglobal competitiveness while maintaining operational continuity during acritical migrationPatricio Aguirre Stephens, Director of Data and Back Office Supply, CodelcoThe Automatic RFQ delivers efficiency and speed, freeing time throughopportunity cost, minimizing human error, and ensuring full traceabilityand auditability. Its simplicity makes the process easy to operate whileautomation handles the workload, enabling users to focus onhigher-value tasks and achieve faster, more reliable sourcing outcomes.Ester Sanhueza, Spot Procurement Lead, Codelco5© 2026 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC