Solar Industries: Engineering a multiplier effect on team productivity and value generation through procurement transformation
Procurement automation drives business momentum
As part of a strategic transformation, Solar Industries India Limited replaced paper-based processes and siloed systems in its procurement operations with SAP Ariba solutions and SAP Business Network. Now with centralized supplier management and a connected source-to-pay process, the company has optimized spend management and empowered its finance team and other stakeholders with timely insights.
| Industry | Region | Company Size | Partner |
| Defense and security | Nagpur, India | >5,000 employees | PwC India |
purchase orders created through SAP Ariba Sourcing.
new and legacy suppliers onboarded to the supplier management tool.
(~US$160 million) of spend awarded through SAP Ariba Sourcing.
Deputy General Manager, Solar Industries India Limited
Maximizing supplier collaboration across the source-to-pay process
Solar Industries India Limited ranks among the world’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of explosives, initiating systems, and ammunitions for customers engaged in mining and quarrying activities, roads and infrastructure projects, and the global defense sector. Founded in 1995, the company has operations that span more than 90 countries, with 40 manufacturing facilities in nine nations producing industrial explosives, detonators, propellants, and other advanced defense technologies.
Recognized for innovations in high-energy explosives and drone-based loitering munitions, Solar Industries invests heavily in R&D and specialized infrastructure, allowing it to fulfill large-volume, long-cycle contracts for customers across the globe.
With the organization achieving success from a strategy focused on readying the business to deliver with scale, speed, and responsibility, Solar Industries turned its attention to modernizing its procurement operations.
Previously, employees and suppliers relied on siloed processes for supplier engagement, with the majority of the procurement collaboration conducted through e-mails. Likewise, the sourcing process revolved around offline systems and spreadsheets. This lack of automation was impeding turnaround times, while a paper-based contract management process increased risk and opportunities for contract leakage. Managing procurement operations in this way also hindered audit trails and knowledge of supplier performance. What’s more, due to a reliance on e-mail for collaboration with suppliers, order verifications and notifications on material in transit could be delayed.
Elevating the source-to-pay process for innovation at speed
With paper-based workflows, manual data entry, and siloed systems hindering its ability to optimize spending and drive strategic sourcing, Solar Industries seized the opportunity to centralize supplier management and streamline its source-to-pay process. The company’s priorities included instigating compliance tracking through the source-to-contract and supplier onboarding processes, capturing audit logs at each step, and enabling functionality to house, manage, and access supplier information, quotes, and responses in a centralized space.
Impressed by the comprehensive scope offered by SAP Ariba solutions and SAP Business Network, Solar Industries invested in the SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance, SAP Ariba Contracts, and SAP Ariba Sourcing solutions. It also integrated the spend management solutions with SAP S/4HANA and configured the SAP Business Network Commerce Automation solution.
Covering the transaction flows from purchase requisition to purchase order approval, the solutions deliver transparency for internal buyers and suppliers alike, with embedded functionality smoothing the supplier onboarding process. Integrating SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance and SAP S/4HANA through APIs helps mitigate the risk of creating duplicate supplier records with the same goods and services tax and primary account number details.
Solar Industries partnered with PwC India for the implementation, assisted by SAP Preferred Success services. Together they created a standardized global template for the supplier request and registration process, leading to a faster turnaround time, while supplier registration includes an automated workflow and streamlines supplier bank validation. Documents flow from SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance to SAP S/4HANA, facilitating finance team accessibility and consumption.
For sourcing and contract management with SAP Ariba Contracts and SAP Ariba Sourcing, PwC India designed an approval flow that triggers a compliant sourcing and awarding process, featuring automated bid-comparison reports and purchase order creation. Category-based templates were also set up, along with a predefined clause library that was vetted by the legal team. Line-item details are captured from the sourcing event.
In terms of automating business transactions through SAP Business Network Commerce Automation, PwC took charge of the digital integration between buyers and suppliers and configured account number transaction rules to strengthen compliance. Using SAP Business Network to enable the exchange of purchase orders with suppliers, a custom solution integrates manual remittances with SAP Business Network Commerce Automation, providing greater visibility for suppliers.
See the figure for the SAP solution architecture.
Manager and Implementation Lead, Solar Industries India Limited
Improving the invoice processing cycle through touchless transactions
By implementing SAP Ariba solutions as part of its strategic procurement transformation, Solar Industries has digitalized transaction flows from purchase requisition to purchase order creation, enabling transparency at each stage. In this connected ecosystem, end users can create purchase requisitions with one click. Automation in the approval process for purchase orders speeds process efficiency and turnaround times.
The once-paper-based supplier onboarding process has been replaced by streamlined self-service functionality and a more modern user experience, with more than 500 new and 1,000 legacy suppliers onboarded. Operating on a centralized and harmonized system allows the company to pursue a central procurement services model and drive consistent purchase policies across its enterprise, improving supplier collaboration and transparency.
A major impact of the transformation concerns the human experience and freeing the finance team from managing procurement activities using spreadsheets. Through automation, more than 25,000 purchase orders have been created since go-live, allowing real-time visibility of purchase order acceptance and more-timely follow-ups. Multiple dashboard views provide real-time updates that help buyers and suppliers gain visibility across the number of new, open, confirmed, and shipped orders. So far, the organization has awarded more than Rs14 billion (~US$160 million) of spend through SAP Ariba Sourcing and directed Rs22.5 billion (~US$256 million) of spend through SAP Business Network.
Solar Industries is also benefiting from a digital audit flow that enables robust compliance and reporting, dashboards that show key performance indicators at a glance, and stronger supplier relationships with preferred supplier buying.
CIO, Solar Industries India Limited
Featured partner
PwC India is part of a global tech-forward, people-empowered network with more than 370,000 employees in 149 countries who focus on helping clients turn complexity into competitive advantage. Providing proven expertise and experience, PwC India led the implementation of SAP Ariba solutions and integration with SAP S/4HANA at Solar Industries, optimizing supplier management and digitalizing the source-to-pay process.