Construction

According to the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS), the UK construction industry consists of over 300,000 firms employing over 2 million people and contributes to around 8% of the nation’s GVA (Gross Value Added). 

The sector is defined as one which embraces construction materials and products; suppliers and producers; building services manufacturers, providers and installers; contractors, sub-contractors, professionals, advisors and construction clients and those organisations that are relevant to the design, build, operation and refurbishment of buildings. Electronic trading is playing an increasingly important role in driving efficiencies across the sector and improving the effectiveness of the relationships between the various stakeholders.

Science Warehouse’s procure-to-pay solution has been optimised for the construction sector. With a catalogue management service at its core, the solution ensures full supplier enablement and accurate catalogue content. The tight control and security settings ensure compliance to contract and cuts out maverick spend whilst the product comparison tool provides maximum visibility for users to find the product or service they want at the best available price.

One Science Warehouse customer identified an 11% saving across its purchasing spend using this tool alone; over £100,000 per £1 million of spend.

Our partnership with Coins

COINS-eCatalogue is the leading e-trading exchange for the construction sector. It brings buyers and suppliers together into an online trading community to drive effective, efficient and fully automated purchase-to-pay processes. COINS’ blue chip customer base and Science Warehouse’s class-leading e-catalogue technology delivers a powerful combination for the construction industry.

Users include leading contractors such as Laing O’Rourke, Bovis Lend Lease, May Gurney, NG Bailey and Trant as well as their suppliers. The latter include Arnold Laver, Burdens, Eugene Harrington, Greenhams, Hilti, KEM Edwards, OfficeTeam and Parker Merchanting to name a few.

How does the Science Warehouse catalogue management service drive better decision making?

The catalogue management service provided by Science Warehouse ensures that supplier catalogues are accurately mapped to the right categories and classification codes (such as UNSPSC and WBS) are kept up to date with the latest price information. Data is enhanced where necessary to create high quality content including images and extended descriptions. This delivers a dynamic centralised catalogue of all key suppliers’ products and services, from aggregates to safety boots, held in a uniform format with a single user experience.

• Users can quickly and easily find the products they want
• By searching across all contracted suppliers simultaneously, users can identify alternative items they may have not considered previously
• Users can use the compare tool to display like-for-like products or services from different suppliers, to find the items they want at the best available price
• Users see all the information they need – at the point of purchase – to make an informed buying decision

Whilst buyers may negotiate fantastic deals with individual suppliers, unless purchasers have full visibility across those deals and an easy way to make fast and informed buying decisions, the projected savings from the contracts will never be delivered.

Contact us today to find out how you can benefit from using the Science Warehouse P2P solution.