Webinar Recording: Preparing for AI in Procurement with Atlantic ZEISER: What Procurement Must Deliver Today to Be AI-Ready for the Future

Procurement needs agile systems to continuously evolve, use AI effectively, and work proactively with data. Artificial intelligence offers enormous potential here: From automated order quantity optimization to linking customer databases to AI-powered supplier bundling, it can revolutionize the entire process and elevate procurement to a new strategic level.

In our exclusive live webinar "Preparing for AI in Procurement with Atlantic ZEISER: What Procurement Must Deliver Today to Be AI-Ready in the Future," with Thomas Wronski, Procurement Supervisor at Atlantic ZEISER, and Karoline Rückerl, Head of Customer Development at Tacto, we explain how an SRM system brings light to the black box of your ERP processes and paves the way for successful Procurement 4.0.

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Atlantic ZEISER, a leading manufacturer of equipment for digital printing solutions, faced typical procurement challenges: high manual effort in searching for metrics, high opacity, and outdated data due to the black box ERP system resulted in reactive rather than strategic procurement function.

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Digitizing supplier assessment with Tacto enabled Atlantic ZEISER to centrally collect all relevant data, automate processes, and gain transparency over the entire supplier landscape. This transformation laid the foundation for the company to move beyond problem-solving and begin preparing for AI-driven procurement.

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The Current State: Reactivity Instead of Strategy

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Many companies find themselves in a similar situation to Atlantic ZEISER: The ERP system captures transaction data—purchases, invoices, delivery times—but this data is often dispersed across different modules and difficult to access for analysis and strategic decision-making. This lack of transparency forces procurement to operate reactively:

• Problem-Solving Mode: Procurement reacts to immediate issues—late deliveries, quality problems, cost overruns—rather than preventing them proactively
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• Limited Analytics: Extracting meaningful insights from ERP data requires significant manual effort, if it's possible at all
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• No Data Foundation for AI: Without clean, structured, accessible procurement data, companies cannot even begin to implement AI solutions
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The Solution: SRM as the Foundation for AI in Procurement

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This is where a specialized SRM (Supplier Relationship Management) system like Tacto comes in. By implementing an SRM system, companies like Atlantic ZEISER created a structured data foundation specifically designed for procurement analytics and AI:

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1. Data Consolidation and Cleaning

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An SRM system consolidates supplier data from multiple sources into a single, authoritative database:

• Supplier master data (contact information, certifications, payment terms)
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• Performance metrics (on-time delivery, quality ratings, cost history)
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• Contract information (terms, pricing, renewal dates)
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• Compliance and risk data (certifications, audits, sanctions screening)
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2. Process Automation

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With structured data comes the ability to automate routine processes:

• Automated supplier scorecards based on real-time performance data
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• Triggered alerts for at-risk suppliers or contract renewals
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• Standardized workflows for supplier onboarding, assessments, and audits
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3. Transparency and Strategic Insights

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With data centralized and clean, procurement gains visibility and can answer strategic questions:

• Which suppliers perform best against our criteria?
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• Where are our biggest spending concentrations and dependencies?
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• Which suppliers are at risk due to compliance, financial, or performance issues?
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The AI-Ready Future: From Data Foundation to Intelligent Automation

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With a solid SRM foundation in place, companies can now begin exploring AI applications in procurement. The potential is substantial:

• Predictive Analytics: AI models can predict supplier performance, identify at-risk suppliers before problems occur, and forecast price trends
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• Intelligent Recommendations: AI can recommend the best suppliers for specific needs, optimal order quantities, and ideal procurement timing
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• Automated Categorization: AI can automatically categorize products and suppliers, keeping procurement data organized and current
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• Natural Language Processing: AI can extract relevant information from contracts, purchase orders, and supplier communications
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• Spend Optimization: AI algorithms can analyze spending patterns and recommend consolidation opportunities, alternative suppliers, and negotiation strategies
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However, none of these AI applications are possible without the foundational work that an SRM system enables. This is why companies like Atlantic ZEISER recognize that preparing for AI in procurement is not primarily a technology question—it's a data question. The companies that invest now in establishing a solid data foundation through SRM will be best positioned to leverage AI for competitive advantage as the technology matures.

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What Procurement Must Do Today

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To be truly AI-ready in the future, procurement departments should focus on these key areas today:

• Implement an SRM System: Consolidate all supplier and procurement data in one system specifically designed for procurement analytics
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• Establish Data Governance: Create standards and processes to ensure data quality, consistency, and accessibility
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• Automate Routine Processes: Use SRM capabilities to eliminate manual tasks and free up resources for strategic work
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• Build Analytical Capabilities: Develop skills and processes for analyzing procurement data and deriving insights
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• Create a Culture of Data-Driven Decision Making: Encourage procurement teams to use data and insights to make decisions
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The webinar with Thomas Wronski and Karoline Rückerl will explore these topics in detail, sharing real-world examples from Atlantic ZEISER and other companies preparing for the AI-driven future of procurement.

In our exclusive live webinar "Preparing for AI in Procurement with Atlantic ZEISER: What Procurement Must Deliver Today to Be AI-Ready in the Future," with Thomas Wronski, Procurement Supervisor at Atlantic ZEISER, and Karoline Rückerl, Head of Customer Development at Tacto, we show how an SRM system brings light to the black box of your ERP processes and paves the way for successful Procurement 4.0.