Procure-to-order system rollout

The Challenge

Our client sites across Southeast Asia and Africa were ordering medical supplies and services through a patchwork of email threads and Excel spreadsheets. Site managers had no centralized platform, procurement teams had no visibility into spending patterns, and compliance with GAPP (Good Automated Procurement Practices) approval workflows was inconsistent—hovering around 90% in SEA and 83% in Africa.

Leadership had successfully piloted Coupa, an off-the-shelf procurement platform, in Australia and wanted to roll it out globally. The business case was clear: eliminate manual ordering errors, create digital approval trails for GAPP compliance, and unlock procurement insights like share of wallet and product trends to optimize supplier partnerships.

But I had concerns. Coupa was designed for standardized procurement workflows, and our client sites operated with significant regional variation. I flagged that forcing an off-the-shelf tool onto unstandardized processes would expose gaps that couldn't be solved with configuration alone—they'd require fundamental process redesign. Leadership pushed ahead anyway. My role became: implement the tool, surface the gaps, and let the data prove where process change was needed.

The Approach

I structured the rollout in two regional waves:

Southeast Asia (Dec 2018 – Jun 2019):
The primary challenge here wasn't technical—it was adoption. Site managers were comfortable with email and Excel, and saw Coupa as unnecessary overhead. I needed to demonstrate value, not just mandate change.

Africa (Jun 2019 – Dec 2019):
Training was the bigger hurdle. Teams were geographically dispersed, internet connectivity was inconsistent, and email-based GAPP approvals were deeply embedded in daily operations. But Africa also became the proving ground for my hypothesis: the tool would expose process inefficiencies that had been hidden in manual workflows.

As project manager, I owned setup, training, and user onboarding. But I also positioned the implementation as a diagnostic exercise—intentionally tracking where the system didn't align with reality, knowing that data would validate the need for deeper process work.

The Solution

SEA Rollout (6 months):

• Built a benefits case grounded in visibility and accountability, not efficiency alone: "Know what every site is buying, when, and from whom—in real time."
• Ran pilot workshops with early adopter site managers, using their success stories to convince peers
• Configured Coupa's approval workflows to digitize GAPP processes, creating audit trails that replaced email chains
• Delivered region-wide training via a mix of in-person sessions and recorded tutorials

Africa Rollout (6 months):

• Adapted training for low-bandwidth environments, creating offline reference guides and simplified workflows
• Used the system to surface hidden inefficiencies: duplicate orders, non-compliant approvals, and procurement bottlenecks that were invisible in email-based processes
• Worked with regional leadership to address structural issues the tool revealed—including uncompetitive supplier contracts and overstaffing in procurement functions

Key Innovation:
I didn't try to force-fit processes into Coupa's standard workflows. Instead, I documented every misalignment and used it as evidence for process redesign conversations. The tool became both the solution and the diagnostic.

The Results

Compliance:

• SEA: GAPP compliance improved from 90% to 100%
• Africa: GAPP compliance improved from 83% to 100%
• All procurement approvals now had digital audit trails, eliminating compliance gaps

Procurement Visibility:

• SEA: Share of wallet tracking enabled partnerships with preferred suppliers, increasing share from 60% to 90%
• Africa: Revealed that company-provided supply solutions were uncompetitive, leading to strategic pivot and supplier renegotiations

Operational Efficiency:

• Africa: Exposed process redundancies, enabling redeployment of 3 FTEs to higher-value projects
• All regions: Eliminated "lost in translation" order errors from email/Excel workflows

Cultural Shift: Site managers initially resistant to the platform became advocates once they experienced real-time visibility into their spending and faster approval cycles.

What I Learned

Implementing off-the-shelf tools on unstandardized processes is a diagnostic exercise, not just a deployment. I knew Coupa wouldn't seamlessly align with on-the-ground workflows, and I raised those concerns early. But the most valuable outcome wasn't the tool itself—it was the process gaps the tool exposed.

In Africa, the system revealed inefficiencies that had been masked by manual workflows for years: redundant headcount, uncompetitive supplier contracts, and approval bottlenecks. Leadership initially resisted redesigning processes to fit the tool, but when the data showed where we were losing money and time, the conversation shifted from "why doesn't the tool work?" to "why are our processes broken?"

The lesson: sometimes the best way to prove the need for process change is to implement the tool anyway and let the misalignments speak for themselves. Don't hide gaps—surface them, document them, and use them as evidence for deeper transformation.

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