Manufacturing · Consulting, Technology
Purchase requisition approval workflow linked to ERP for a manufacturer
A manufacturing firm in Gujarat raised purchase requisitions on paper and chased multi level approvals by phone, so plants waited and finance had no view of committed spend. A low code procurement workflow with value based approval routing, email alerts and an audit trail now runs alongside its ERP, and approval cycles are 60% faster.
60%Faster approval cycles for purchase requisitions- Client
- A mid sized engineering components manufacturer with two plants in Gujarat
- Region
- India
- Sponsor
- CFO and the head of purchase
- Duration
- 12 weeks to go live at the first plant, second plant four weeks later
Engagement model
O2E: Output Oriented Engagement
Scope was a defined set of outputs: the requisition to purchase order workflow, the approval matrix, the ERP integration and the tracking dashboard, each signed off by the CFO.
How O2E worksThe team
- Procurement process consultant1
- Workflow engineer2
- ERP integration engineer1
- QA engineer (shared)1
The challenge
Where things stood
- Purchase requisitions were filled in on paper at the plants and carried between departments for signatures.
- Approvals passed through the department head, plant head, purchase and finance, and a single absent approver could hold up a requisition for days.
- Nobody could see where a requisition stood, so stores and production called the purchase team several times a day.
- Finance only saw spend once a purchase order was in the ERP, too late to question it against the budget.
The approach
How we ran it
Weeks 1 to 3
Approval matrix and process design
We documented every requisition type, from consumables and spares to capital items, and agreed an approval matrix with the CFO based on value, cost centre and category.
Weeks 3 to 8
Requisition workflow build
Built modular requisition and approval flows in AksharAI with role based approvers, value thresholds, delegation when an approver is on leave and automated email alerts with reminders.
Weeks 6 to 11
ERP integration
Connected the workflow to the existing SAP system so item masters, vendor lists and budgets are read live, and an approved requisition creates a purchase requisition in SAP without re-entry.
Weeks 11 to 16
Rollout and training
Went live at the first plant with stores and production supervisors, fixed what they found, then rolled out to the second plant with the same approval matrix.
What it looks like
Representative screens
Drawn to show the kind of system we delivered. Client screens and data stay private.
PR-VAD-25-0731, raw material
- Item
- EN8 steel round bar, 40 mm, 12 tonnes
- Preferred vendor
- Supplier S-027, GSTIN 24AAKFS4821M1Z3
- Estimated value
- ₹6,85,000 plus 18% GST
- Cost centre
- VAD-PRD-02, machining line
- Budget remaining
- ₹22,40,000 of ₹60,00,000 for Q3
- Required by
- 24 Oct 2025
- Raised by production supervisor
- Approved by department head
- Approved by plant head
- CFO approval, above ₹5,00,000
- Purchase requisition created in SAP
What we delivered
Modules and features
- Digital purchase requisition form with item and vendor lookup from the ERP
- Approval matrix by value, category and cost centre, editable by finance
- Delegation rules for approvers on leave or travelling
- Email alerts and reminders at each approval step
- Automatic creation of approved requisitions in SAP
- Full audit trail of who approved what, when and with which comments
- Live dashboard of requisition status for finance and operations
What changed
Outcomes
- 60%Faster approval cycles for purchase requisitions
- Every requisition tracked from the plant to the purchase order
- Finance and operations see pending and approved spend
Figures as reported by the client.
Technology used
Solutions
Industry and platforms
Looking back
The approval matrix on paper had more exceptions than anyone remembered, and the first two weeks live surfaced several of them, such as urgent breakdown spares that could not wait for four approvals. We added an emergency route with a post facto approval, and we would design for that from the start next time. Reading item and vendor masters live from SAP was the right call: an earlier idea to copy them nightly would have left the plants raising requisitions against vendors finance had already blocked.
Start a conversation
Discuss a similar project
Tell us where your team is today and we will walk you through how a project like this would run for you under O2E. The first conversation is free. Delivery work is paid only after you accept it.
A specialist replies within one working day. The first conversation is free.