One-off requirements are spontaneous, unplannable, individual and hard to standardize, which is why they do not fit into established processes.
One-off requirements expose the breaking points of classic procurement processes
At first glance, indirect requirements look like a side issue. A cable here, a spare part there. Small orders that come up at short notice and should not really matter much. Yet it is precisely these requirements that regularly trip up procurement organizations. One-off requirements are spontaneous, unplannable, individual and hard to standardize, which is why they do not fit into established processes.
Operational procurement, however, must follow processes to ensure transparency, compliance and traceability. At the same time, departments expect fast solutions when a requirement is urgent. Anyone trying to guarantee both at once quickly ends up in a contradiction. Rules mean reliability, but also slowness and costs. Speed means flexibility, but often also broken rules and a lack of transparency.
This is exactly what happened at Witzenmann GmbH. As a globally active market leader in its industry, the procurement team there faced a constant stream of one-off requirements. Orders that did not run through the ERP system but had to be handled manually. Every single transaction meant additional effort: writing purchase requisitions, researching suppliers, creating new master data, chasing order confirmations, checking invoices. The actual value of the goods was manageable at an average of €260, but process costs reached up to €140 per order. Extrapolated over the year, with around 300 special requirements annually, this added up to €42,000 in pure process costs.
At this point it became clear that process compliance has its price, and one that no longer bore any relation to the benefit. At the same time, the rules could not simply be relaxed, as that would have created compliance risks. A classic strategic dilemma.
The solution came with Pedlar as a strategic partner. Instead of handling every single indirect requirement manually, Pedlar took over the entire processing as the central creditor. Witzenmann only had to set up Pedlar once in the system, and from then on all one-off requirements ran through this interface. No lengthy supplier research, no complex approval loops, no manual chasing of confirmations. Pedlar took care of the entire flow, from order to invoice, including troubleshooting in case of delivery issues.
For Witzenmann, this meant not only tangible relief in day-to-day business but also an 85 percent reduction in process costs and savings of €35,700 per year, while compliance was fully maintained.
The Witzenmann case study shows strikingly how fragile process compliance in procurement can be and that rigid structures eventually reach their limits. Those who limit themselves to defending rules at any cost risk inefficiency and exploding costs. Those who rely on speed without structure lose transparency and control.
With Pedlar's 1-creditor model, these opposites can be resolved. Process compliance and efficiency do not have to be competitors; they can go hand in hand.
Learn how the 1-creditor model secures compliance and efficiency at the same time: Get in touch →
