Michael Roesch
We recently published Measure What Matters, our Manufacturing Supply Chain and Procurement Benchmark 2026, a study of real procurement ROI across more than 200 global customer projects. One finding stood out above all others and it challenges some widely held assumptions about how procurement technology should be deployed.
Regardless of the size of the manufacturing organization, it isn’t the breadth of an implementation that drives ROI — it’s the depth. This is not to downplay the benefits of an end-to-end source-to-pay implementation, which can deliver massive benefits over the long term. Rather, it’s a warning: rolling out too many modules too quickly without driving genuine user adoption actively undermines ROI.
Our analysis showed that companies with a broad module landscape, but weak or shallow adoption, achieve lower ROI than focused companies with fewer but deeply adopted modules. Those who try to roll out everything at once risk overloading the organization and remaining shallow everywhere. The data argues for sequential deepening.
So, my advice: regardless of where you start, it is best to bring modules to productive maturity before expanding. bring a small set of key modules to productive maturity before expanding further.
The finding aligns with well-established IT wisdom: a phased implementation beats a risky “big bang” approach. But the key nuance is that phased implementation only delivers the greatest ROI when it is focused on user adoption, not just technical rollout.
The rewards are clear Based on real results from more than 200 manufacturing organizations, a realistic ROI of 200–600% is achievable today — provided organizations consistently deepen the right value drivers.
58.61x
The highest single ROI recorded in our entire dataset, achieved by an upper-mid-sized manufacturer that drove near-complete adoption of a small number of high-impact modules. It’s an exceptional result, but it proves the point: agile, focused adoption can deliver extraordinary returns.
Where do I start?
But what are the “right” value drivers? Where to start? The answer: it depends, largely based on the size of your company. Dig into the data and you’ll find meaningful differences across the three revenue segments we examined: under €1 billion, €1–5 billion, and over €5 billion. We benchmarked our findings against data from The Hackett Group. Here’s what the data says for each segment:
Large organizations (revenue > €5 billion)
Strategic sourcing, contract management, and document management are the primary value drivers at this scale. The procurement operations of large enterprises are complex enough that compliance and spend consolidation generate the greatest returns. Top-quartile organizations achieve 5–10% cost reduction from strategic sourcing alone which, at this revenue size, translates directly into multi-million-dollar savings.
Mid-market organizations (revenue €1–5 billion)
At this scale, the biggest gains come from operational procure-to-pay efficiency, specifically order processing. A concrete target: reduce cost per purchase order from above $15 to below $5, which is the Hackett Group industry benchmark. That step-change in transaction efficiency is the foundation for everything else.
Smaller organizations (revenue < €1 billion)
The primary value driver here is order processing and easy RFQ (quick quotes) user-friendly quoting that people will adopt. According to Hackett, the focus should be foundational digitization: moving away from email and spreadsheets toward fast, intuitive tools with a low learning curve. Ease of use is not a nice-to-have at this scale, it’s the decisive factor in whether adoption happens at all.
ROI is only part of the story
The headline ROI number will rightly get your CFO’s attention, but it’s only part of what procurement technology delivers. Deep adoption unlocks a broader set of value that compounds over time:
- Cost reduction: Optimized bidding and more competitive sourcing terms create a direct cost lever. The effect is greatest in larger organizations that can consolidate spend across categories and geographies.
- Efficiency gains: Automated workflows and faster cycle times free procurement teams to focus on strategic work doing more with the same resources, not more with more.
- Risk mitigation: End-to-end process documentation supports compliance with regulations including ESG requirements, NIS2, and supply-chain due diligence laws — reducing legal and reputational exposure.
- AI readiness: Clean, structured procurement data from sourcing through to invoice, is the prerequisite for meaningful AI deployment. Organizations that invest in deep adoption now are building the data foundation that AI will run on.
Deep adoption is the key to unlocking all of these benefits and the data shows exactly how to get there.
Download the full report Measure What Matters to explore the complete dataset and find out exactly where your organization sits on the adoption curve.
