SAP Ariba Discovery to Back Japanese SMEs

In the 2017 Whitepaper on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Japan, SMEs recorded were approximately 3.809 million accounting for 99.7% of the total number of companies in the country. This is the potential market that SAP Ariba Discovery will be covering in the recent Japanese government’s project.

As SMEs drive the Japanese economy coexisting with large companies in the country, they are also in the growth phase of exploring opportunities and expanding markets offshore. However, COVID-19 has disrupted the global supply chains and has challenged businesses’ procurement processes and digital networks.

Recognising this need, the Japanese government through the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency (SMEA) of the Ministry of Economy have tapped SAP Ariba Discovery as a business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce solution to propel the growth of SMEs within Japan and overseas especially in these unprecedented times.

Through the “Support Project for Promoting JAPAN Brand”, the regional SMEs can accelerate sales channel development and brand establishment across Japan and overseas. The agency support SMEs by partially subsidising expenses incurred on new product and services development, sales channel development initiatives implementation, and branding to develop their business nationwide or overseas. Tapping new tourism demand, initiatives that incorporate new methods such as crowdfunding, e-commerce, and online business meetings can also be subsidised by SMEA.

Capitalising on SAP Ariba Discovery

The SMEA’s project for SMEs now incorporates the open access to SAP Ariba Discovery, a cloud-based B2B e-commerce solution designed for all buyers. The Japanese government’s effort to back the SMEs in expanding its network outside the country can now be conveniently made possible with SAP Ariba Discovery being the premier service for matching business buyers and suppliers globally. 

SAP Ariba Discovery is fully integrated with the SAP Ariba Sourcing solution and the advanced edition of the SAP Ariba Buying solution, which is a cloud-based service that allows buyers to work with the industry’s highest-quality supply base. SAP Ariba Buying solution is known to reduce the time and cost of supplier qualification by up to 90% and overall project spend by an average of 15%. 

Japanese SMEs can also leverage SAP Ariba solutions’ collaborative commerce capabilities from sourcing and orders through invoice and payment as well as help customers optimise spending. Over 4 million companies use SAP Ariba solutions, which support the marketplace for modern business, creating frictionless exchanges between millions of buyers and suppliers in the Ariba Network across the entire source-to-pay process. Ariba Network, the world’s largest B2B network, is a dynamic marketplace for buyers and suppliers to collaborate easily on transactions, strengthen their relationships, and discover new business opportunities.

SAP Extends Hand

As businesses continue to be resilient in these trying times, SAP remains to be a partner ensuring businesses run better with e-commerce solutions.

SAP has urgently heeded the need to address the supply chain disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic by offering select solutions, including SAP Ariba Discovery, at zero cost. It was recently announced that the open access to SAP Ariba Discovery is extended until 31 December 2020 to continue to help businesses mitigate the impact of the pandemic on their supply chain. Aside from the open-access extension, the removal of the supplier response fee relieves the SMEs’ concern on costs and will further enable SME suppliers in Japan to expand their sales channels overseas and find new buyers.

Much like the Japanese government’s efforts to boost SMEs, recently in India, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) also leverage the open access to SAP Ariba Discovery through SAP India’s recently launched Global Bharat program. The program, as part of India’s Vison 2020, aims to empower Indian MSMEs on their digital transformation journey through innovative sourcing solutions, digital skilling for the workforce and transforming business processes.

This article was posted by Andrea Hilao,author at Inside SAP Asia,in Featured,Market Insights.