ITP Aero: Reinventing the procurement function as a key powerhouse, elevating efficiency, visibility, and control
Explore ITP Aero’s calculated approach to procurement
ITP Aero, a leading independent global aerospace and defense organization, engineered its procurement transformation on SAP Business Network. With the SAP Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration, SAP Business Network Commerce Automation, and SAP Ariba Buying solutions as well as the SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing Suite, it can exert more control on both direct and indirect spend management.
| Industry | Region | Company Size | Partner |
| Aerospace and defense | Zamudio, Spain | 5,500 employees | DXC Technology Services |
of its direct material suppliers enabled in SAP Business Network.
of indirect materials and services spend managed in 2024.
purchase orders automated for >200 different suppliers in 2024.
CIO, ITP Aero
| Industry | Region | Company Size | Partner |
| Aerospace and defense | Zamudio, Spain | 5,500 employees | DXC Technology Services |
of its direct material suppliers enabled in SAP Business Network.
of indirect materials and services spend managed in 2024.
purchase orders automated for >200 different suppliers in 2024.
CIO, ITP Aero
Building a future-ready organization with a key procurement function
As a world-leading partner in future flight technologies, ITP Aero specializes in designing, developing, manufacturing, and providing lifecycle propulsion services for aeroengines and components for commercial and defense aviation that drive innovation, efficiency, and sustainability. With a 35-year track record of innovation and a dedicated team across 14 sites in six countries, ITP Aero enables the delivery of 40% of all new aircraft engines worldwide and powers 375 flights every hour.
ITP Aero’s global operations span Spain, the United Kingdom, Mexico, the United States, Malta, and India—where the same commitment to the highest standards of quality, safety, and business ethics provides the robust foundation for business success. The company also holds its partners and suppliers to these same high standards.
Amid strong business growth, ITP Aero looked to increase efficiency and resilience by maximizing transparency across its supply chain and procurement processes through the consolidation of direct spend operations. In parallel, it wanted to ready the organization to work with an increasing number of suppliers for its indirect spend. Its major priorities were to eliminate errors caused by poor supplier communications and improve logistics planning to optimize delivery schedules and reduce excess stock levels. In addition, ITP Aero used an outsourced organization to receive its supplier invoices and then send them on to its ERP system.
These goals called for a complete transformation of the company’s supply chain operations. Previously, employees and suppliers relied on e-mails and telephone calls to confirm and manage orders, but that approach impacted the traceability and visibility of supplier information. It was highly labor intensive for the purchasing department to maintain records on pricing, material codification, and lead times. Likewise, it was overly time-consuming for operational buyers to collect purchase requisitions and then raise purchase orders in the ERP system.
CIO, ITP Aero
Preparing for growth supported by optimal supplier collaboration
To transform its supply chain and procurement operations, ITP Aero invested in SAP Business Network and a suite of SAP Ariba solutions, partnering with DXC Technology Services for the implementation.
The company selected the SAP Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration solution integrated with SAP S/4HANA to boost visibility and efficiency for direct materials spend management. The project also involved deploying the SAP Business Network Commerce Automation solution to cover direct and indirect spend invoicing and the SAP Ariba Buying solution for indirect materials and services. SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing Suite was chosen to enhance sourcing, contracting, and supplier management processes while reducing costs.
To facilitate data exchange and synchronization between SAP Ariba solutions and SAP S/4HANA, ITP Aero was ably assisted by SAP Services and Support to configure cloud integration gateway capability. This created a bridge connecting the advanced ERP and the sourcing and procurement functions.
The use of SAP Ariba Buying for indirect spend automates sending purchase orders (POs) to suppliers through SAP Business Network, where suppliers can confirm or amend as required before sending invoices through the network. The invoice status is shown in SAP Business Network and allows ITP Aero to pay suppliers directly. This reduces the need for the company’s employees and suppliers to use e-mails and telephone calls to create and confirm orders, and it minimizes the involvement of the purchasing department to maintain pricing information.
With SAP Ariba solutions, ITP Aero can also enhance its use of internal catalogs and can use punchout functionality for various external catalogs permitted within the strict industry limitations.
CIO, ITP Aero
Heightening procurement performance with more spend management control
Since going live with SAP Ariba solutions for direct and indirect material procurement, ITP Aero has been collaborating with over 2,000 suppliers though SAP Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration. By unifying spend operations on a single solution, it has seen significant improvements, with its employees working in the same way and following a well-defined process. The organization has been able to drive new efficiencies and savings with improved compliance and the elimination of errors. As such, standardized documentation and common formats and classifications for suppliers simplify doing business.
With preconfigured, automated processes based on industry best practices and streamlined approvals, transactions flow unimpeded through the business, enhancing speed, accuracy, and transparency in procurement and facilitating real-time collaboration between buyers and suppliers. Now that suppliers are supported by the self-service capabilities embedded in SAP Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration, they have direct access to the information they need, when they need it. This includes self-service access to sourcing requests, purchase orders, order confirmations, invoice status, and more.
Use of SAP Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration has also greatly reduced the number of documents processed externally, resulting in significant cost reduction and time saving.
For indirect spend management, the use of SAP Ariba Buying has eliminated the need for ITP Aero’s employees and suppliers to use e-mails and telephone calls to create and confirm orders. With this solution, the company has successfully automated a complex approval process into one connected workflow, including in situations where certain materials require additional approval steps.
By transitioning from centralized purchasing through its ERP to a decentralized model for indirect spend through SAP Ariba Buying, ITP Aero minimized purchasing department involvement for maintaining pricing information and simplified tasks for commodity buyers. Previously, the purchasing department collated purchase requisitions and generated POs while also maintaining data for material prices and lead times and materials master data codification. Now, the purchasing department only receives and processes ad hoc requisitions that have an automated workflow approval process.
For commodity buyers using SAP Ariba Buying, there’s an enhanced catalog review and validation process and streamlined collaboration with suppliers. This setup allows ITP Aero to enhance its use of internal catalogs and use functionality for punchout to external catalogs. Access to the system is enabled based on country, plant, and user roles managed through master data in SAP S/4HANA for greater efficiency and user management.
Last year, the company managed more than 2,000 indirect spend POs for more than 200 different suppliers across seven of its companies and 11 plants using this solution.
CIO, ITP Aero
Unlocking more-strategic value for lasting competitive advantage
ITP Aero is currently working with SAP Services and Support to implement the quality add-on feature for SAP Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration. The quality add-on will allow the company to extend the features and benefits of quality management processes, enabling buyers and suppliers to achieve real-time, bidirectional communication on quality notifications, inspections, and reviews.
ITP Aero is also looking to optimize supply chain inventory levels with planning collaboration. This will help it collect and reconcile information from diverse internal and external sources, allowing it to come up with a single unified statement of demand.
Furthermore, the company is evaluating enhanced adoption and capabilities of the SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance solution to strengthen supplier management and is exploring SAP Fieldglass solutions to optimize contingent labor management. ITP Aero is also considering a migration to the cloud through the RISE with SAP journey.
Featured partner
DXC Technology Services offers deep industry knowledge and global reach, with more than 10,000 consultants providing strong line-of-business services backed by decades of experience working with SAP. For ITP Aero, DXC provided comprehensive support and technical expertise throughout the implementation and go-live.