Thailand’s Siam Cement Group seeks to expand Corda-based ‘Procure to Pay’ solution to 2,400 suppliers by 2020

Siam Cement Group (SCG), the largest cement and building material company in Thailand and Southeast Asia, is looking to expand its blockchain-based procurement and payment solution to 2,400 suppliers by 2020, Bangkok Post reported.

The solution, called ‘Procure to Pay,’ was developed in collaboration with Digital Ventures Co, the corporate venture capital arm of Siam Commercial Bank. Built on R3’s Corda, the solution was adopted last year and has already attracted 240 suppliers.

“SCG is currently developing its functionality on the B2P [Blockchain Solution for Procure-to-Pay] platform in order to expand to other procurement categories, with a target of 2,400 business partners using the B2P platform by 2020,” SCG said in its official announcement (via online translation).

Thammasak Sethaudom, vice-president for finance and investment at SCG, said that the platform has been shared with business partners, including chemical and packaging companies, to enhance the management of purchase orders of raw materials, warehouses, spare parts, and services.

Emphasizing on the potential of blockchain technology, Sethaudom said that the platform could improve partners' operating efficiency and facilitate their business.

"Our platform has helped suppliers reduce their processing times by 50% from 70 minutes to 35 minutes per purchase order," he said. "This platform speeds up invoice issuance and the verification process, so the procurement method for 1,600 items is one day, down from 39 days in the past."

He added that the platform also reduces cost by 70% compared to the traditional process and helps to streamline the process, enabling employees to add more value to organisations and stakeholders.

In addition, the platform allows tracking the status of transactions in real-time, thereby facilitating on-time payments.

SCG has reportedly spent 10 million baht to adopt the platform and is currently exploring the feasibility of expanding it for its overseas business in Indonesia, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam.

TokenPost | [email protected]