Expert Professional Services from Woodstock Group

Modules: Buying & Invoicing, Sourcing, Contracts, Risk, SLP and Supplier Enablement

The principal of Woodstock Group was contracted through an SAP Partner and fulfilled the role of the SAP Ariba Team Leader for an international enterprise manufacturer of plumbing and water-related products. The mandate was to design and deliver a globally consistent yet locally compliant procurement ecosystem that supports digital transactions, scale, margin protection, compliance and risk management, TQM, and supply assurance. 

This role owned end-to-end responsibility for SAP Ariba upstream modules—including Sourcing, Supplier Lifecycle and Performance, and Contracts—ensuring that category strategies, supplier selection, and contract governance were standardized across regions while respecting regulatory, tax, and market-specific requirements. Acting as the central point of accountability, the Team Leader aligned procurement strategy with enterprise objectives, established global design principles, and drove disciplined planning to prevent fragmented regional implementations that erode leverage and control.

Downstream, as the SAP Ariba Team Leader, the principal led the design and implementation of Buying & Invoicing tightly integrated with the SAP ERP and the SAP Business Network. This included defining standardized requisition-to-pay workflows, approval authorities, and compliance controls capable of supporting the high transaction volumes typical of a global manufacturing environment, spanning direct materials, MRO, and services. 

Additionally, strong emphasis was placed on supplier enablement and digital adoption to achieve straight-through processing, reduce invoice exceptions, and ensure that upstream-negotiated pricing and contract terms were systematically enforced downstream, minimizing leakage and manual work.

From a program execution and governance standpoint, the SAP Ariba Team Leader provided end-to-end leadership across planning, design, build, testing, supplier enablement, and global rollout. The program was delivered on time and within the fixed-fee budget, supported by rigorous scope control and transparent stakeholder governance. Also, comprehensive change management and role-based training ensured strong user adoption across regions and functions, enabling procurement, finance, and legal teams to transition smoothly to the new operating model. 

The result was a sustainable, globally governed procurement platform that not only met technical and financial objectives, but was fully embraced by users and positioned the organization for long-term operational resilience and continuous improvement.