Samenvatting

Shared Service Centers (SSCs) and Global Business Services (GBS) organizations are evolving from transactional, cost-focused units into strategic partners that deliver value through digitalization, analytics, regulatory compliance, and business partnering. Within this context, Purchase-to-Pay (P2P) has become a critical end-to-end process, directly affecting efficiency, compliance, supplier relationships, and working capital management.

This report assesses the competitiveness of the Purchase-to-Pay function of BASF Services Europe GmbH within the European SSC/GBS landscape and identifies strategic measures to strengthen its long-term relevance and performance. The study adopts a management-oriented strategy perspective and integrates three analytical approaches: external SSC/GBS and P2P market trend analysis, qualitative benchmarking against selected peer organizations, and quantitative benchmarking of BASF’s internal P2P performance using industry-recognized KPIs.

The external analysis shows that shared services are increasingly expected to create strategic value, driven by automation, generative AI, process transparency, evolving operating models, and growing regulatory pressure. In P2P specifically, developments such as VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA), touchless invoice processing, process mining, and the integration of payments and risk controls are redefining competitive performance standards.

The competitive maturity analysis positions BASF Services Europe as an advanced SSC/GBS organization with notable strengths in service scope, multilingual talent, and applied digital solutions. However, peer organizations such as Shell, Allianz, and Henkel demonstrate more industrialized digital capabilities and a clearer transformation-oriented value proposition, particularly in automation governance, analytics, and end-to-end process ownership.

The internal KPI benchmarking reveals a mixed performance profile. BASF performs strongly in cost efficiency (USD 5.12 cost per invoice), purchase order compliance (90.4%), and on-time payments (87.7%). At the same time, significant gaps exist in digital maturity. E-invoicing adoption remains low at 23% compared to an industry average of approximately 50% and best-in-class levels of over 80%. Invoice processing cycle time is relatively long at 12 days, and transparency into quality metrics such as exception rates and first-time match performance is limited.

Based on triangulation of external trends, peer best practices, and internal performance findings, four strategic recommendations are proposed. First, BASF Services Europe should accelerate e-invoicing adoption and supplier digital integration to close the most critical performance gap and prepare for upcoming regulatory requirements. Second, the organization should expand touchless invoice processing through targeted hyperautomation to improve speed, scalability, and accuracy. Third, BASF should deploy process mining and KPI control towers to enhance performance transparency and enable data-driven continuous improvement. Finally, sustained investment in P2P talent development is required to support automation, analytics, and the transition toward higher-value roles.

Overall, the analysis concludes that BASF Services Europe has a strong operational foundation and competitive cost position in P2P but must accelerate digital enablement and performance transparency to remain competitive with leading SSC/GBS peers. Implementing the recommended measures will enable BASF Services Europe to evolve its P2P function into a scalable, resilient, and strategically valuable capability aligned with BASF’s broader business objectives.