Open Access

Within the 21st century data are the new raw material, is what Ms. Angela Merkel said at the CEBIT conference in 2016. Digitization, what means data-analysis in real-time as well as fast and steady changes in the technological environment, is a key factor nowadays. New processes, new daily tasks and new know-how are needed to survive in a steadily changing world. In succession, companies and private households need to adapt. Otherwise, these will be selected according to Darwin’s theory of evolution. “Survival of the smartest” – as the mantra of today. While some companies are already familiar with the changes introduced by industry 4.0, others are still challenged with catching up industry 3.0. In a smart world it is important to know in which digital maturity status the company is staying and where the company sees itself in the future. But especially for smaller companies the obstacles of realizing industry 4.0 or digitization are defined by high investment costs, a lack of human resources and high requirements in data protection. Therefore, the following thesis is handling this topic specifically within procurement and gives answers to the following questions: What is procurement 4.0? Do the massive changes mean the procurement-endgame? What are the new challenges that procurement has to face and what are the new competencies a purchaser has to adopt? On the basis of a survey the procurement department of the Sto SE & Co. KGaA is classifying the own digital Status quo in the digital capability maturity model. On the basis of the current project “Implementing a Supplier-Relationship-Management and Collaboration system (SRM)” the thesis is answering to the research question: “What approach is suitable to introduce an SRM-and Collaboration tool and how to implement this tool specifically in procurement?”