The real competition today is no longer between companies, but between supply chains. Manual coordination between the systems of two different companies accounts for 40-50% of inter-company process lead times. This isn't simply an efficiency problem - it's an architectural constraint built into business operations.
More and more companies are using workflow automation tools. Procurement processes, approval chains, document management—all digitized, structured, and automated. But when a process reaches the corporate boundary—when a supplier needs to be involved or a customer notified—the workflow breaks down.
Why? Because traditional workflow tools operate within a single company. When the process crosses the corporate boundary, manual handoff follows: emails, phone calls, and manual data entry. The bulk of business value—often 60-70%—is created at this point, precisely where workflows are unable to cross corporate boundaries.
The paradox is obvious: while we use increasingly sophisticated workflow tools internally, the speed of inter-company collaboration has barely changed over the past decade.
But what if a workflow didn't stop where it reaches a corporate boundary?
What's procurement for one company is sales for another. This is a single economic transaction—a single process—with two sides. Fluenta One enables this process to simply cross company boundaries. The buyer initiates the procurement process, and when it reaches the external partner, it automatically continues on their side—structured and traceable.
Let's say a company is looking for a new supplier for a project. The process can start on the buyer's side with creating and sending out a supplier qualification questionnaire, where AI agents gather requirements from previous similar projects, compile relevant questions, and define evaluation criteria.
The questionnaire automatically crosses over to the selected potential suppliers, who see the preliminary survey in structured form on their own interface. From this point on, the process continues according to the supplier's own needs. For example, general information in the questionnaire can be automatically filled in by a rule or AI agent. If the requested information is scattered throughout the organization, a rule (or AI agent) can route different fields to different departments. If needed, approval can even occur before sending back the questionnaire.
After the questionnaire is returned, the buyer can automatically validate the suppliers' compliance with procurement policies and thus authorize their participation in the tender. Next comes the preparation and publication of the tender—the detailed request for proposal.
After the tender is published, the process crosses over to the supplier, who reviews the detailed request for proposal and asks clarifying questions if needed. After receiving the answers, the supplier goes through their own internally configured proposal process, then sends the proposal to the buyer.
In the evaluation phase, AI agents compare the received proposals, highlight significant differences, and provide a preliminary assessment. If there's no winner, the workflow continues through a second round of requests for proposals, and the proposal solicitation is repeated. If the second request is successful, a winner can be declared, or if there are multiple suitable suppliers, an auction can be immediately announced.
The example shows that this is a single workflow, two organizations, seamless transition—and automated on both sides, augmented with AI agents. What previously took days can now happen in hours.
The key is structured data exchange: not information sent via email, but the actual transfer of the process to the partner. Data isn't duplicated, status is real-time, every step is documented.
The power of cross-organizational workflows is particularly well demonstrated in the supply chain. The connection between a retail chain and a wholesaler illustrates well what potentially becomes possible when a process truly spans corporate boundaries.
Imagine: a store's inventory manager signals a critical level for a product. A replenishment workflow immediately starts. The process reaches the corporate boundary—but doesn't stop. It simply crosses over to the wholesaler, who sees the incoming order on their own interface. The system checks warehouse inventory, and if stock is available, the workflow can continue: it issues the delivery note and reports back the delivery time to the store.
If there's no stock, the workflow doesn't stop—it moves on to the wholesaler's supplier. The supplier receives the order, processes it, and when they've fulfilled it, the workflow automatically returns down the chain.
And this is where the real breakthrough can happen: when an entire supply chain's partners connect to this process, a single workflow can run through the entire chain—end to end.
This entire process happens without human intervention, even on weekends. What was previously a weeks-long process requiring multiple rounds of coordination—phone calls, emails, manual data entry at every level—can now be part of a single, cross-organizational workflow. Every document, approval, status change is recorded in an auditable format. Automatic logging ensures complete traceability across the entire chain.
As more partners join, automation possibilities grow exponentially. This isn't just about speed—it enables a level of end-to-end automation that was previously unthinkable. This is a competitive advantage:
However, the technology's applicability isn't limited to supply chains; it has significant potential in other areas as well.
In the relationship between parent companies and subsidiaries, for example, reports can be shared so performance is always up-to-date. An especially interesting potential application area could be automated mirror transactions between subsidiaries. This would work as follows: when a Purchase Order (PO) is approved at one subsidiary, the related Sales Order (SO) is automatically created at the partner subsidiary—without any human intervention. This not only eliminates administrative burdens and error possibilities but also ensures compliance with transfer pricing policies: internal transfer prices can be automatically applied by the system in every transaction, so compliance no longer depends on human attention.
Similar efficiency gains can be achieved in contract creation: collaboration with external partners—such as legal advisors—takes place in a single, cross-organizational workflow, which significantly accelerates processes. The more suppliers and partners use the same platform, the greater the scope of automatable processes, and the more the platform's power becomes apparent.
Cross-organizational workflows can fundamentally change how companies work together. This becomes directly measurable in competitiveness: those who can run processes across corporate boundaries can respond faster to market changes, deliver more reliably, and ultimately be more profitable.
Companies that are first to build these connections—and involve their partners in these processes—can gain a lasting competitive advantage. Not just because they're faster, but because they become fundamentally more efficient.
Fluenta One's "Software with Service" approach means you don't just get technology—but also expert support for implementation. Our team guides you through the process from planning through deployment to optimization.
The B2B world is constantly changing. Competitive advantage today is no longer about how efficiently a company operates on its own. It's about how seamlessly it operates with its partners. Cross-organizational workflows enable this shift—and fundamentally change the efficiency of inter-company collaboration.
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