The procurement platform for indirect purchasing in corporate groups and large mid-sized companies
Ovenca is eProcurement software: Catalog Shop, Catalog Management, Vendor Portal and governance in one platform. It runs alongside SAP and other ERP systems, on-premise or in a private cloud.
LANXESS has worked with Onveda since 2014 and uses Ovenca worldwide.
Search, compare, order. Free-text orders with catalog suggestions.View Catalog Shop
Product view with demo data. Enlarge view
- One search across all catalogsRequesters find items from internal catalogs and connected supplier catalogs in one place.
- Results linked to SAPResults by item, material number and supplier. Contracts from the ERP are visible in search.
- Free-text orders as a controlled fallbackIf nothing fits, the need is captured as free text and matched against catalog suggestions.
- Reference
- LANXESS, worldwide, working together since 2014
- Catalog volume
- more than 5 million items
- ERP systems
- SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, Infor, Sage, DATEV
- Operation
- On-premise or private cloud in the EU
- Interfaces
- OCI punchout, cXML, API
Security and operations
- SSO with SAML 2.0 and OIDC
- MFA (TOTP)
- Roles, permissions and audit trail
- DPA under the GDPR
- Hosting in Germany or on-premise
- 99.5% availability
One platform alongside your ERP
Ovenca handles catalogs, purchase requisitions, approvals and supplier maintenance. Purchase orders, contracts and master data stay with the ERP as the system of record. The four modules can be introduced individually and extended later. The platform is designed so that procurement has little to do with it in day-to-day business: suppliers maintain and correct their catalogs themselves, requesters find items through search.
User groups
OvencaOperated on-premise or in a private cloud
- Requesters in the business units
Catalog Shop
Search, compare, order. Free-text orders with catalog suggestions.
- Procurement
Catalog Management
Import, validate and approve catalogs. Configure SmartForms and punchout catalogs.
- Suppliers
Vendor Portal
Maintain catalogs themselves, correct errors after validation, submit for approval.
- Administration
Admin Area
Roles and permissions, legal entities and plants, visibility, reporting.
Integration layer
- OCI punchout
- cXML
- API
- CSV, Excel and BMEcat import
- SSO with SAML 2.0 and OIDC
- Purchase requisitions and orders
- Contracts, material numbers, master data
ERP systems
SAP (ECC, S/4HANA), Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, Infor, Sage, DATEV, in-house systems
- Purchase requisitions and orders
- Contracts, material numbers, master data
- Call with user context
- Shopping cart via OCI or cXML
External supplier catalogs
Punchout into the supplier's shop
- Call with user context
- Shopping cart via OCI or cXML
Simple for users, controlled for procurement
All views are taken from the product and show demo data.
Free text becomes a qualified order
Anyone who finds nothing suitable describes the need. Ovenca suggests catalog items before a free-text order reaches procurement.
Permissions per role, object and relation
Read, create, update and delete are granted per role and individually for vendors, catalogs, products, legal entities and plants.
Configure punchout catalogs instead of coding them
Protocol, call URL, parameters and field mapping of a supplier catalog are maintained and tested in Catalog Management.
Suppliers deliver, procurement approves
Suppliers upload catalogs and correct errors themselves. Every catalog version has a status and a history.
Typical starting points
Ovenca is rarely introduced on a greenfield site. There is usually a leading ERP, a legacy system and a specific trigger.
SAP SRM is being phased out
Mainstream maintenance for SAP SRM 7.0 ends on 31 December 2027. Ovenca replaces catalog, requisition and approval and stays connected to SAP.
SAP Ariba is under review
Operation under your own control instead of a multi-tenant cloud, no network fees for suppliers. Including an assessment of when Ariba remains the better choice.
S/4HANA transformation
Operational procurement needs an interface for requesters that does not depend on the ERP release cycle.
Indirect procurement is fragmented
Several legal entities, plants and ERP instances, plus catalogs in Excel and email. Ovenca brings demand, catalogs and approvals together.
German Supply Chain Act
Supplier onboarding with questionnaires, self-disclosures and evidence in the Vendor Portal.
Operation and security
You decide where Ovenca runs and where your procurement and supplier data resides.
| Criterion | On-premise | Private cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Location of the instance | Your data centre or your own cloud environment | Separate instance in a data centre in the EU |
| Operation | Your IT, with full technical and operational control | Onveda operates the instance for you |
| Data residency | Entirely within your infrastructure | In the EU, located in Germany |
| Data protection | Data does not leave your network | Data processing agreement under the GDPR |
Hybrid operation is also possible.
Access and traceability
- Roles and permissions
- Permissions per role, legal entity and plant
- Audit trail
- Changes to catalogs, approvals and users are logged
- Single sign-on
- SAML 2.0 and OpenID Connect
- Multi-factor authentication
- TOTP via authenticator app
- Transport encryption
- TLS for the web interface and interfaces
LANXESS: working together since 2014
The speciality chemicals group uses Ovenca worldwide for catalog-based purchasing, with SAP contracts and material numbers directly in product search.
“By integrating SAP contracts and material numbers into product search, we were able to increase the automation of our purchase-to-pay processes as intended. On the clearly structured administration level we control the release and availability of content, manage user permissions and obtain the transparency we want through meaningful reports.”
- Company
- LANXESS AG, Cologne, speciality chemicals, MDAX
- Size
- approx. 11,800 employees in 32 countries
- Use
- worldwide; first rollout 2015, renewed rollout 2026
- Integration
- SAP contracts and material numbers in search
When Ovenca fits and when it does not
Ovenca fits if you
- want to manage indirect procurement through catalogs, approvals and a supplier portal
- run several ERP systems or SAP instances in parallel
- want to decide on operating location and data residency yourself
- want to introduce modules one at a time rather than a full suite
A suite fits better if you
- need global, network-based tendering through a supplier network
- want to source all procurement functions from your ERP vendor
Material for your evaluation
Calculator
ROI calculator
Savings potential based on your own figures. The assumptions are stated openly.
Overview
Cost logic
What licence, implementation and operation depend on.
Whitepaper
From SAP Ariba to an ERP-independent procurement platform
Decision framework, migration paths and a template for the cost calculation. PDF, 10 pages, in German.
Case study
LANXESS: eProcurement in speciality chemicals
Starting point, solution, operation and the return from SAP Ariba.
Guide
Source-to-pay: process and platform
Phases, how it differs from P2P and S2C, selection criteria.
Guide
Benefits of digital procurement
What digital processes actually change in procurement.
Glossary
OCI, punchout, cXML and other terms
Terms from eProcurement and the SAP environment, briefly explained.
Questions about the Ovenca procurement platform
A procurement platform, also called an eProcurement platform, brings a company's ordering processes together in one system: catalogs, orders, approvals, and the connection to suppliers and the ERP. Ovenca is a digital procurement platform for indirect procurement and consists of a catalog shop, catalog management, a vendor portal and an admin area.
Ovenca is built for larger mid-market companies and corporations in the DACH region that manage indirect procurement across many sites, roles and suppliers. Several legal entities, plants and ERP instances are typical. Catalog Shop, Catalog Management, Vendor Portal and Admin Area can be introduced individually or together.
Ovenca runs on-premise in your own data center or as a private cloud with a separate instance in an EU data center. A hybrid setup is also possible. You decide where your procurement and supplier data is stored.
Ovenca is ERP-agnostic and works with SAP as well as Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, Infor, Sage, DATEV and proprietary ERP solutions. The platform runs alongside the ERP and does not replace it. Integration is done through open interfaces; supplier catalogs are connected via punchout (OCI).
How an evaluation starts
Discussion of your starting point
System landscape, legacy system, trigger and scope. Afterwards you know whether Ovenca fits your situation.
Product demo based on your scenarios
Catalog, approvals, supplier portal and administration, shown using your use cases.
Integration and operating concept
Interfaces to the ERP, operating model and roles. This results in your cost framework.