By adopting SAP Ariba and SAP Business Network, fully integrated with core SAP S/4HANA solutions, this leading defense contractor can register and have a 360 degree view of its business partners.

NAVANTIA, S.A. S.M.E. designs, builds, and supports ships and submarines for the Spanish and other countries’ navies. With a large, complex, and diverse network of trading partners, the company constantly seeks cost and efficiency improvements. By adopting SAP Ariba and SAP Business Network, fully integrated with core SAP S/4HANA solutions, Navantia is now sailing towards excellence.

"Internal feedback about SAP Ariba from the finance team has been very positive, as 99% of invoices are processed automatically. SAP Ariba Sourcing is a totally secure and transparent process for users, and makes accessing information much easier."

José Manuel Saldaña Supply Chain IT Manager, NAVANTIA, S.A. S.M.E.

Navigating digital transformation

Spanish state-owned Navantia specializes in the design, construction, and ongoing support of military and civilian vessels, both surface ships and submarines. The company operates from four principal locations in Spain, and runs units in Australia, Brazil, India, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and the United Kingdom.

Managing Navantia’s global supply chain is critically important, both for manufacturing and for the company’s commitments to efficiency and sustainability. As part of its own strategic transformation, the company is digitalizing its processes in a program named Navantia 5.0, looking to standardize wherever possible and take advantage of integration and visibility between systems.

Navantia has a large number of suppliers, all of whom the company considers strategic collaborators and business partners. Working with so many business partners, the Navantia team realized that streamlining the onboarding processes and digitalizing operational interactions could offer significant cost savings and deliver additional quality advantages.

"We want to take advantage of the new artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities of SAP Ariba to optimize and automate our processes even further."

José Manuel Saldaña Supply Chain IT Manager, NAVANTIA, S.A. S.M.E.

Digitalizing procurement

Navantia relies on SAP S/4HANA to run core business operations, adapted for its defense-related activities. With thousands of business partners submitting paper and PDF invoices each month, Navantia knew that manual processes would not meet the company’s ambitions for scale, efficiency, and sustainability. In addition, onboarding for new business partners was slow, and order confirmations, approvals, and payments took too much time.

To align with the company’s strategic digitalization goals, Navantia chose to deploy SAP Ariba for approximately 2,000 users, for both direct and indirect sourcing. Using the SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance solution in conjunction with SAP Analytics Cloud, Navantia can register and have a 360-degree view of its business partners. With the SAP Ariba Sourcing solution, the company can run tenders, manage bids, and confirm awards. SAP Business Network and the SAP Ariba Buying for SAP S/4HANA solution provide purchase order confirmations, invoices, payment controls, and catalogs and the SAP Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration solution offers offers trading partner collaboration on a single networked platform to assure supply of direct materials through better planning, inventory visibility, and automation.

"Navantia has achieved a 15% reduction in purchase order management lifecycle time, from issue to invoice receipt, enabling the team to focus on higher value processes to support the business."

José Manuel Saldaña Supply Chain IT Manager, NAVANTIA, S.A. S.M.E.

Simplifying supplier management

The all-cloud SAP Ariba solutions represent a strategic shift in direction, moving towards standardization and an open approach to business. In selecting SAP Ariba, Navantia chose to standardize its way of working and to take advantage of embedded best-practice workflows.

Streamlining suppliers for efficiency with SAP Ariba solutions and SAP Business Network

Navantia is working with more than 9,000 vendors in the SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance solution, with over 2,500 participating in sourcing events. In addition, 57 business partners now provide a total of 100 catalogs, enabling Navantia users to select and purchase products from approved vendors with just a few clicks. At the time of writing, Navantia had completed more than 5,000 sourcing projects and issued over 66,500 purchase orders, with more than 40% of all invoicing submitted through Ariba.

With SAP Ariba, Navantia captures cost, delivery, payment, and related information automatically, which is disseminated to core SAP systems. With fully digital interactions available for analysis and insight, Navantia is learning more about their performance and costs, helping to improve efficiency with decisions informed by data.

"With SAP Ariba, Navantia has seen 20% productivity gains for all purchase-to-pay processes, and a 50% reduction in complexity and time spent on creating Purchase Requisitions."

José Manuel Saldaña Supply Chain IT Manager, NAVANTIA, S.A. S.M.E.

Increasing visibility and optimizing efficiency

With SAP Ariba solutions in place, Navantia is taking advantage of the new streamlined processes and detailed reporting capabilities. Metrics show how SAP Ariba is improving process efficiency, too: increasing compliance by buying against pre-defined contracts through Ariba, purchase order administration has reduced by 15%, and – of course – Navantia has cut paper use by 100%.

Furthermore, Navantia can easily compare performance and assess costs, and use reporting dashboards to inspect almost any procurement item, including warranties, quality certifications, materials, and more. The system provides a 360-degree view of business partner interactions, such as the number of orders, which groups within Navantia are placing those orders, and the aggregate value.

Navantia plans to take advantage of new artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities included in SAP Ariba, such as creating requests for tenders, generating shortlists, and handling sourcing actions. By selecting SAP Ariba, a cloud-native solution, Navantia can exploit new AI tools as soon as they are available, already fully configured and integrated.

Navantia: Taking supply chain excellence to new heights by further integrating suppliers, sourcing and operations

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Navantia: Taking supply chain excellence to new heights by further integrating suppliers, sourcing and operations

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Key Takeaways

Navantia has adopted SAP Ariba and SAP Business Network integrated with SAP S/4HANA, enabling a 360-degree view of its business partners and streamlining procurement processes.
The deployment of SAP Ariba has resulted in a 20% increase in productivity for purchase-to-pay processes and a 50% reduction in complexity and time spent on creating Purchase Requisitions.
Navantia aims to leverage AI and machine learning capabilities of SAP Ariba to further optimize and automate processes, enhancing efficiency and sustainability across its global supply chain.

Navantia, a defense contractor, has enhanced its procurement efficiency and visibility by integrating SAP Ariba and SAP Business Network with SAP S/4HANA, allowing for streamlined operations and a comprehensive view of its 9,000+ suppliers.

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Navigating digital transformation

Digitalizing procurement

Simplifying supplier management

Streamlining suppliers for efficiency with SAP Ariba solutions and SAP Business Network

Increasing visibility and optimizing efficiency

Vendors Mentioned

Key Topics Discussed

Navantia: Taking supply chain excellence to new heights by further integrating suppliers, sourcing and operations

Key Takeaways

Navantia has adopted SAP Ariba and SAP Business Network integrated with SAP S/4HANA, enabling a 360-degree view of its business partners and streamlining procurement processes.

The deployment of SAP Ariba has resulted in a 20% increase in productivity for purchase-to-pay processes and a 50% reduction in complexity and time spent on creating Purchase Requisitions.

Navantia aims to leverage AI and machine learning capabilities of SAP Ariba to further optimize and automate processes, enhancing efficiency and sustainability across its global supply chain.

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Membership Required

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Extended Workforce Optimization Through Next-Generation Automation, AI, and Data

Leveraging Contract Management with SAP-integrated Intelligent Platforms

Discover the Hidden Value Within Agreements with Docusign

IDC’s Compelling ROI for SAP Concur

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Navigating digital transformation

Digitalizing procurement

Simplifying supplier management

Streamlining suppliers for efficiency with SAP Ariba solutions and SAP Business Network

Increasing visibility and optimizing efficiency

Share this Article

Vendors Mentioned

Key Topics Discussed

Navantia: Taking supply chain excellence to new heights by further integrating suppliers, sourcing and operations

Key Takeaways

Navantia has adopted SAP Ariba and SAP Business Network integrated with SAP S/4HANA, enabling a 360-degree view of its business partners and streamlining procurement processes.

The deployment of SAP Ariba has resulted in a 20% increase in productivity for purchase-to-pay processes and a 50% reduction in complexity and time spent on creating Purchase Requisitions.

Navantia aims to leverage AI and machine learning capabilities of SAP Ariba to further optimize and automate processes, enhancing efficiency and sustainability across its global supply chain.

Membership Required

Membership Required

Explore related questions

More Resources

Extended Workforce Optimization Through Next-Generation Automation, AI, and Data

Leveraging Contract Management with SAP-integrated Intelligent Platforms

Discover the Hidden Value Within Agreements with Docusign

IDC’s Compelling ROI for SAP Concur

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SAPinsider Las Vegas 2026

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