- SAP Managed Tags
Change Order Rate measures the percentage of purchase orders issued by buyers that have a subsequent change. Change orders are often the result of poor practices on the buy-side including the following:
- Incorrect pricing or quantities on original purchase orders
- Over issuance of blankets
- Missing information on purchase order (e.g., missing buyer tax identification ID, incorrect shipping address, incorrect contact name, etc.)
- Missing or incorrect catalogue or contract data.
Change orders increase operational costs of small and large suppliers alike. Whereas new purchase orders may be automatically integrated to a supplier's order fulfillment system, most change orders are manually processed or result high touch exception processing after automated receipt.
Change order rate on SAP Business Network
SAP Business Network publishes KPIs and benchmarks related to transaction performance including:
- Change order rate
- Invoice exception rate
- Invoice cycle time
- On time payment rate
- Days paid late
- Days to pay
Network benchmarking provide aggregate across all suppliers on SAP Business Network (SBN), allowing supplier to compare their customer specific performance (KPIs) against industry averages and identify opportunities for improvement, cost reduction, or risk mitigation.
As a former Price Waterhouse consultant, we used to say to our clients that “what gets measured gets done”. Such is the case when it comes to network benchmarks. The PO change rate has reduced from a peak of 58% in December 2024 to 44% in September 2025.
The publishing of change order rate metrics has inspired internal and external initiatives focused on increasing catalogue orders.
Catalogues ensure that the items, descriptions, part numbers, and unit prices used in purchase orders (POs) are consistent and pre-approved.
- Without catalogues: Buyers often create free-text POs or reference outdated price lists, which can lead to mismatched prices or obsolete items — resulting in change orders to correct them.
- With catalogues: Buyers select from controlled, up-to-date items, eliminating the need for suppliers to issue change orders to correct pricing or product details.
Platinum suppliers on SAP Business Network can quicky monitor catalogue trends using Analytics on Purchase Order Items and selecting catalogue or non-catalogue in the filter criteria. Catalogue performance can be measured by order count or order amount.
Conclusion
By leveraging network analytics and driving the adoption of catalog-based purchasing, suppliers can significantly reduce change orders, streamline operations, and strengthen collaboration with customers across the SAP Business Network.
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