Cost per order: How does your procurement measure up against the benchmark?

Efficient purchasing processes have long been a key driver of corporate success. The German Association for Materials Management, Purchasing and Logistics (BME) publishes annual benchmarks that serve as a compass for modern purchasing organizations. The data basis for the BME Benchmark 2025 is based on an extensive survey of companies of all sizes and from all industries, whose data was subjected to a three-stage plausibility check. Outliers and incomprehensible values were consistently excluded, so that the published average values provide a reliable and statistically valid basis for comparison.

Why cost per order is critical

The key performance indicator “cost per order process” is one of the most important indicators of efficiency in operational purchasing. It shows how much internal costs, e.g., for personnel, IT, and processes, are incurred when processing a single order. According to the current BME Benchmark 2025, the average value is €121.75 per order process.

The BME clearly explains:
“A low value indicates automated, lean, and digitized processes. A high value, on the other hand, indicates manual processes, media breaks, or inefficient structures [...] and thus potential for optimization.”

Why some orders are significantly more expensive

The benchmark figure is an average value across all orders. In practice, however, there are significant differences:

• One-off orders incur disproportionately high costs because they require the same administrative effort as regular orders without the advantages of standardization.
• Orders from new suppliers are particularly costly: master data must be created, legal checks carried out, and often additional coordination required. These steps significantly increase process costs.
• Online shop orders often lead to media breaks, as data from external shops must be manually transferred to internal systems. This additional effort for data entry, checking, and approval makes the process inefficient and drives up the cost per transaction.

Logically speaking, the less standardized and the more complex the process, the higher the costs per transaction. Companies with many one-time orders or frequently changing suppliers are therefore, as expected, significantly above the benchmark.

How CS Beschaffung measurably reduces costs per order process

CS Beschaffung starts exactly where the BME benchmark reveals the biggest cost drivers: manual workflows, non-standardized processes, and complex special cases. With our operational support, we ensure that orders, even complex one-off requirements or transactions with new suppliers, are handled in a structured, efficient manner with minimal internal effort. The result is significantly lower process costs, fewer coordination loops, and noticeable relief in day-to-day business.