Tim Nissen | Accounts Payable Automation Infor Solution Partner Use Case.
Here’s a progressively diversified and impactful organization: a US-headquartered company with operations spanning North America and Europe, serving industrial growth markets that require advanced technology and high reliability. Their expansive client roster includes entities in aerospace and defense, factory automation, air and water quality environmental monitoring, electronics design and development, oceanographic research, deepwater oil and gas exploration and production, medical imaging and pharmaceutical research.
Here’s their Accounts Payable Automation Infor Solution Partner use case.
Making the Automation Choice
A reality of many companies became a burden to this organization as well: their processes were largely paper-based. They realized this as an opportunity to automate much of their back-office activities, enabling staff to focus on company advancements rather than time-consuming and costly manual operations.
After a year of multiple enterprise content management (ECM) vendor reviews and system vetting, IntelliChief was selected based on:
- Enterprise expansion capability throughout their organization
- Native Infor integration, and
- Being an established Infor Solution Partner.
“We were impressed with the way the IntelliChief system uses meta data so well; all documentation is instantly available as needed, conveniently organized by transaction,” stated the company’s Controller.
AP Automation: 2-Way, 3-Way (4-Way?) Matching
Their initial installation was with their Accounts Payable operations, spread globally and consolidated at their California headquarters. Being a particularly paper-intensive operation, reducing cost was the driving factor.
The company had a distinct motivator for automation – a cumbersome 4-way matching process consisting of Invoice to PO to Receiver to Quality Inspection Sheet. This forth component was a deciding factor in their ECM choice. “IntelliChief demonstrated the flexible capability to achieve our specific 4-way match, something other systems could not,” commented the Controller.
With the company having significant repeat vendor orders, this was an opportunity for IntelliChief to remove considerable time and cost from AP. They experienced a high straight-through processing rate; the majority being completely automated from document capture to workflow, a touchless environment where no ERP keying or other human interaction was needed. When exceptions occurred, IntelliChief’s rules-based business process automation workflow, mapped to their specific practices, enabled quick reviews and approvals.
Previously, the company’s processing staff consisted of 3 full-time and one contract employee. With the IntelliChief system, that number had been reduced by half, freeing the others to concentrate on strategic operations.
Vendor fees were also reallocated. “An additional automation benefit was the elimination of both outsourced digital imaging and physical storage services, creating considerable cost savings ongoing,” their Controller relayed.
An unexpected advantage manifested in the independent audit function. “Being a multinational, multi-industry company, audits are frequent and time-consuming,” the Controller stated. “With IntelliChief, we’re able to provide access to all documentation auditors need digitally, allowing their teams to work remotely from anywhere in the world. They appreciate that flexibility.”
Expandable Automation
With enterprise expansion capability a key objective, Order Processing is the company’s next automation step. This will allow them to link each order’s documentation together from initial receipt to fulfillment, with each department involved having all needed details available to them, enabling collaboration through automated workflow. Customer Service’s benefit will be awareness of each order’s status in real-time.
Another planned endeavor is with the Purchasing department, setting-up a Vendor Portal to further automate transactions. This decision’s motivators were to provide an additional convenience for vendors, while saving them time and cost by reducing phone and email correspondence by consolidating communications (and archivable records) into IntelliChief.
“Being able to store all documentation in a single system is a true IntelliChief advantage, realized throughout our organization,” commented the Controller. “Having a centralized workflow and archival hub simplifies operations and information security.”
IntelliChief makes expanding its usage throughout their organization advantageous, and a simple task with the system’s native integrations coupled with Integration Link, the company’s code-free program connecting with any ERP or line-of-business system.
IntelliChief Implementation and Support – The Difference
Scarcely a reality in the software industry – system implementation and support that’s proactive, resourceful, and a pleasure to work with. That’s been the company’s experience with IntelliChief’s teams; a strong partnership formed quickly between them and IntelliChief’s staff. “IntelliChief’s Implementation team expertly configured the system to our specific processes mapping, and their Support staff has always been responsive and helpful. They make a difference – a real plus for us,” commented the Controller.
