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Automating Complete PO Document Packages
for Procure-to-Pay Performance with
ERP Systems
whitE PaPER
www.esker.com
ESkER dElivERywaRE
Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................................................3
Esker DeliveryWare and Your ERP Application ..........................................................................................................4
Automating PO Document Processes ..........................................................................................................................5
Manual PO delivery ..............................................................................................................................................................5
Automated PO delivery .......................................................................................................................................................5
Automated PO document bundling ................................................................................................................................6
Key benefits of automated bundling and delivery .....................................................................................................6
Case study ...............................................................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................................................8
About Esker .....................................................................................................................................................................9
Table of Contents
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Many businesses have the capability to fax purchase orders from their enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications. But when they need additional documents such as RFQs, quotes, terms and conditions, specifications and and contracts to accompany the PO, those documents are often manually gathered and assembled into a package for delivery. these manual processes limit the potential for procure-to-pay performance improvement in crucial areas such as sourcing, supply chain management, inventory control, materials management and order fulfillment administration.
Intelligent automation technology offers businesses the ability to eliminate the inefficiencies of manual document management within the purchasing process, including automated bundling of purchasing document packages, validation workflow for approval of purchases, notification of delivery status, archiving for ready access to purchasing documents and outbound delivery in the formats and via the transports that suppliers can most efficiently process or prefer to receive. By automating the collection and sending of supply chain information, organizations can lower the cost of purchasing the materials and goods they need to do business.
Because intelligent document process automation technology uses business rules through logic residing outside the ERP system, organizations realize significant efficiency and ROI benefits with minimal risk and effort.
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Executive Summary
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Organizations looking to improve performance in the procure-to-pay cycle have several options for faxing and emailing purchase orders from their ERP applications. Only one solution offers the added value of patented deliveryware Rules Engine technology and a full range of document capture and transport capabilities to maximize the value of ERP systems. this includes the the ability to automatically assemble, deliver and store purchasing documents as a complete and well-organized package, as well as notification capabilities to confirm delivery of PO packages.
Esker DeliveryWareEsker DeliveryWare offers a comprehensive solution that streamlines document processes by eliminating inefficient steps, automating information exchange regardless of source or delivery type. Esker deliveryware removes manual touch points and brings visibility to document processes while causing no disruption of current business operations.
Designed to optimize internal and external information flow into and out of ERP applications, Esker DeliveryWare is an end-to-end document process automation platform. Managing all inbound and outbound document processes through this central platform simplifies the IT infrastructure, reduces the time and costs associated with document communication, and drives efficiency throughout the order-to-cash and procure-to-pay cycles.
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Esker DeliveryWare and Your ERP ApplicationD
OC
UM
EN
T C
AP
TU
RE
1
Paper Documents(scan)
Faxes
E-documents(XML, IDoc, …)
Fax & Mailon Demand
Fax
Archive
XML
SMS
Web Publishing
DO
CU
ME
NT
TR
AN
SP
OR
T
3
Capture Read Route Format Transport
2 DELIVERYWARE RULES ENGINE
� Sales Orders� Confirmations� Proposals � Contracts � Accounts Receivable� Purchase Requisitions� Invoices� …
� Invoices� Purchase Orders� Remittance Advice � Confirmations� Letters� Quotes� Reports� …
Capture Read Route Format Transport
UN
IVE
RSA
L APPLICATION CONN
EC
TO
RS
ERP, CRM
with Esker deliveryware, documents can be delivered to multiple recipients through a full range of formats (text, XMl, PdF, idoc, PCl, PostScript, tiFF, etc.) and media (postal mail, fax, print, email and more).
Esker deliveryware automatically captures incoming documents in any format — independent of layout and application or source, without the need for custom programming.
Patented Esker automation technology recognizes and extracts data to determine formatting, conversion and routing conditions and actions that need to take place, as defined by processing rules.
Document Capture1 2 3DeliveryWare Rules Engine Document Transport
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The purchasing department generates added value and profitability for the entire organization by communicating with suppliers to procure high-quality goods and services at the lowest cost and at the right time. this value is restricted by archaic and inefficient working methods involving paper documents and time-consuming tasks. Businesses improve purchasing by outlining each step in the process, identifying document-dependent manual touch points, prioritizing based on cost/return and automating the top priorities first.
Manual PO deliverya typical manual purchasing process requires handling of multiple documents, such as requisitions, purchase orders, terms and conditions, specifications and confirmations — all of which are copied, distributed and filed by various internal and external groups involved in the process. Purchase order workflow may include validation for approval. a purchasing department is typically in contact with the accounting/finance department, production planning department or other groups that require goods or ser- vices, external suppliers and warehousing.
1. Each purchasing document must be printed, retrieved from the printer, faxed or sent via postal mail, photocopied (perhaps several times) and filed. This process is duplicated with each supplier’s PO. Departments requiring goods or services use the ERP system to create and print a purchase requisition.
2. A purchase validation request is created, manually printed and distributed, and these details are confirmed by a stamp or other manual means. the purchasing department uses the ERP system to create a purchase order, which is printed and manually sent to the supplier.
3. in many cases the requisitioner calls the purchasing department to make sure that the PO has been sent. a copy of the PO is printed and sent to the warehouse to ensure that it is ready to receive and deliver the goods.
4. additional copies are manually printed for the accounting department and the paper-based archive.
5. Suppliers fax order confirmations to the purchasing department, which manually collects and files the documents.
Automated PO deliverythe automated purchasing process includes the same basic steps. this is important to note because Esker deliveryware does not disrupt established procedures; it simply automates them.
1. the department requiring goods or services creates a purchase requisition in the ERP system.
2. A purchase validation request is automatically created and emailed by Esker DeliveryWare to confirm purchase details and approval.
3. the purchasing department creates a purchase order in the ERP system, and an automated fax is sent to the supplier. a copy of the PO is automatically emailed to the warehouse to ensure that it is ready to receive the goods and confirm correct delivery.
Automating PO Document Processes
WAREHOUSE
SUPPLIER
ACCOUNTINGDEPARTMENT
PRODUCTIONPLAN
ENTERPRISE BUSINESS PROCESSES
Retrieve Fa
xM
ail
Photocopy
Archive
Purchaserequisition
Archive
Orderconfirmation
Internalcopy
Purchaseorder
Buying Goods & Services
Manual Touch Point...multiplied by the numbers of suppliers
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4. an automated email is also sent to the accounting department. An order confirmation faxed by the supplier is automatically received and archived.
5. An automated confirmation email is sent to the department requiring the goods or services.
Each step is handled electronically, with no manual touch points.
Automated document bundlingIn a typical workflow where the PO requires specifications or other supporting documentation, the process is initiated by creation of a material requisition referencing specific components. Esker deliveryware receives a purchase order form image from the ERP application, recognizes documents based on identifiers on the form and retrieves a list of attachments from an archive server. a buyer issues a PO based on the line items and selects supporting documentation from the list to create a PO document package, with the option to print a copy of the package. Esker deliveryware can also send an email to the requisitioner to approve the PO and attachments on a web form.
the selected documents are converted to the preferred format, merged and annotated with page numbers. then Esker deliveryware delivers the package to the vendor via fax or email (to multiple recipients if necessary), according to business rules for transport method, and archives the package.
Key benefits of automated bundling and delivery§ Up to 60% reduction of costs to process purchasing documents
§ Up to 95% faster processing of purchasing documents
§ Internal controls for consistency in purchasing goods and materials
§ Centralized storage of purchasing documents for high availability of supply chain information
§ Improved relations with suppliers
§ Automated archiving for regulatory compliance support
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SUPPLIERS
WAREHOUSE
ACCOUNTINGDEPARTMENT
PURCHASINGMANAGER
Purchaseorder
Validation processemail form
Purchaseorder copy
Purchaseorder copy
PURCHASINGDEPARTMENT
PRODUCTIONPLAN
Fax
AutomatedArchiving
ERP
Statusconfirmation
Fax
ArchiveServer
ERP
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Case studya leading healthcare products manufacturer implemented the Esker deliveryware solution to deliver documents throughout its worldwide supply chain. The company saw payback in less than six months, achieved significant productivity gains and improved communication with suppliers and customers.
Challenge
to supply its facilities in the United States and Europe, the company buys materials from suppliers on both continents and sells its products through a network of distributors and retailers in more than 90 countries. Before implementing Esker deliveryware, the company delivered its ERP-generated transaction documents via manual fax — a paper-heavy, labor-intensive and costly process.
Results
with an annual volume of 250,000 procurement/fulfillment documents, the company is saving $250,000 per year. in addition, the company has been able to reassign more than one full-time employee and avoid any increase in administrator or programmer workloads. Equally valuable, the manufacturer is now able to communicate with its supply chain more rapidly and responsively.
ERP
NEW TRANSACTIONSUBMITTED TOERP SYSTEM
PO outputand printed
PO thenmanually faxed
Invoice manually stuffed and mailed
Before
ERP
NEW TRANSACTIONSUBMITTED TOERP SYSTEM
Originalto supplier
Future originalto vendor
Copy tomfg facility
With Esker DeliveryWare
NOTIFICATION
HTTPS
NOTIFIOTIFICATIONCATION
HTTPS
$1.85
$0.35
COSt PER POwith
ESkER dElivERywaRE
COSt PER POBEFORE
aUtOMatiON
SAvIngS:
§ $250,000 per year
§ Reassign more than one full-time employee
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Efficiency in purchasing is a key driver of performance in the procure-to-pay cycle. While businesses may be able to fax purchase orders out of their ERP applications, their ability to optimize the purchasing process is hindered by manual means of bundling and sending other documents with purchase orders.
despite the revolutionary impact of ERP solutions, purchasing is among the essential business processes that often remain bound to manual document processing. Significant improvement of performance and supplier relationships can be directly attributed to intelligent automation integrated with ERP systems.
Esker deliveryware offers value as a tool for procure-to-pay performance improvement by enabling businesses to automate purchasing document processes from end to end, including assembly and delivery of complete purchasing document packages as well as notification of delivery status. As a result, vendors can process orders quickly and supply chain efficiency increases.
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Conclusion
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Esker is a recognized leader in helping organizations eliminate manual document processes, increase process visibility and control, and reduce the use of paper by automating the flow of documents into, within and outside the organization. Customers gain significant and immediate operational efficiencies, cost savings and measurable ROI in as little as three to six months.
Esker solutions include an end-to-end platform that automates every phase and every type of document-based business information exchange, and online services enabling fax and postal mail from enterprise and desktop applications without the need for printers, mailroom equipment, fax machines and similar infrastructure.
Founded in 1985, Esker operates globally with more than 80,000 customers and millions of licensed users worldwide. Esker has global headquarters in lyon, France and U.S. headquarters in Madison, wisconsin.
For more information about Esker or other Esker product lines, email [email protected] or visit: www.esker.com.
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About Esker
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WORlDWIDE ESkER lOCATIOnS
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MADISOn, WISCOnSIn § U.S. HEADqUARTERS
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Suite 350 Madison, wi 53717
tel : 608.828.6000 Fax : 608.828.6001
Email : [email protected]
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