Who's bought what - October 09
Basware to deliver Connectivity Services and Invoice Processing solution to leading manufacturer of building materials
Basware will deliver Basware Connectivity Services and Basware Invoice Processing solution to one of the world's largest manufacturers of building materials. The value of the deals exceeds EUR 400 000. Basware Connectivity is a new set of services which enables suppliers and buyers of all sizes and maturity to transact electronically. The service to be delivered now includes Basware Scan and Capture services. The services will be implemented initially in Germany and potentially on group level. The implementation starts in December 2009 and is estimated to be completed by February 2010. Basware Invoice Processing solution helps organizations in their invoice processing by mastering the process both internally and externally. "We launched Basware Connectivity services as a complete solution in 2009 and yet another agreement proves that we have succeeded in our development work. Basware is the only company who can deliver all documents related to purchase to pay process in one solution. Basware Connectivity service allows companies to handle purchase to pay processes online and to achieve fast return on investment," says CEO Ilkka Sihvo, Basware Corporation.
The Basware Connectivity services include the ability to deliver e-invoices and purchase messages with Basware Business Transactions, an outsourced Basware Scan and Capture solution to convert all paper invoice to electronic format, the ability for suppliers to key-in invoices, receive orders electronically, send order confirmations as well as upload and create electronic catalogs via Basware Supplier Portal and an outsourced Basware Supplier Activation service to communicate with the suppliers, assist and activate them to connect to the buyers' purchase to pay process.
OB10 and PrimeRevenue partner to provide streamlined supply chain finance solution
PrimeRevenue, the leading global Supply Chain Finance (SCF) platform and solutions provider, and OB10, the leading global e-Invoicing network, have announced a partnership which combines SCF and e-Invoicing for Fortune 1,000 companies and their suppliers.
“The synergies created by our two companies bring added value to our customers and their suppliers,” said Jamie Gunn, CEO – OB10. “e-Invoicing significantly reduces the cycle time to process an invoice, thereby allowing companies to extend early payment terms to their suppliers. While credit markets have softened, our clients often want to hold onto their cash as long as possible, contrasted with their suppliers who need the cash as soon as possible. PrimeRevenue bridges that gap.”
Customers who leverage the OB10 Network and PrimeRevenue’s on-demand SCF Platform will add significant value to their suppliers. Suppliers who have customers that are enabled on the PrimeRevenue SCF platform can advance payment on receivables of their choice.
“This collaboration ensures that our customers and their suppliers gain greater efficiency, visibility and flexibility in their invoicing, payment and cash flow management processes,” said PJ Bain, CEO – PrimeRevenue. “Our companies are uniquely-positioned to offer premier, best of breed solutions to our growing customer base, designed to simplify and speed the entire invoice to payment process to the benefit of both sides of the trading partner relationship.”
The OB10-PrimeRevenue collaboration is operational at a global Fortune 500 manufacturer of major home appliances. Suppliers submitting invoices via the OB10 Network have access to on-demand advance payment of their receivables at attractive financing rates which are based on the investment-grade Buyer’s cost of financing.
Strategic public sector partnership, Xentrall, choose assyst for their shared services model
Axios Systems, the world's leading provider of IT Service Management (ITSM) solutions, has further penetrated the public sector market with the recent Xentrall implementation of the out-of-the-box software, assyst. Formed by a public to public strategic partnership between Darlington and Stockton-on-Tees Borough Councils, Xentrall delivers services in ICT, Design & Print, HR and Finance to both councils. Xentrall supports Darlington and Stockton in transforming their ICT services to deliver cost savings and improve efficiencies. The two neighboring unitary authority councils, with a combined population of around 300,000, have a culture of innovation and service improvement and are highly rated by the Audit Commission. This is shown in their recent CPA (Comprehensive Performance Assessment) results, which refers toa council's overall performance compared to others in England. Xentrall wanted to consolidate the separate Service Desks into one to create a centralized support function, with the possibility of further consolidating other support functions further down the line. Their aim in doing this was to provide efficient and effective support for both councils and reduce operational costs, thus maximizing efficiencies.
Assyst was chosen by Xentrall as the solution that would best meet these requirements and provide a single, consolidated data repository and IT Service Management tool. assyst will help Xentrall maximize the availability of both councils key services, including Revenues and Benefits, Housing Systems and email in order to provide business users what they need, when they need it. This will ensure that they can effectively support the initiatives of both councils and demonstrate value to the residents of Darlington and Stockton. Delivering service excellence to the business user is a key factor in the success of the project and assyst will allow Xentrall to align their ICT systems and services to the ITIL guidelines in order to achieve this.
Ian Miles, Head of ICT, Xentrall, says, "We selected the assyst IT Service Management tool based on its alignment with ITIL and its multi-tenancy capability, allowing us to support both councils centrally, while keeping the data segregated and individual to each council. Axios clearly demonstrated how they intended to meet our objectives with assyst and showed us how they had already helped other organizations achieve similar goals." Ailsa Symeonides, Sales & Marketing Director, Axios Systems, says, "Axios already has a proven track record in the public sector with customers including West Lothian Council, Fife NHS and Thames Valley Police. assyst's capability to enable a Shared Services model has been utilized by many customers already and the Xentrall partnership is further proof of its success in this type of implementation." Axios Systems and Shared Services Axios Systems can help both public and private sector organizations with its award-winning, scalable ITSM software, assyst, and it's highly experienced consulting and training expertise, allowing organizations to succeed in achieving a Shared Services Model through delivering increased efficiency and effectiveness as well as an enhanced experience for stakeholders. Some customers already using assyst for Shared Services include Hull City Council, Service Birmingham and Kingfisher.
Kuehne + Nagel commits to INTTRA e-invoice platform
INTTRA, the leading e-commerce platform for the ocean freight industry, today announced that Kuehne + Nagel is collaborating with INTTRA for INTTRA eInvoice implementation. This commitment from one of the world’s leading and largest seafreight logistics providers represents an endorsement of INTTRA’s initiative to drive new efficiencies and cost savings in the $200 billion ocean container shipping industry.
INTTRA eInvoice, is an electronic invoicing, dispute resolution and payment processing solution that will enable freight forwarders to receive, process and pay carrier invoices and offers the potential to cut average transaction processing costs by more than half.
“We are pleased to be part of this broad industry initiative. Invoicing, dispute resolution, and payment processes are highly fragmented across the industry and represent a significant area of cost and inefficiency.
There are an estimated 150 million invoice transactions processed a year for ocean shipping with average costs ranging from $20 - $60 per invoice. Logistics Providers and their ocean carriers can benefit from standardizing the process, improving visibility to their cash liabilities and providing a more transparent invoicing process saving time and resources,” said Otto Schacht, Senior Vice President Global Seafreight at Kuehne + Nagel.
John DeBenedette, INTTRA’s VP Commercial said, “In this unprecedented economic downturn, there are tremendous savings from finding ways to reduce operational costs across the industry. INTTRA eInvoice integrates with any banking relationship and any contract database partnership, enabling customers to realize cost savings more quickly and reduce the estimated $500 million in industry costs from inefficient invoicing processes. We believe the INTTRA eInvoice solution supported by Kuehne+Nagel and the world’s leading carriers will provide the most effective way for the industry to take cost out of their businesses.”
Henkel chooses SAPERION for global standardised invoice processing
German software firm SAPERION, specialists in enterprise content management, has helped Henkel modernise invoice processing throughout the company and get a handle on a flood of invoices. SAPERION 6 enables this manufacturer of pharmacy products, adhesives, and sealants to handle a yearly volume of 1.4 million invoices faster and with lower costs than before. Henkel’s 52,000 employees around the world also benefit from new features like e-invoicing, which will pay dividends long into the future.
Launching of the new software in Europe and North America will serve as the opening bell for a major platform conversion. Since SAPERION 6 went live in June of 2009, more than 20 countries, including Germany, France, Great Britain, and Poland, have begun using the new system. In the first few months, 40,000 invoices have been entered into the system and 16,700 users have been granted access. Henkel plans to expand use of the software to all national subsidiaries in several stages. The old FileNet software was replaced within six months, including two months each of design, development, and internal testing at Henkel.
The high level of standardization enables this international company to convert invoice processing to uniform processes at a global level. The system also completes the processing of invoices with less time spent on agreements and approvals. The new system has many other benefits as well. By guiding the user through the entire process, there is less room for mistakes. At the same time, the software makes procedures and coordination cycles leaner. The results are savings of time and money. Henkel also benefits from SAPERION's completely open interface architecture. Existing or future applications that are developed for highly specialized purposes can be easily integrated. “Our old system simply couldn't keep up with the increasing volumes of invoices. It had gotten to be rather slow, especially during peak times at the beginning and end of each month, sometimes having a direct effect on our profitability. The new solution does everything we need, giving us a highly standardized system that will be able to handle future growth," according to Jaak van Wanseele, Financial Operations Europe at Henkel.
Investing in an open, high-performance ECM solution is an investment in the future because, as globalization continues to accelerate, an ever greater number of invoice processes are moving to the Internet. The benefits of web-based functions are especially evident at international corporations like Henkel. According to a recent study by market research firm TNS Global, twenty-percent of all German companies already send electronic invoices in addition to traditional hard copies, and their numbers are increasing. The new software at Henkel is ready for this challenge. Integrated e-invoicing features give Henkel the tools they will need for future invoice processing requirements. “E-invoicing will eventually allow us to achieve a fully electronic exchange of invoices with our vendors, which will greatly improve the efficiency of the invoice-receipt process," according to Jaak van Wanseele. "Using and maintaining the system requires only a small amount of time, a benefit that will go straight to our bottom line."
According to Rudolf Gessinger, CEO of SAPERION: "An international corporation like Henkel needs to have a highly standardized solution for processing invoices. At the same time, the chosen software must be capable of handling future requirements and have the flexibility to take full advantage of benefits like web-based features. SAPERION is the ideal partner for these situations. We already provide a large number of international corporations with account payable solutions and Henkel benefits from this experience."
BBS and PBS: an exciting new player to offer financial logistics
A letter of intent to merge has been signed by Danish PBS and Norwegian Nordito (owner of BBS and Teller). This merger will produce the leading player in the world’s leading market, miles ahead of the rest of the globe when it comes to integrated electronic value transactions. Both PBS and Nordito are bank owned companies that manage and develop e-payment and related e-transaction products.
Dankort, the Danish debit card that is used for the vast majority of online payments in Denmark, is managed by PBS. Both BBS and PBS are card acquirers and issuers as well as payment terminal operators. BBS also runs the Norwegian clearing house. But it’s not just in the area of e-payments where these companies lead. Both are very active in e-invoicing and e-identity. BBS also owns eFaktura that enables consumers to receive, pay and store electronic invoices in their online bank.
These two companies are both clear leaders in the e-services field with each holding multiple positions in the e-transactions value chain. Financial Logistics couples these transactions together enabling e-services that span the entire trade cycle. Think of e-procurement followed by e-invoicing coupled with e-payment with e-authentication at every stage along the way.
P2P and SaaS, Spartech takes a new road and selects DataServ Purchase to Pay (P2P) workflow solution
As part of its shared services initiative, Spartech Corporation has selected the DataServ Purchase-to-Pay (P2P) solution set to automate Accounts Payable processes. DataServ and Spartech Corporation have entered into a five year agreement under which DataServ will provide P2P Software as a Service (SaaS) to enable the creation of a new Finance Shared Services centre. This will result in significantly lower costs for Spartech as well as enhanced financial control and visibility, says a press release.
DataServ automates the Accounts Payable process through full-service Digital Mailroom, high-quality OCR data capture services, processor queues for inbound documents and exceptions, and invoice workflow automation of the approval process through electronic routing. Integration with Oracle will provide users throughout Spartech with one click access to AP documents managed by DataServ.
Robert Byrne, Vice President and Chief Information Officer commented on his company's decision to purchase the DataServ P2P offering, stating, "Spartech is always on the lookout for technological solutions that will automate our processes, enhance our cost structure, and complement our existing systems by integrating with Oracle. We believe the DataServ P2P solution will accomplish these goals. Their depth of experience and the fact that they have P2P best practices embedded into their solution impressed us."
EDS, an HP Company, enables recovery of almost $1 million for Broadridge Financial Solutions
EDS, an HP company, last month announced the successful recovery of almost $1 million in payments for Broadridge Financial Solutions. EDS used proprietary technology tools, including its Payment Recovery Services (PRS), to help Broadridge save money while enabling the improvement of procurement processes. After Broadridge discovered it had a considerable opportunity to recover money it was owed due to overpayments and duplicate and erroneous payments to vendors, the organisation engaged EDS to help better manage its vendor relationships. In addition to enabling the recovery of such funds, EDS used PRS to identify outstanding credits owed back to Broadridge.
“We needed a solution to recover lost funds, identify the issues that led to overpayments and resolve unclaimed credits,” said Steven Mianowski, senior director of Finance Shared Services at Broadridge Financial Solutions. “With EDS Payment Recovery Services, we have been able to enhance our relationships with suppliers while increasing the adherence to our procure-to-pay processes. In addition, EDS PRS helped us to gain valuable insight into areas where our processes could be further enhanced and put us on the path to making the necessary changes.”
Previously available only as part of the EDS Finance and Administration Business Process Outsourcing Service offering, EDS PRS is now also a stand-alone solution that provides clients with the ability to identify and then recover supplier overpayments and credits. Once payment errors are identified, work begins with suppliers to explain, negotiate and manage collections related to the recovery of cash, while simultaneously maintaining the clients’ vendor relationships.
Basware to deliver invoice processing solution to Her Majesty's Prison Service
Basware, the global leader in purchase-to-pay solutions, announced that it had signed a contract to provide its invoice workflow solution at Her Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) to 5700 users. The solution will support HMPS' continued drive to cut internal costs within its accounts payable department and speed up payments to suppliers. As the British Executive Agency that manages 138 prisons within England and Wales, HMPS reports into the Ministry of Justice. In 2005, The HMPS Shared Services Centre was set up in Newport, UK to handle all finance, procurement and HR activities.
Basware Invoice Processing solution was selected after a review of several other suppliers. The system, which will be accessed by the Accounts Payable team as well as 5,700 users throughout the UK, will help deliver prompt payment of about 750,000 invoices each year. "We are pleased to be delivering the Basware Invoice Processing solution to a large public sector organisation such as Her Majesty's Prison Service. The deal is testament to our continued success within the UK and encourages us to continue with our chosen strategy in a market where our services are so well received," said Ilkka Sihvo, CEO, Basware Corporation.
Information Services Group announces new agreement to aid Chinese outsourcing industry
Information Services Group, Inc. (ISG), an industry-leading information-based services company, recently announced that its business unit TPI, the largest sourcing data and advisory firm in the world, has signed an agreement to help Huaqiao, a satellite zone of Shanghai, take the lead in expanding the outsourcing market in China. Under the agreement, TPI will assist Huaqiao with the creation of China's first operating protocols and standards for outsourcing industry participants. The protocols and standards, which will address issues such as business setup, data privacy, intellectual property, measurement and reporting systems and training and education, are designed to increase the city's appeal to global sourcing buyers, service providers setting up delivery centers and global corporations building captive or shared services centres.
Huaqiao is an economic development zone in China dedicated to services outsourcing. The Huaqiao International Service Business Park, located just 12.4 miles (20 km) east of central Shanghai, is expected to become a hub of financial services outsourcing (FSO) and business process outsourcing activity, with an anticipated workforce of 300,000 and a productive capacity of $15 billion (€10.2 billion) within five to 10 years.
"We are very pleased that TPI is working with us to strengthen our position in the global outsourcing marketplace," said Ren Xueyuan, chief executive of Huaqiao. "We believe Huaqiao is the most dedicated service sourcing industry park and that dedication and focus give us a strong advantage. As we aim to be a leading global service sourcing location, we've increasingly realised the need to align with global operating protocols and standards. TPI's unparalleled sourcing experience and expertise will help us address that need and make Huaqiao and China attractive destinations for both the buy and sell sides of the industry."
"We are pleased to be a partner with Huaqiao in strengthening China's outsourcing sector," said Michael P. Connors, Chairman and CEO, ISG and TPI. "China is an extremely important market for ISG and TPI and for the sourcing industry as a whole and we are excited to be participating in its further development and growth."
Basware to deliver enterprise Purchase to Pay solution to the state of South Australia
Basware will deliver Basware Purchase to Pay solution to the State of South Australia. The total value of the deal is approximately €3.4 Million. The implementation of the solution will be started in autumn 2009 and the rollout to 19 agencies is estimated to be completed by December 2010. The State of South Australia is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories and ranks fifth in population with nearly 1.6 million people. "We are extremely happy to start working with such an important new customer in Australia right after our recent acquisition in Australia and to further extend our presence on the continent. Basware Enterprise Purchase to Pay solution will unify the processes across the State of South Australia resulting in cost savings for the State", says CEO Ilkka Sihvo, Basware Corporation. Basware Enterprise Purchase to Pay solution streamlines and automates procurement and accounts payable invoice processing, enabling organisations to focus on creating added value for their customers.
Field Studies Council anticipates savings of £100,000 per annum by automating Purchase to Pay
Field Studies Council, a UK environmental education charity with 17 sites situated across the UK, is anticipating cost savings in excess of £100,000 per year by automating its Purchase to Pay cycle using Version One’s document management and imaging solutions. FSC is also significantly improving invoice processing efficiency, reducing manual data entry by up to 90% and is supporting its environmental agenda using Version One’s technology tightly integrated into its Sage Line 500 accounting system. Version One’s solutions went live in May 2009.
Richard Walker, Director of Finance at Field Studies Council, says, "Our reliance on paper made paying an invoice time consuming. We also experienced duplication of effort and were vulnerable to errors...Invoices arrive at our 17 different centres and staff could often photocopy a single invoice several times before posting it to the head office for payment. We were also spending an inordinate amount of time re-keying information into our Sage system and due to an inadequate audit trail, we would occasionally end up paying the same invoice twice."
FSC’s Purchase to Pay inefficiencies meant that it used to take a phenomenal amount of time just to process a small petty cash claim. Its paper-based processes were also proving expensive with FSC incurring significant costs as a result of printing, photocopying and posting paper in addition to the costs of making cheque payments. Using Version One’s systems, which were recommended by FSC’s Sage software provider, Datel Computing, the 25,000 purchase invoices FSC receives each year are now scanned at its UK-wide centres and emailed through to the head office. These invoices are tagged to the appropriate record in the Sage accounting system and electronically stored. They can then be retrieved by authorised users at all FSC’s sites directly from Sage or by using Version One’s web browser, DbWebQuery.
Version One’s optical character recognition (OCR) technology, DbCapture, enables the data on all invoices to be automatically captured and verified before being uploaded to Sage, significantly reducing manual data entry. Using Version One’s authorisation module, once the invoices have been scanned, approvers are automatically emailed a link to the imaged invoices allowing them to approve, reject or query them with just a click of the mouse. Once approved, FSC makes payment using Version One’s BACS-iP automated payment system.
Walker comments, "Version One’s systems provide us with remarkable time savings and we expect to see even greater efficiencies moving forward. We anticipate up to £100,000 cost savings in the first year of using the systems. In fact, moving from cheques to BACS-iP payments reduces our costs from 60 pence to 32 pence per transaction.”
Gloucester City Council cuts time taken to procure goods by 75% using COA Solutions’ eProcurement
COA Solutions’ eProcurement system integrated with @UK’s eMarketplace has transformed the efficiency of Gloucester City Council’s procurement department, cutting the time it takes to procure an item from 20 minutes to just 5 minutes. Gloucester City Council wanted to improve the services it delivered to its 100,000 citizens by streamlining its procurement processes. The Council identified the need for a flexible and reliable electronic procurement (eProcurement) system to replace the inefficient processes undertaken by Council staff. Gloucester City Council also required the eProcurement system to tightly integrate into its existing COA Solutions financial management system and have the ability to “punch-out” to a central database of suppliers via an electronic marketplace. Sarah Tilling, Systems Administrator at Gloucester City Council said “We used to maintain an in-house catalogue to monitor the costs of goods and services from suppliers. As you can imagine, this was extremely labour intensive and prone to error. We also had to manually key-in information when placing an order which was another inefficient use of our time.”
Gloucester City Council selected COA Solutions’ eProcurement system integrated into @UK’s eMarketplace solution. The eProcurement system, which is tightly integrated into the Council’s existing COA Solutions financial management system, enables the automation of a range of procure-to-pay processes. @UK’s eMarketplace, which is a web-based application, facilitates electronic trade between one or more Local Authorities and many supplier organisations. Tilling comments, “Implementing COA Solutions’ software has cut the time it takes to procure an item by 75%. It previously used to take us around 20 minutes to manually order a dozen stationery items whereas now we can do this in just five minutes with a few mouse clicks.”
Authorised Council users now ‘punch out’ into the @UK eMarketplace where they can automatically select their goods and services from a wide range of suppliers without manually keying-in information, significantly saving time and improving efficiency. Once a basket of goods has been selected for purchase, the specific contact details of the person who raised the order are added to the system, providing instant traceability and accountability. Instead of having to pay at the supplier’s checkout, the order is brought back into COA Solutions’eProcurement system and the goods are matched with the general ledger codes before being sent to a Council officer for approval. Once approved, the order is then raised and sent electronically via the @UK eMarketplace to the chosen supplier where it is seamlessly converted into an electronic invoice and instantly committed to the Council’s COA Solutions financial management system.
