| "As a company constantly
striving to improve our business processes, the ability
to receive invoices electronically is a significant advantage
for us and it will continue to add value as our supplier
network grows"
Fisher Scientific UK is the UK's leading
supplier of laboratory products and the only major UK based
manufacturer of inorganic chemicals, reagent and solvents.
The company's manufacturing plant and
headquarters are based in Loughborough, Leicestershire.
Fisher Scientific employs almost 500 people in the UK. The
company distributes premium branded and own-label Fisherbrand
products from approximately 3000 suppliers to over 40,000
end-user laboratory customers in the UK and abroad. Fisher
Scientific's comprehensive paper and web based catalogues
feature over 80,000 products.
The company has a long history of embracing
innovation to achieve greater efficiencies in its business
processes and was one of the first organisations to provide
its catalogue online.
Peter Outen, Fisher Scientific's project
consultant, heads project based teams dedicated to improving
the efficiencies of the company's systems at all levels
of the organisation.
Fisher Scientific issues over 500,000
invoices per year and receives approximately 85,000 over
the same period. The company employs a dedicated accounts
payable team, who handle the time consuming process of physically
opening incoming paper invoices through the mail, checking
the information and inputting the data into the company's
accounting system.
According to Outen, the company was immediately
interested in any service, which could improve the efficiency
of its accounts payable department. "We analysed many
aspects of the business and found the accounts payable department
to be a prime candidate for increased automation and the
application of new technologies," says Outen.
Research undertaken internally revealed
that the cost per invoice received by the company was of
disproportionate value. "Receiving and processing a
paper based invoice is an inherently inefficient process,"
according to Outen. "Our accounts payable staff are
valuable members of our workforce but their time is dominated
by laborious manual tasks such as data entry and filing.
It's our belief that improving the process will free the
accounts payable staff from many of these routine tasks
and will allow them to concentrate on more rewarding aspects
of their jobs".
In addition, UK tax law requires that
every company must keep copies of incoming invoices for
six years. Storage of these documents, either in physical
form or in microfiche format, is costly and retrieval can
be an inefficient and time-consuming process.
Open Business Exchange (OBE) is a service
company, which uses a unique open technology platform to
eliminate paper invoices for large organisations and their
suppliers.
OBE's first service, OB10 is a universal,
non-intrusive translation system that enables large buying
companies to receive electronic invoices directly into their
ERP and accounting systems from any of their suppliers,
large or small. Subscribing does not require the installation
of proprietary software, and the service accommodates any
data format. Clients are provided with substantial cost
and timesaving benefits and the system is easy and cost
effective to implement. It does not require the costly adaptation
of existing infrastructure and provides a quick return on
investment.
Peter Outen originally met Alain Falys
and Stefan Foryszewski (OBE's CEO and Vice President, Product
Development respectively) during their time with Visa International
as senior managers in the company's corporate payment division.
Following an initial meeting with OBE, Fisher Scientific
agreed to become a test customer and ultimately the launch
customer for OB10 in the UK.
Outen was immediately impressed with the
ease with which the OB10 system could be integrated into
Fisher Scientific's existing infrastructure with minimal
disruption and cost. "OBE offered us a deceptively
simple solution to what we regarded as a frustratingly difficult
problem to solve. Along with the obvious time and cost savings
offered, the key benefit of OB10 which attracted us was
the fact that it capitalises on our existing infrastructure.
This has allowed us to significantly improve a previously
unwieldy process without resorting to complex technical
upgrades or capital expenditure".
OBE worked closely with the UK Tax
Authorities to ensure that users of its paperless invoice
delivery service continue to meet UK tax standards. Significantly,
this means that companies using OB10 are no longer required
to process and retain paper invoices to satisfy HMCE's (Her
Majesty's Customs and Excise) requirements, thus saving
both time and money. In addition, the OB10 central data
warehouse will enable audits of the supplier and buyer tax
accounting records to be carried out remotely, subject to
the approval of the parties.
The key to the success of the new system
was gaining buy-in from Fisher Scientific's extensive network
of suppliers who would be encouraged to embrace the system
and deliver their invoices electronically. Outen's team
worked closely with OBE during the testing phase in order
generate support from the network and encourage buy-in.
The supplier enrolment programme was based around a series
of one to one meetings and seminars for larger suppliers
and a simple letter distributed to smaller suppliers. "The
initial reaction from our community of suppliers has been
overwhelmingly positive," says Outen. "The process
has been relatively painless as it has been easy to educate
our suppliers that OB10 represents a new, more efficient
way of delivering invoices which will ultimately save them
time and money with only a minimal investment.
Significantly, Outen predicts that 50%
of key suppliers will have joined the OB10 network within
6 months.
Since finalising the testing programme
for OBE in June 2001, the benefits of the service have been
immediately evident according to Outen. "As a company
constantly striving to improve our business processes, the
ability to receive invoices electronically is a significant
advantage for us and it will continue to add value as our
supplier network grows".
As the launch customer for OB10, Fisher
Scientific is the first company in the world with the facility
to send and receive electronic invoices universally. "The
system is already benefiting our entire spectrum of suppliers,
from small companies right through to large multinational
organisations like ourselves" says Outen.
Peter Outen is already impressed with
the results of the implementation of OB10. On an operational
level, the company has noticed improving levels of efficiency
within the accounts payable department. "We are on
target to reduce the costs associated with invoicing by
a significant amount at the six months stage, increasing
to substantive amounts by the end of year two. Costs have
started to decrease as staff are redeployed within the company
and the speed of processing invoices and resolving disputes
has improved significantly."
"While we are still at a relatively
early stage of deployment within our existing supplier network,
we have been delighted with the immediate benefits demonstrated
by the system", says Outen.
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