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Avenance currently employs 30 staff to process 60,000 invoices per month from 650 remote catering sites. Eighty percent of these invoices are generated from only 20 percent of their suppliers. The current environment for processing these invoices is labor intensive and costly for Avenance.
The company had two major issues. "The immediate one being the management of purchasing data, particularly in an environment where purchasing has such a significant effect on the cost and quality of the services we offer," says Mark Simmons, Avenance's IT Director. "The need to understand, control and analyze this is vital for the business. The second issue was reducing the cost of processing 60,000 invoices per month."
Rather than modifying their existing Microsoft Great Plains ERP system, Avenance made the strategic decision to take the best-of-breed in software functionality and link that together using various tools. As Avenance's existing supplier of Microsoft Great Plains, Tate Bramald suggested the CyBiz solution, as it could easily be customized to meet Avenance's specific requirements. The CyBiz solution, encompassing workflow, includes supply chain XML integration capability, built-in supplier discount rules (a key requirement for contract caterers) and seamless integration into Microsoft Great Plains using Microsoft BizTalk Server.
The project consisted of three phases. The first phase included a joint requirements gathering session by CyBiz and Tate Bramald. Based on Avenance's requirements, the team customized the Web interface to mimic the same processes the remote sites were using before, and integrated the solution with the remote sites' Unitmaster and Saffron systems and Headquarters' Great Plains ERP system.
Within two months phase one of the solution went live and invoices from Avenance's 650 remote catering sites were automatically pushed into CyBiz via the Internet and then integrated into Microsoft Great Plains. The process for sending the invoice data from the remote sites to headquarters is transparent to the remote sites. Personnel from the remote sites are conducting business as usual but now all data goes through CyBiz as the central repository prior to sending it to Headquarters for validation and payment in Great Plains.
"Having worked with a large number of software houses over the years, I just wish they were all like CyBiz, stated Mark Simmons, IT Director, Avenance. They have responded speedily and intelligently to our queries and I can't praise their service enough. As far as the CyBiz solution is concerned, they have quickly understood our specific requirements and allocated the correct resource to the project, enabling us to go live on time and on budget. Soon after implementation, we are realizing the software's potential strength, which will help us to decrease our operational costs and increase workforce productivity."
The second phase of the solution led by Tate Bramald provides a Business Intelligence layer to Great Plains allowing the client to display client invoicing information across the web. The third phase of the solution is to link Avenance's suppliers electronically into CyBiz, which will provide the company with further savings. Since 20 percent of their suppliers generate nearly 80 percent of their invoices, receiving the invoices electronically will remove the manual process of keying in more than 60,000 invoices per month. Instead, Avenance will receive these invoices electronically and obtain authorization from their remote sites over the Internet before the invoices are transferred automatically into Great Plains for payment processing.
By using CyBiz as the central web-based solution and successfully implementing its EAI and Trans-Enterprise Workflow™ capabilities to integrate Avenance's heterogeneous systems, Avenance has automated the invoice approval process, reducing the number of errors and improving its customer service. Invoice information entered in Unitmaster and Saffron is automatically validated against Great Plains and all supplier discounts and revenues are being applied and realized.
As far as the business benefits are concerned, Simmons points out that decisions on purchasing and authorization are now being made at the right place, namely Avenance's remote sites. "Our suppliers will find out far more quickly about any issues associated with invoicing, which improves our supplier relationships. We also have greater clarity of information in terms of our purchasing. And finally, we expect to decrease our operational costs and increase workforce productivity through the elimination of data rekeying."
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