How to Quit Paper in Any Document Process with One SAP®-certified Solution www.esker.com ESKER Introduction Business runs on documents, and until recently that has meant paper. Today virtually every organization recognizes the need to quit paper and eliminate, as much as possible, manual processing of those documents — to realize the cost savings and efficiency gains that automation brings. Order Companies know they can no longer overlook the high costs and inefficiency of having staff spending so much time pushing paper around the office. With paper there is no visibility, no control and low productivity. Where businesses may have tolerated this situation in the past, many are looking to reduce costs and avoid losing customers to competitors who operate at lower cost and deliver better service. They need to capture incoming documents quickly and accurately, be able to prioritize them, know where they are in the process, monitor processing metrics such as time and volume, deliver outbound documents as efficiently as possible, and have immediate access to the documents as needed. Invoice IT analyst research consistently finds that top-performing companies process a higher percentage of documents like orders and invoices electronically in comparison with their peers. Still, justifying the investment is one of the biggest implementation challenges companies face today. Assessing automation value Any strategic value assessment of solutions to automate a document process like order processing or invoicing, or a specific document communication medium such as faxing, should consider a key factor: The fundamental issues driving the need for automation of the process or media are also present in other areas. Many companies automate one or two document processes while other processes continue to rely on paper. Often, different business units have their own applications. Processes span across locations and departments, and applications do not always communicate directly with another. As the number of customers and suppliers increases, communication becomes less efficient and more costly. Because all business processes in an organization are essentially intertwined, inevitable delays happen when paper document processing starts a chain reaction that affects the entire enterprise — inflating the time and cost of doing business. By automating as many document processes as possible, starting with the top priorities, companies can capitalize on valuable opportunities to improve cash flow and overall profitability. So what is the best way to quit paper? While a specialized application may be effective in automating a particular process, it may do nothing at all to help with others. As a result, companies find themselves investing time, money and resources in different solutions for each process they want to automate. The alternative is a comprehensive solution for all document process improvement efforts. Such a platform can provide a unified set of automation capabilities combined with specific functionality for core processes within the order-to-cash and procure-to-pay cycles, such as sales order processing or customer invoicing. There is no doubt that automating document processes throughout a company brings immediate additional value to SAP solutions, reduces costs, and streamlines business communications. The question is whether to choose stand-alone solutions or a platform to automate it all. This paper is intended to help you make an informed decision. 2 Process Management Challenges Business and IT professionals tasked with managing business document processes share several common concerns. ducti Impleme Pro nta tio n Visibility p st in Co or e vo r or ice der rR Erro vity Business Document Processing e at Visibility Where is the order? Who has the invoice? Companies need transparency to see what and where business documents are at any time, and to manage document processing workload. Productivity Visibility has a direct correlation to productivity — how much non-value work people are doing to support business processes. Companies also need to optimize productivity of document processing to be able to deal with fluctuations in document volume due to business growth or decline, seasonal demand, and sales or purchasing trends. Errors Wherever there is manual document processing, there is always a considerable risk of human error that can end up stretching out the business cycle and driving up operating costs. These errors and the delays they cause can have a direct impact on cash flow, supply chain performance and finance. Cost Everyone is looking to cut costs and do more with less of both IT resources and staff resources. Along with the hard costs of labor, equipment and materials that we can quantify, there are also the soft costs of low customer satisfaction and lost business. Implementation Addressing these issues requires a flexible solution that is easy to deploy, does not impact existing systems, carries minimal risk and will work to automate communications with as many customers and suppliers as possible. 3 IT Landscape Complexity Explosion In looking to optimize document processes, companies often respond to one specific automation need at a time with different tools, creating a complex mix of technologies. Introducing new systems into an increasingly complex infrastructure can create process bottlenecks and astronomical costs — not only to purchase the various technologies, but also to implement and maintain them, and to train staff to use them. And if anything in the environment changes, as it inevitably will, modifying the affected applications can be extremely expensive and time-consuming when there are so many pieces of the puzzle. Below is a high-level example of what a typical business IT infrastructure can look like. Fax CRM Supplier Email SAP Customer Print LEGACY EDI Partner Mail Cost and complications In an environment of point-to-point systems creating high costs (administration, knowledge, maintenance, hardware and upgrades), getting all of the applications to work well together can be a never-ending nightmare. You may be faced with some or all of the following challenges:  Gaining expertise with each solution aving different administrators for each solution, which drives total cost of ownership (TCO) up and can create a H situation where no one in the company really “owns” document processing  Managing relationships with each of the solution vendors  Building a warehouse for data from all of the different systems  Modifying applications to meet your specific requirements Understandably, business and IT leaders are often reluctant to add new technology or tamper with existing systems, as this can be time-consuming and risky. Though effective inbound and outbound document delivery management presents obvious business advantages and financial benefits, a successful technology solution must work within the existing IT framework to bring the necessary capabilities without adding complexity. 4 Creating Success What is making broad automation a practical reality for many companies is not simply technology that actually works to streamline a particular business process. It is the larger value of the capabilities and operational benefits of a platform that brings together all the necessary functionality for automation of processes throughout the procure-to-pay and orderto-cash cycles. De Companies are finding that they can leverage the same solution they use for sales order processing, for example, to automate purchase order delivery, customer billing and vendor invoice processing as well. With such a solution in place, organizations have a platform to automate virtually any business process that runs on documents. Fax and Email y er il v c IDo ML I/X ED Archiving D Cap ata tur e r Fo m at tin g n Validatio A unified platform offers the advantages of using a shared group of functions, along with the added benefits of leveraging capabilities that are specifically designed for core processes. Replacing point-to-point solutions with a single automation platform frees IT departments and customer service teams from tasks that burden their budget, and at the same time saves hours of work that can be redeployed to new projects. Benefits of increased efficiency and productivity with the platform approach also result from:  Less time spent on training, administration and vendor relationship management  Lower infrastructure costs  Consistent application of policies  Less repetitive work  Lower error rates All elements of the platform should be accessible and controlled by a single set of business rules to allow automation of document processes from end to end without the need for third-party products. This allows each process to be automated and measured as an entity rather than as a collection of different functions. 5 What the Platform Does In comparison with multiple point-to-point solutions, the Esker platform brings together all the necessary functionality for unified customer and supplier communications to enable the efficient flow of information — independent of data format or document media. With the Esker platform at their disposal, businesses have a single solution to:  Receive sales orders, vendor invoices or any other incoming documents from any source purchase orders, customer invoices or any other outgoing documents directly from SAP applications and  Send other systems  Store documents and data inside the SAP system or other common repository Capture Read 2 Route Format Transport DELIVERYWARE RULES ENGINE Paper Documents Sales Orders Confirmations n Proposals n Contracts n Accounts Receivable n Purchase Requisitions n Invoices n… Invoices Purchase Orders n Remittance Advice n Confirmations n Letters n Quotes n Reports n… (scan) n n Email n n Print Faxes Email Fax Print Archive XML SMS L I C AT I O N Web Publishing CO NE SAP CTORS UNIVER L P AP 3 N SA E-documents (XML, IDoc, …) Fax & Mail on Demand DOCUMENT TRANSPORT DOCUMENT CAPTURE 1 Applications What it takes To deliver this additional value, the Esker platform provides components for automated document processing that encompass: ocument capture and workflow management functionality, including OCR plus content recognition, prioritizing D capabilities and the ability to make data available to SAP applications  Formatting capabilities to create high-usability documents from multiple media (fax, PDF, HTML, XML/EDI, etc.) full range of transport options, including connection to Esker-hosted fax and postal mail services, with the ability to A automatically send and receive faxes and notify of successful delivery  Web-based document workflow to automate the approval process, including support for mobile devices  Electronic document archiving capability to store and easily retrieve documents  Reporting capabilities to produce management reports on Key Performance Indicators for the process 6 SAP Integration Flexibility The SAP-certified Esker platform leverages connectivity that brings together four integration components designed to offer maximum flexibility in receiving and sending business data and documents. Esker solutions combine SAPconnect for fax, email and wireless message communications; SAP print interface for full routing of documents directly from SAP applications to the Esker platform; SAP directory interfaces allowing delivery information lookup in the SAP vendor master and customer master records; and SAP integration interfaces allowing data to be passed into and out of SAP applications, including data extracted from scanned, faxed, emailed and printed documents. APPLICATION INTEGRATION DELIVERY SAP DIRECTORY INTERFACE SAPCONNECT (BC-SMTP SAP Certified) Vendor master lookups Fax ABAP/BAPI function calls SMS Po PCL ript PD Sc F st RDI ML X oc XML ID st Sc ript PCL PD F SAP Smart Forms (XSF files) Po SAPscript (RDI files) SAP SRM WIRELESS F (BC-XOM SAP Certified) PRINT ML RDI X XS X S oc SAP PLM MAIL EMAIL F SAP CRM SAP SCM FAX Customer master lookups Email ID SAP Business Suite SAP ERP EDI In/Out IDoc In/Out SQL Query/Publish SAP Reports Enterprise Sevices – ESOA SAP PRINT INTERFACE WEB XML In/Out IDOC EDI SAP INTEGRATION INTERFACE Integration features and benefits With Esker solutions you can:  Integrate document process automation with multiple SAP applications via SAPconnect, SAPscript or SAP Smart Forms as well as SAP External Output Management Interface (SAP spool) or Enterprise Services utomatically deliver information in multiple electronic formats for high-volume production needs, with status A notification sent back to the SAP system for delivery confirmation  I mport data from incoming documents, such as sales orders, into SAP applications through BAPI or Enterprise Services interfaces to eliminate the need for manual data entry heck data extracted from incoming documents against SAP master data to ensure accuracy, with user validation C workflow capabilities available where required by the business process ccess archived documents directly from SAP applications A Receiving, sending, viewing, and managing documents is easy for SAP application users, who access Esker solutions from within their familiar SAP application interfaces or through a convenient web interface. 7 Outcomes of Comprehensive Automation Working with businesses in a range of industries over the past two decades, Esker has found that automation typically helps companies process business documents like orders and invoices at: minimum of 40 percent lower cost than manual processing, and A  Up to 90 percent higher speed than manual processing. ess Efficienc y Cut document processing costs by 40-70% ess Procstency n si Co +99.5 Accur % ac y Proc AUTOMATION Reduce document processing time by 40-90% s Cu Se t rv ome ic e r cy ss ce ren o r P pa s Tran Additional benefits Efficiency  Increase productivity and reduce Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), procurement delays and late payments Consistency  Standardize document processing across departments and operational units of the business Transparency  Gain 100% visibility to control document processing and identify areas for further improvement Customer service  Improve customer satisfaction and competitive advantage as a result of having documents readily accessible Accuracy  Dramatically reduce order fulfillment and reprocessing costs, supply chain disruptions and billing disputes 8 Implementation Options How to start on ne ct i on ing Pla sta In C e e U sa g e F e d an d tup Se On Dem an Se rvi c nn R Lic ent en Esker Sales Order Processing Solution t and Traini ng nning and Bu Pla sin es s em / mise Pre nalysis ss A ce o Pr Pe Lic rm edse n loyme Sys t d Testing – O nP re m is e D ep ent and Training an tup d ste m ploy De Se On lla n, tio ent and Trainin loym g Ho You can choose the traditional solution deployment and administration model — purchasing licenses upfront and installing the software using internal staff, resources and technology. Or you may prefer to have Esker implement, host and manage your document management system externally in a secure and reliable Esker-hosted data center. De p t en an se en With Esker the advantages of a broad automation strategy are available either as a traditional on-premise software implementation or through on-demand services. Esker offers access to its comprehensive platform as a set of Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions to automate specific business processes. While managing the software in-house gives some companies levels of flexibility and control that they want, others take the SaaS approach to shift cost from the project level to the document level (moving from capital to operational expenditures) for immediacy in ROI. Either way, the automation cuts processing time and costs, Dep ing loyment and Train brings complete visibility to every document processed, reduces or eliminates the need for paper filing, reduces resource requirements and literally saves tons of paper everywhere it is used. Esker supports customers’ unique requirements while ensuring maximum effectiveness of the system to deliver the highest value. SaaS for sustainability Along with delivering the benefits of removing paper from business processes, Esker SaaS solutions help eliminate the need for hardware to support document processing. Companies spend less on power to run server computers, fax machines, printers and other equipment. SaaS supports the Esker GreenerDocs philosophy — a commitment to helping customers not only improve green performance but also take full advantage of the time and cost savings that result from using less paper. Going paper-free step by step Esker solutions enable a phased approach to implementing automated document processing. In fact, many organizations initially use the Esker platform to address one specific document process, then begin tapping into its full potential as a solutions development tool that can be applied to any number of existing and future process automation initiatives. And even within a process, companies can start with a basic “quit paper” solution and then add capabilities and integration features as time and needs dictate. As part of its solution methodology, Esker encourages customers to outline document processing steps, identify manual touch points, prioritize based on cost and return, and automate the top priorities first. 9 Case Study Snapshot: Equipment Manufacturer The following examples illustrate initial and subsequent phases of document process automation leveraging the Esker platform. Phase 1: Automated Sales Order Processing Before After 2 Esker solution captures, reads and makes data available for verification 1 Incoming sales order received by fax 4 Esker solution automatically creates IDoc for the SAP system Capture IDoc Read Validate FAX SALES ORDER SAP® APPLICATIONS 3 Web form validation Phase 2: Automated Accounts Receivable Invoice Processing Before Email Delivery ? Nightly Batch AR Postal Network ? ? ? After Email Delivery Esker mail production facility HTTPS M A IL Nightly Batch NOTIFICATION AR DOCUMENT MANAGER 10 FAC TOR Y Conclusion Core issues driving the need for automation are common to all document process. With IT resources scarce and expensive, managing separate solutions for each document process is not cost-effective. The ability to receive and deliver documents in multiple formats and through multiple channels, like mail, fax, email, Web, or EDI/XML, that match customer preferences, is essential to the success of document process automation projects. A single solution can automate and capture any inbound document (e.g., sales orders, confirmations, vendor invoices), deliver any outbound document (e.g., customer invoices, purchase orders, receipt acknowledgements), and store the data inside of SAP applications. Having the option to implement the solution either as Software as a Service (SaaS) or onpremise offers flexibility for project execution. For business and IT leaders alike, getting a clear picture of their organization’s total communication infrastructure may seem difficult if not impossible. They simply don’t know where to start. Effectively assessing and quantifying the business value and the impact of implementing document automation requires enterprises to fully understand key aspects of current processes, including:  Procure-to-pay and order-to-cash performance: Measuring the time the cycles take from beginning to end  Quality: Identifying process errors that impact daily business and slow down reactivity  Quantity: Calculating the volume of documents processed for customer and supplier communications D ocument-based costs: Assessing the amount of money currently spent on creating, processing, handling, and delivering business documents rchaic information exchange: Determining how much paper-based methods such as traditional mail and manual A fax limit profitability  Archiving: Calculating potential for automating current means of storing documents What Esker customers say “The technology is incredibly flexible. Esker, compared with the other solutions we considered, provides a complete document workflow platform for automation.” — Steve Snyder, Director of Information Technology, National Office Furniture “The top reasons we selected Esker over other solutions were ease of use and seamless integration with our existing SAP infrastructure.” – Mike Green, Technical Analyst, MEDRAD “There is no need for paper at all anymore.” — Roman Rozman, Senior Director of IT, Aearo Technologies 11 About Esker Document process automation leadership Esker is a recognized leader in helping organizations eliminate manual processes, gain visibility and control, and reduce the use of paper by automating the flow of documents into, within and out of the organization. With its comprehensive platform and patented technology, Esker delivers the advantages of automated document processing either as a powerful on-premise solution or as an on-demand services (SaaS) leveraging Esker-hosted infrastructure. Customers achieve significant and immediate operational efficiencies, cost savings and measurable ROI in as little as three to six months. As an established SAP software solution partner with certified integration, and an SAP customer itself, Esker has made serving the needs of SAP customers a top priority. The results of the SAP and Esker partnership are demonstrated around the world by SAP customers who have automated document processes with Esker solutions. Esker has a dedicated R&D team focusing on SAP applications, and a primary objective to offer SAP customers the best solution for document process automation. Founded in 1985, Esker operates globally with more than 80,000 customers and millions of licensed users. Esker has global headquarters in Lyon, France and U.S. headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin. For more information, visit www. esker.com. Solutions Procure-to-Pay and Order-to-Cash and Automation To help organizations quit paper and speed cash conversion, enhance customer satisfaction, improve supply chain performance, and increase profitability, Esker solutions span the procure-to-pay and order-to-cash cycles: § Sales Order Processing to automate entry and routing of incoming customer orders § Accounts Receivable Invoicing to automate delivery of billing documents based on customer preferences § Accounts Payable Processing to automate entry and routing of incoming vendor invoices and other payables § E-Purchasing to automate delivery of supply chain documents based on vendor preferences ORDER-TO-CASH SALES ORDER PROCESSING PROCURE-TO-PAY Customer Order Purchase Order Payment Your Customers E-PURCHASING Payment Your Vendors Your Company Customer Invoice Vendor Invoice ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE ACCOUNTS PAYABLE 12 Contact Us Worldwide Esker Locations Esker, Inc. 1212 Deming Way, Suite 350 Madison  WI 53717 Americas  www.esker.com Australia  www.esker.com.au France  www.esker.fr Germany  www.esker.de Italy  www.esker.it Tel: 800.368.5283 Email: [email protected] www.esker.com Malaysia  www.esker.com.my New Zealand  www.esker.co.nz Singapore  www.esker.com.sg Spain  www.esker.es United Kingdom  www.esker.co.uk WP-ESKER-US-014-B