AT A GLANCE

• FUJIFILM Business Innovation

INDUSTRY

• Facilities management

BUSINESS OBJECTIVE

• To automate its accounts payable process and transform finance operations using AI and automation.

SOLUTION

• Esker’s full suite of eight AI-powered, cloud-based finance automation tools, covering supplier and contract management, procurement, accounts payable, staff expenses, sales order processing, accounts receivable and collections.

BUSINESS BENEFITS

• Accelerated payment cycles and improved accuracy across finance operations through the digitisation and automation of manual tasks such as generating customer sales orders. As well as streamlining processes, the solution is enabling OCS’ team to focus on more strategic, value-adding work.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

FUJIFILM Business Innovation
W: FUJIFILM Business Innovation
New Zealand
E: irene.direnko.nr@fujifilm.com
T: +64 27 528 3135

OCS New Zealand, one of the country’s largest facilities management providers, has become the first company globally to adopt Esker’s full suite of eight AI-powered, cloud-based finance automation tools in a single rollout, after partnering with FUJIFILM Business Innovation New Zealand’s Process Automation team.

“OCS is not only streamlining processes but also empowering their people to focus on more strategic, value-adding work.”

The partnership has delivered a ‘bold’ and comprehensive transformation of OCS’ finance operations using AI and automation, and marks a significant milestone in digital transformation for OCS in New Zealand.

OCS, which has more than 4,000 employees nationwide, provides a range of both standalone and integrated services, including commercial cleaning, hygiene, waste management, pest control, and maintenance and building services for large customers in the private and public sectors.

Solution

OCS’s partnership with FUJIFILM Business Innovation New Zealand began in late 2023, with OCS initially seeking to automate its accounts payable process. Over the following six months, the company expanded its vision to include the full Esker suite.

After a three-month training period, the first module, accounts payable, went live in November 2024. Since then, OCS has launched supplier contract management and expense management, with the remaining five modules scheduled for rollout by the end of 2025.

“We’re committed to smarter, more sustainable ways of working,” says Debby Wong, Finance Director for OCS Australia & New Zealand. “AI is helping us streamline operations, support our people, and deliver better outcomes for our customers. This partnership with FUJIFILM Business Innovation is a key part of that journey.”

The Esker suite automates a wide range of finance functions, including:

• Supplier and contract management
• Procurement
• Accounts payable
• Staff expenses
• Sales order processing
• Accounts receivable
• Collections

Results

By digitising and automating previously manual tasks, such as generating customer sales orders and supplier purchase orders, OCS is accelerating payment cycles and improving accuracy across its finance operations.

“OCS New Zealand’s bold move to adopt the full Esker suite in one go is a standout example of digital transformation at scale,” says Irene Direnko-Smith, Head of Process Automation at FUJIFILM Business Innovation New Zealand. “By embracing AI-powered automation across their finance operations, OCS is not only streamlining processes but also empowering their people to focus on more strategic, value-adding work. We’re delighted to support their journey toward smarter, more agile business operations.”

Esker was recently recognised in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Source-to-Pay Suites and ranks among the top four global automated payment solutions. FUJIFILM Business Innovation New Zealand has implemented the Esker solution for a range of New Zealand clients, including Gallagher, Ritchies Transport, Animates, Kāinga Ora, and Health New Zealand, among others.

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AT A GLANCE

Victor Hydraulics

INDUSTRY

Manufacturing

THE COMPANY

• Christchurch designer, supplier and manufacturer of hydraulic cylinders.
• 43 staff serving customers across a broad range of industries in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, China and the United States.

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

• A fast, flexible ERP system to replace an aging proprietary system, with ERP functionality and a unified real-time view of operations.
• Automation of business processes, including front-end processes and production, to improve overall efficiency, cost control and planning.
• Quick access to accurate, consolidated data for management and reporting across the business.

SOLUTION

• Abel ERP consolidated various business processes, including sales, financial management, manufacturing, inventory control and CRM.
• Automated production workflows to improve production flexibility, scheduling and efficiency.
• Real-time analytics for improved visibility of critical data across the entire operation, enabling better decision-making, faster response times to customer requests and more accurate forecasting.

BUSINESS BENEFITS

• Fast, accurate data integration with a quick and smooth implementation.
• One, easy-to-use system with a comprehensive range of functionality and features.
• Automated business processes for improved productivity and overall efficiency.
• Flexibility and trust to continually improve processes and grow the business.
• Integrated financials and reporting tools with visibility and confidence to measure performance and make the right business decisions at any time.

CONTACT DETAILS
Abel Software
W: www.abelsoftware.com
New Zealand
T: +64 9 526 5210
Melbourne, Australia
T: +61 2 9888 3355
Sydney, Australia
T: +61 2 9888 3355

Faced with the challenge of replacing an aging proprietary system, a top manufacturer of hydraulic cylinders selected Abel® ERP to streamline production, inventory and financial management.

In the world of heavy machinery, hydraulic cylinders are the unsung heroes. They provide the muscles that power the bulldozers, excavators and dump trucks that keep construction, forestry, agriculture and other industries humming along.

“I never expected that we’d be operating in the system on day one of the go live.”

For more than 35 years, Christchurch-based Victor Hydraulics has been designing and manufacturing bespoke, specialist and stock cylinders for a broad range of customers around the world.

“Our business is built on innovation and collaborative engineering that meet the precise requirements of our customers,” says finance manager Estelle Williams. “They rely on us and come back to us because of our expertise and quality products.”

To ensure optimal performance and reliability of their products in punishing environments, Victor Hydraulics sources a wide range of materials globally for their cylinders, which are built in their Hornby facility using the latest CNC-controlled machines and other specialist equipment.

For years, production and other processes were monitored closely by a proprietary ERP system. But in 2021 the company realised their software had become outdated and unstable, and they began a comprehensive search for a new ERP system with robust production workflows.

“We started by looking at about fifteen systems and compared them on basic criteria before narrowing our search to three,” Williams says. “Then we conducted in-depth interviews and customer visits to see the systems in action before we decided.”

Abel also had the endorsement of a former Victor Hydraulics colleague who was successfully using Abel in similar ways at his new job.

“In the end, we liked Abel’s functionality, flexibility and collaborative approach,” she says. ”Abel’s value for money and affordable licensing also made Abel a no brainer”.

Another critical factor in Abel’s favour was their implementation methodology, which was clearly set out from the start: two months of preparation, two weeks of on-site handholding during the go-live, and a program of part-time support during the first two months of live running. At first, Williams didn’t think such a short implementation timeframe was possible. “No one else offered this, so I kept asking, ‘Can you really do this?’ But Abel did.”

“I was blown away. I never expected that we’d be operating in the system on day one of the go live. After two weeks with Abel on site, everything was in and running. Abel stayed with us until we were comfortable.”

Victor Hydraulics now runs nearly all of their business processes in Abel – automating their workflow from sales quotes and purchase orders to production planning and scheduling, ensuring quick response to customer orders, accurate delivery times, and precise control of inventory and costs.

“I’ve used other ERP systems but Abel is the easiest I’ve ever worked on,” Williams says. “It’s intuitive, fast and reliable. We have everything in one place, our printing and paperwork have gone away. No one wants to go back to the old system.”

Williams says Abel’s built-in agility has delivered the key requirement Victor Hydraulics needed in a new system: improved production management.

“We often get urgent orders and need to change production scheduling,” she says. “This used to be time-consuming and production plans frequently got discarded. Now we can quickly check the loading on routes, add resources or another shift to avoid any bottlenecks.”

“It used to take three hours to do a production plan, now it takes seconds. It’s made a big difference to our business.”

Abel has made it easier for Victor Hydraulics to track critical inventory data like stock write-offs and shortages and key productivity outcomes: job completion time, staff downtime, chargeable hours, and profitability per product and client.

Williams says Abel has also cut the time required to close their monthly trial balance from 10 working days to five.

“It’s fantastic to have such fast access to data you can trust,” Williams says. “As the finance manager, my biggest concern from the start was ensuring we posted accurate data for audits, and this has never been a problem. I know the data I’m getting is accurate and I have complete confidence that when I deliver a financial statement, there won’t be any questions.”

Three years after going live with Abel, Williams says Victor Hydraulics continues to work collaboratively with the Abel team to improve productivity and overall efficiency.

“We have a very good relationship with Abel. If we have a new idea or want to change a process, we just reach out. It makes a big difference having that kind of support and knowing that the Abel team has our back.”

Source: This article was originally sourced from Abel

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AT A GLANCE

Original Foods Baking Co.

INDUSTRY

Food Manufacturing

THE COMPANY

• Christchurch manufacturer and wholesaler of high-quality baked goods sold via FMCG and food service across New Zealand, Australia, and the Pacific.
• 200 staff, with operations and café outlet based at Wigram.

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

• A single, flexible and easy-to-use ERP system to optimise efficiency.
• Integrated ERP functionality across financials, inventory management and production to replace manual systems.
• Greater supply chain control and traceability to ensure compliance with food safety requirements.

SOLUTION

• Abel ERP as the core ERP, integrating inventory management, production and other processes in one system, paired with Acume for customer order entry.
• Batch-control with automatic batch numbers to manage inventory, costings and stock.
• Real-time financials and flexible reporting tools.

BUSINESS BENEFITS

• Streamlined business processes with improved productivity, data accuracy and overall efficiency.
• Real-time quality control and traceability, mitigating risk by ensuring a rapid, targeted response to quality and safety issues.
• Flexibility and scalability to continually improve efficiency and grow the business.

CONTACT DETAILS
Abel Software
W: www.abelsoftware.com
New Zealand
T: +64 9 526 5210
Melbourne, Australia
T: +61 2 9888 3355
Sydney, Australia
T: +61 2 9888 3355

With the reasons to replace legacy systems growing as fast as their business, an award-winning wholesale bakery chose Abel® to automate workflows, provide real-time data, and drive greater efficiency and quality control in one ERP system.

Anyone with a sweet tooth has likely heard of the Original Foods Baking Co. or tasted their cakes, muffins or one of the 70,000 donuts they make every day.

From humble beginnings in 1991, supplying donuts to local takeaway stores, Original Foods has grown into a multimillion-dollar, large-scale bakery manufacturer based in Wigram, Christchurch with over 100 products.

“Let’s say, we were spoiled with opportunities to improve.”

They’re a proud leading name in the New Zealand baking industry, and their treats can be found in major supermarkets and food service distributors across New Zealand, Australia, and the Pacific Islands.

Despite all this growth, the award-winning Christchurch company retains the fun and cheeky personality of a start-up. Their tasty treats are marketed creatively with colourful branding, and their logo features Ollie, a cheeky smiling monkey licking his lips.

“We still pride ourselves on quality products and delivering a fresh, home-baked taste in everything we make,” says CFO Tracey McMenamin. “We’re just making more of them now.”

Tonnes more, it turns out. Every week 80 tonnes of dough and other ingredients are mixed, baked and packaged at their purpose-built facility, using the latest production technologies and automation.

But until recently, McMenamin says, the business was missing one critical ingredient: a robust, integrated ERP system to streamline operations and comply with food safety standards and regulations mandated by the Ministry of Primary Industries.

“Our old ERP system was limited and lacked integration, and we had become extremely dependent on manual processes,” she says.

“Spreadsheets were a big problem. There’s no data integrity when multiple people are using and editing them. Sometimes if I needed to update a spreadsheet, I had to go into another user’s office while they were out and turn off their computer.”

Another impetus for a new ERP system was the risk of a costly product recall or quality issue, which are often difficult to isolate and manage using manual systems.

“Paper systems don’t give you the confidence to respond quickly or accurately,” McMenamin says. “That’s a big risk for any food manufacturer, especially if you have a large range of products and ingredients. We knew we needed real-time visibility and traceability across our supply chain.”

Another Christchurch food manufacturer had recommended Abel, but Original Foods looked at several other systems before choosing Abel in 2024.

“The Abel team was awesome to deal with from the beginning,” McMenamin says. “Our business is complicated, but they were willing to focus on the nitty-gritty to get it right.”

Abel’s first fundamental improvement was automated batch tracking. Abel uses a system of bar-coded labels, printed with batch numbers and best-before dates, to track every ingredient and product in the Original Foods range. This provides full traceability and quality control from the raw materials to the dispatched goods.

“Whether for a recall or a safety audit, it’s a big relief to have a system we can trust to manage problems and mitigate risks for our business,” she says.

McMenamin admits the transition to a new system hasn’t always been a piece of cake, especially on the production floor.

“Everyone is loving it now, but the process exposed problems we didn’t know we had,” she says, adding wryly, “Let’s say, we were spoiled with opportunities to improve.”

One such area was inventory management. Before Abel, stock takes were conducted manually once a month, but there was no certainty the data was accurate and in-depth analysis was difficult. But now ingredient usage is precisely captured on the production floor via touch screens and scanners, delivering real-time visibility of stock levels.

With Abel, McMenamin and other managers can accurately track raw material levels and analyse manufacturing variances, yields and other critical data at any time. At first, the data they saw was not good.

“We discovered our efficiency levels were nothing like we thought,” McMenamin says. “We had a higher rate of raw material usage and a greater amount of waste. But Abel has helped us address these problems and we’ve become so much more efficient. We’ve also worked to get staff more involved in the process, and they are seeing the difference Abel can make.”

Abel has also helped simplify their Customer Order entry with an automated solution from Abel Associate Acume.

McMenamin says Abel has reduced costs and errors, shrunk cycle times and improved cash flow.

As any financial controller will attest, access to accurate and timely data is a game-changer. McMenamin is no exception. She says Abel has made her job easier, providing a real-time view of all the consolidated and detailed financial information she needs to prepare accurate financial statements, manage risks and gain valuable insights into the company’s performance.

“Sometimes you don’t think you need to change systems until you do it,” she says. “Now that we have done it, we certainly see a lot of light ahead.”

McMenamin rattles off a list of future benefits Abel offers: automated production scheduling; seamless integrations with third-party logistics (3PL) providers; and Abel BI, an interactive suite of graphical business intelligence reports developed and accessed in Microsoft Power BI.

“Having a robust system and a single source of truth makes us a better business,” she says. “We also see the potential benefits Abel will offer us when we really get things humming.”

Source: This article was originally sourced from Abel

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AT A GLANCE

Abel Software

INDUSTRY

Food & beverage exports

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

• All-in-one ERP system to replace disparate manual systems and improve data accuracy, traceability and profitability.
• Greater supply chain control and visibility to meet strict food standards and compliance regulations mandated by the Ministry for Primary Industries and export markets.
• ERP functionality across financials, inventory management and production to optimise overall efficiency.

SOLUTION

• Automated functionality and core ERP tools to replace manual processes and integrate full supply chain transparency, product testing and other processes into a single, easy-to-use system.
• Batch-control system with unique codes to better manage inventory, scheduling, costings and forecasting.
• Real-time financials and flexible reporting tools to drive better analysis and improve production efficiency.
• Integration with e-commerce platform Shopify for website orders.

BUSINESS BENEFITS

• Streamlined business processes with greater overall efficiency.
• Unique codes for every drum of honey, and batch numbers on every jar providing real-time visibility and a certifiable record of the honey from the bees to the end consumer.
• Improved inventory management, highlighted by stock turnover that has jumped from a negative to eight times a year.
• Real-time financials and reporting tools to make the right business decisions at any time.

CONTACT DETAILS
Abel Software
W: www.abelsoftware.com
New Zealand
T: +64 9 526 5210
Melbourne, Australia
T: +61 2 9888 3355
Sydney, Australia
T: +61 2 9888 3355

After years of manually managing complex food safety and testing processes, a premium New Zealand honey producer called on Abel® to provide greater data accuracy, traceability, quality control and inventory management in a single, easy-to-use ERP system.

The New Zealand Health Food Company (NZHF) knows that businesses must change and adapt if they want to succeed. Since 1988, this small, family-run company has evolved from a supplier of natural ingredients to a retailer of honey, bee products and natural supplements, to a leading exporter of premium manuka honey.

In 2020, not long after the first Covid-19 shutdown, NZHF embarked on another big change to optimise efficiency and safeguard their business by replacing their manual systems with Abel.

“We may be a small company but it doesn’t look like that now.”

“Our whole business depends on accurate data,” says Geoff Paterson, NZHF’s Operations Manager. “Before Abel, every bit of data was being collected and recorded on spreadsheets and other manual systems. This was both time-consuming and error-prone, and it was a nightmare.

“We had no real-time visibility of our critical data, no end-to-end traceability of our products and no clear, accurate understanding of how our business was performing. Nothing was right.”

Paterson was no stranger to ERP systems, having worked before on three installations of SAP at Fortune 500 and other large companies. “Those were big and complicated systems that took a long time to implement and run smoothly, and they were hated for years to come by users,” he said.

“But Abel is different. They spent a lot of time with us before we went live, getting to know our business and what we needed to do, so the transition was easy and everyone was on board right away.”

Sitting at his desk inside NZHF’s Christchurch office, Paterson holds up a jar of honey from their premium Manuka South range and explains why one 250-gram jar sells for $25 and another $2500.

Manuka honey’s antibacterial properties are measured by the presence of methylglyoxal (MGO), a compound that appears in higher levels in manuka than other honey. The higher the MGO content, the purer and more expensive the honey.

Paterson says beekeepers do their best to ensure honeybees collect nectar only from manuka flowers, but the bees also forage on other flowers, so it’s critical for pricing and export requirements that NZHF accurately measure levels of MGO and other quality factors like UMF (Unique Manuka Factor).

Every drum of honey that NZHF buys is now registered in Abel with a unique code, and every jar of honey produced has a batch number, providing a transparent and verifiable record of the honey’s journey from the hive to the end consumer.

As the honey ages and is blended through the production process, the drums are tested frequently for toxins, MGO levels and other quality markers. Abel captures test results per-unique drum from internal testing and external laboratories.

“We now have all our ducks in a row,” Paterson says. “Everything we need is tracked in Abel and can be brought up in seconds with one unique code for us or any outside auditors to see.”

Abel’s Bill of Materials (BOM) combines materials, overheads, labour and machine costs to assist with cost calculations. Abels BOMs also provide operator instructions to assist with the manufacturing process. Timings in the Bill of Materials set the spans used for production planning. This gives planners improved visibility over actual costs and timings versus planned costs and timings. Better visibility can inform selling prices and improve the bottom line. With Abel, stock turnover has gone from a negative to eight times a year.

“Having the right data has made all the difference in the world for us,” he says. “We can run all BOMs, costings and margin reports through Abel for a thousand unique codes. We may be a small company but it doesn’t look like that now.”

Most of NZHF’s staff use Abel every day across production, operations, sales and accounts.

“Abel has been a godsend. We wouldn’t be doing this well without it. Everything we need can be done in Abel. Sure, some of the ways you do things have to change but not a lot. You don’t need any other software packages. It’s truly a one-stop shop.”

One of NZHF’s biggest achievements is visible on the website of their Manuka South brand – a jar of UMF 35+ “Legacy” Limited Reserve honey, priced at $2,499.

It is described as the “world’s most luxurious Manuka honey,” with a potency achieved by “only 0.03% of all tested UMF manuka honey globally,” certified by over 100 independent tests and two Ministry for Primary Industries-accredited laboratories.

Anyone who buys this honey – or any of the less-expensive jars in the Manuka South range – can certify the authenticity of their honey’s potency any time they want, simply by entering the batch number online and clicking to see the lab results.

Paterson says NZHF continues to work with the Abel to find new ways to improve their business and evolve.

“It was like Abel was built for us,” he says. “This isn’t a feeling I had with other ERP systems. Everyone here has bought into it. We even talk to each other using Abel lingo. What more can I say.”

Source: This article was originally sourced from Abel 

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AT A GLANCE

FUJIFILM Business Innovation

INDUSTRY

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

• To streamline their entire invoicing process from procure-to-pay to cash allocation, with seamless integration into SAP.

SOLUTION

• Esker Procure to Pay platform and the Esker Cash Application, with built-in AI smarts, were implemented.

BUSINESS BENEFITS

• The procurement and payments system is accessible from anywhere, while Cash Application automatically allocates incoming funds simplifying work for the AR team.
• A customised Esker dashboard presents information at a glance, while full integration with SAP ensures business continues as usual.
• Operator time has been reduced by 40 percent since implementing Esker and each cost centre has full visibility of their spending, helping reduce costs and consolidate suppliers.

CONTACT DETAILS

FUJIFILM Business Innovation
W: FUJIFILM Business Innovation

New Zealand

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AT A GLANCE

FUJIFILM Business Innovation

INDUSTRY

Agricultural supplies

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

• To save time, reduce costs and more efficiently process the quarter-million supplier invoices annually.
• Reduce manual intervention

SOLUTION

• Esker Accounts Payable Automation processing supplier invoices into the Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&O ERP system

BUSINESS BENEFITS

• Payment processing times have been halved, with fewer errors, while meeting audit and retention requirements
• The need for manual handling of invoice discrepancies has been virtually eliminated

CONTACT DETAILS

FUJIFILM Business Innovation
W: FUJIFILM Business Innovation

New Zealand

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AT A GLANCE

Abel Software

INDUSTRY

Food packaging producer

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

• Affordable, integrated ERP tools to deliver full visibility and accuracy of financials, inventory management and production.
• Consolidated views of financial performance across three companies to optimise business efficiency, reporting and profitability.
• Material Requirements Planning (MRP) functionality and seamless integration with Bonson’s existing AspectPL manufacturing execution software, developed by Abel associate, Aspect Productivity Technology.

SOLUTION

• Single, seamless ERP functionality to integrate separate systems, including financials, manufacturing and inventory management.
• Automated workflows to replace manual processes, including the use of handheld devices to update and integrate inventory data directly from the warehouse floor.
• Smooth implementation, including integration of existing Aspect MES, to avoid costly downtime and business interruptions.
• Flexibility to roll out additional ERP functionality as required.

BUSINESS BENEFITS

• Streamlined business processes with greater overall efficiency.
• Real-time visibility and traceability of manufacturing and production processes, stock and material requirements, and group financials.
• IConsolidated financials and reporting tools with the visibility to accurately measure performance and make the right business decisions at any time.

CONTACT DETAILS

Abel Software
W: www.abelsoftware.com

New Zealand
T: +64 9 526 5210

Melbourne, Australia
T: +61 2 9888 3355
Sydney, Australia
T: +61 2 9888 3355

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AT A GLANCE

Bloom Consulting

INDUSTRY

Mining Services

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

• Become a ‘best-in-class high reliability’ organisation
• Transform procurement to be a value-adding function
• Optimise procurement operations

SOLUTION

• SAP S/4HANA Financials
• Bloom Consulting – Procurement Operations Review

BUSINESS BENEFITS

• Reduced operational wastage
• Lower inventory investment
• Improved master data management
• Roadmap for ongoing transformation

CONTACT DETAILS

Bloom Consulting
W: https://www.bloomit.com.au/
E: info@bloomit.com.au

In pursuit of improved performance from key business processes, an ASX-listed mining services company engaged Bloom Consulting for a complete review of its procurement operations and an assessment of its SAP S/4 HANA Enterprise Resource Planning solution.

Through a series of collaborative workshops and desktop assessments, Bloom Consulting identified multiple opportunities for improvement which could significantly reduce the cost of procurement through the adoption of SAP best practices, inventory optimisation, and enhanced asset performance.

“The conclusion of the software project has represented the start of a process of optimisation and refinement”

Upon conclusion of this exploratory piece of work, the mining company engaged Bloom Consulting for a second phase of work, Procurement Transformation, as the miner seeks to take advantage of the review findings.

The mining services company is a diversified contractor with leading capabilities in surface and underground mining, civil construction, and resources engineering. The company’s end-to-end mining services encompass mine development and materials delivery, engineering, civil construction, on-site mining services, rehabilitation, and site remediation.

Situation

In pursuit of operational efficiencies and savings as part of its journey to becoming a ‘best-in-class high reliability’ organisation, the miner’s target state for the procurement function was for it to be a value-adding activity.

Supporting the overall transformation is a program of work focused on change management, capability uplift, embedding best practice policy and procedural frameworks in the business.

For such large and complex organisations, transformation doesn’t happen overnight, particularly when they involve the introduction of new software systems, which required a review of operational processes and procedures. With the 2021 deployment of S/4HANA Finance considered a success, in part due to investment in change management and training, subsequent deployments of additional modules required optimisation.

This led to the company’s engagement with Bloom Consulting for a diagnostic examination of the organisation’s procurement processes and the creation of a roadmap prioritising improvements which would mature the organisation and its use of the software. Bloom won selection in an open tender on the strength of its track record of detecting issues and delivering improvements specific to SAP implementations.

The optimisation goals include an increase in operating efficiency, reduction in complexity, and a move towards recognised SAP and procurement industry best practices. In turn, this rolls up into software and processes which make it easier for the mining company’s staff to do their jobs while focusing on operational priorities.

In this case, the conclusion of the software project has represented the start of a process of optimisation and refinement.

Solution

Leveraging its specialist procurement transformation and change management expertise, Bloom Consulting conducted a series of workshops and interviews with key personnel over the course of six weeks. Broadly, the review identified key issues and provided recommendations for addressing the challenges through a series of focused initiatives.

Among the opportunities for improvement were:

• A high proportion of cost-inefficient purchases associated with work orders (more than 70 percent).
• Early-stage adoption of SAP Best Practice Procure to Pay processes.
• Significant excess inventory with associated high cost.
• Immature asset performance and work order creation (anecdotally more than 45 percent is reactive and emergency maintenance).
• Significant manual services procurement and associated reconciliations.
• Inefficient transactional processes for Purchasing and Invoicing.
• Immature master data management and ownership across the organisation.

In addition, Bloom Consulting identified incomplete process standardisation across sites, including a lack of easily referenced and adopted procedural documentation. Further analysis indicated opportunity for functional enhancement of the S/4 HANA architecture to improve the Procure to Pay processes.

The business was impressed with the efficiency of the engagement, and the formal identification and definition of issues personnel knew were present.

Results

Based on the findings from the workshops, associated pain-points and observations, Bloom Consulting identified twenty-one initiatives for the mining company’s consideration. This was accompanied with a proposed phasing, providing a roadmap and prioritisation so the company could move towards best practice and successful realisation of anticipated benefits.

Bloom has, therefore, detailed where the company can improve and set out the low-hanging fruit where rapid value is possible from remediation efforts. This took the effort from theoretical to practical, with a clear view on how value will be exposed.

As is typical in a Bloom engagement of this nature, the procurement improvement opportunities were grouped into categories as listed below:

• People and Organisation – addressing Source to Pay Business Roles and Responsibilities, Procurement Operations, Change Management, Training and Awareness
• Strategy and Policy – addressing Buying Channel Strategy and Procurement Financial Management
• Source to Contract – addressing Contract Management, Sourcing, Third Party Risk Assessment, Environment, Social and Governance, and Supplier Lifecycle Management
• Purchase to Pay – addressing Invoice Automation and Management, Digital B2B Collaboration, Services Procurement, Catalogue Management, Contingent Labour
• Asset Management – addressing Maintenance Planning and Work Orders
• Inventory and Warehousing – addressing Materials Requirements Planning, Inventory Management and Internal Logistics
• Technical and Functional – addressing Master Data Governance and Process Ownership, User Security Mapping for S/4 HANA, and S/4HANA Release Management.

The project has proven a resounding success. In just six weeks, Bloom has delivered a comprehensive analysis of the company’s complex procurement operations. The client has recognised the validity of Bloom’s findings and is looking to commence the next phase of the project – a transformation exercise where operations are redefined with Bloom’s guidance from both a business process and systems perspective.

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New retail ERP drives business for SuperCheap Auto

February 25, 2014 | SAP

When the mega retailer needed to achieve its growth plans, management realised it needed to shift a gear in order to cater for its aggressive expansion plans…

AT A GLANCE

Players Sports

INDUSTRY

Retail / e-commerce

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

• System-centric startup to support growth
• One-stop-shop across physical and online
• Agile capability to adapt over time

SOLUTION

N2 ERP by First Software

BUSINESS BENEFITS

• Single system over a decade of growth – no change disruptions
• Ongoing improvement & innovation from partnership
• Stock efficiency and accuracy
• Customer satisfaction

CONTACT DETAILS

First Software
W: www.firstsoftware.co.nz
E: stewart@firstsoftware.co.nz
T: +64 9 573 2648

As a startup business owner entering a highly competitive field – so to speak – a decade ago, Players Sports managing director Mike Wood had some tough decisions to make. Capital is always limited and its allocation means the make or break of a fledgling business; among the competing priorities were staff, premises, stock and the equipment to make the company run. But the one area where he decided to make an outsized allocation was software – and by selecting a fully-featured Enterprise Resource Planning solution with First Software’s n2, Wood set Players up for success from day one.

It was a decision that has withstood the test of time as the highly successful specialist online retailer provided the foundation upon which two brick and mortar locations has been built.

Players Sports is any sports nut’s mecca. Focusing on cricket, rugby, tennis, netball, rugby league, basketball, football, squash, hockey, badminton, futsal and licensed supporters’ gear it caters to all players’ needs. Expert staff select the best products produced by global brands and used by the world’s top athletes, providing customers across New Zealand with a complete sports shop experience. Physical stores are located in Onehunga and St Johns in Auckland, stocking renowned brands including Adidas, Asics, Nike, Gilbert, Kookaburra, Gunn & Moore, Yonex, Wilson and many more. Players offers a cricket bat workshop with professional craftsmanship and knocking-in services, and racquet stringing services recognised amongst the best in New Zealand. Players Sports is proudly New Zealand owned and operated.

Situation

While it seems every store under the sun offers specialist sporting equipment, the opposite is true. Locating quality items like top end cricket bats or the racquets used by tennis professionals is in fact not that easy. Recognising this ‘it’s right in front of your face but you can’t see it’ gap in the market, Wood established Players Sports in 2012 with the initial intention of building a retail business. “Online was already a thing back then, but not hugely. From the start we were conscious of building a team with the right expertise, and then working out a number of things and trying to fit everything into a budget,” Wood recalls.

“They’re like another staff member for us. Not a day goes by that you don’t hear n2 mentioned”

“One thing we thought important from day one was fully integrated software that could handle everything from brick and mortar through to a website, accounting and stock control all integrated. It seemed like a no brainer even then, and looking back now, it seems so even more.”

ERP, he agrees, was more software than the startup needed at the time. “We engaged with the senior leadership at First Software and they painted the benefits very clearly, explaining that if we wanted to be a one stop shop, we needed one stop software capable of handling it all. Looking back now, I can only imagine the time we’ve saved, the hassle, the energy and the headaches, by choosing software which met our needs then, and still meets our needs precisely even though we are today a greatly expanded business.”

It was, however, not an easy decision at the time. “When you’re starting with a zero sales base, you have to be careful where money is spent. But we knew we wanted to grow and we therefore knew we needed the capacity to scale from the first day – whether into new locations, which we tried, or into an online superstore, which is where we eventually went. All along the way, growth has been easy, seamless and getting things done just a phone call away,” Wood explains.

Solution

Straight out of the gate, Players Sports implemented First Software’s n2 modules including eCommerce Engine, Purchasing and Sales Order, B2B Online, Warehousing, Complex Freight Calculations, Marketplace Integration, Forecasting and Customer/Supplier Integration. In due course, First Software’s NZ Post Integration would be added, accelerating a crucial aspect of fulfilment by improving communication between Players and its logistics provider.

Wood says even in the early days, First Software was (and still is) integral to Players Sports’ operations. “They’re like another staff member for us. Not a day goes by that you don’t hear n2 mentioned in this place, because the software really helps the business hum.”

Flexibility has proven indispensable for the company. When it tried opening multiple retail locations, First Software meant ease of extending systems to those premises. “Over the years we’ve tried different things and taken various risks to see what works. Sure, we’ve had growing pains, but our software wasn’t one of them,” quips Wood.

This included spreading out around Auckland, both in terms of retail premises in Albany and Newmarket, and putting warehousing in different places including a container depot at one stage. “We soon found this didn’t really work, as locating stock became difficult if someone ordered a cricket bat and rugby jersey and these were in different places. It becomes complicated – not from a software perspective, but a physical one.”

An increased focus on online sales combined with consolidation into a single headquarters in Onehunga from which a retail shopfront operates, with one satellite location at the Scarbro Tennis Centre (St Johns). “With 95% of our stock in one place we process orders faster and keep customers happier,” says Wood. “But what stands out from a software point of view is that whatever we tried, whether we expanded out or contracted back in, First Software could do it, fast and without any hassle. Software was never a limiting factor.”

Understanding from day one that every sportsperson wants immersion in their own game, Players Sports split out its site into ‘vertical’ portals for specific sports. “Cricket players don’t want to see basketball stuff,” Wood points out. Wood points out. “So, we have specific sites for Players Cricket, Players Hockey, Players Rugby, and so on, but still offer generic items like socks across them all.”

Behind every portal is First Software. “They’ve made templates that work, which means every time we setup a new portal, it’s rapid and we can tailor the experience for our customers. It means we’re able to specialise and immerse customers in their preferred sport, offer thousands and thousands of products, and achieve amazing efficiency.”

Results

While software plays a key part in powering Players to an organisation offering thousands of products to satisfied sportspeople across New Zealand, there is another aspect about which Wood is equally enthusiastic. “First Software is a trusted partner. Software is one thing; the people who make it work quite another. We’ve received countless respectful and professional suggestions and recommendations over the years which have benefited the business. They understand what we do and how we do it, so they know what we might want and what we need.”

Integration is a big deal too, says Wood. “That’s not only within the different areas of the business, but also out to our suppliers; the word ‘integration’ comes up all the time because by linking all facets of our business, there is no guesswork. We know, rather than assume.”

Finally, he says the feature most valued from N2 ERP is real time data. “It’s gold. A snapshot of the day, the week or the month, is at your fingertips. You can have all the gut feel you like, but when digging into sales analysis, product performance, customer satisfaction, nothing beats accurate to-the-minute information.”

Could Players Sports have done it without First Software? “Maybe,” says Wood. “But the question is, would we want to do it differently? No way.”

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AT A GLANCE

• Cosana

INDUSTRY

• Food and Beverage

BUSINESS OBJECTIVE

• Easy-to-use ERP functionality across financials, inventory management and production to optimize overall business efficiency
• Greater supply chain control and visibility, including industry-specific automation to meet strict food and safety standards and compliance regulations mandated by the Ministry for Primary Industries
• Flexibility to accommodate expanded production and a larger product range.

SOLUTION

• Automated Manufacturing and Production functionality for end-to-end control of the supply chain, including batch control, stock management, production workflows and job costings.
• Integrated financials with automated accounts payable solution
• Simple, easy-to-use system with barcode labelling, hand-held scanners and intuitive touchscreens.

BUSINESS BENEFITS

• Streamlined business processes with greater overall efficiency
• Real-time visibility and traceability of manufacturing and production processes, from procurement to despatch
• Integrated financials and reporting tools with the visibility to measure performance and make the right business decisions at any time.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

ABEL SOFTWARE
W: www.abelsoftware.com
Australia
E: janem@abelsoftware.com
T: +61 2 9888 3355
New Zealand
E: janem@abelsoftware.com
T: +64 9 442 4603

To manage the complex quality control standards for exporting manuka honey, Cosana chose Abel® ERP to provide the traceability, flexibility and ease of use they needed to meet growing demand and optimise efficiency.

Manuka honey is often called liquid gold. Sourced in New Zealand from the scarce flowers of the native manuka bush, manuka honey contains unique health properties that have created a huge global demand and prices as high as $5,000 a jar.

Chris Bowman understands the value of manuka honey better than most. As the innovative leader of several honey exporting companies since 2009, he has worked hard to improve honey-processing standards and promote a booming New Zealand industry that generates $400 million a year in exports.

“Even with a team of rocket scientists, you won’t realise the full value of a system if staff find it hard to use”

This sweet success has also spawned plenty of counterfeit products, making it more incumbent on the industry to assure customers they’re buying genuine manuka honey.

“It’s critical to our export reputation to keep producing high-quality honey products that consumers know are safe and authentic,” says Chris, who is also a member of Apiculture New Zealand’s standards and compliance group. “We now have the rigorous industry standards and mandatory testing in place to back that up.”

Chris joined Cosana as Chief Executive and part-owner in 2021, with a focus on streamlining the manufacturing and quality control of Cosana’s products: from pure manuka honey and multifloral blends to propolis tinctures, royal jelly, lozenges and lip balm.

The first step was to create a purpose-built factory to process up to 300 tonnes of honey a year. The new high-tech complex, overlooking Lake Taupo, now provides Cosana with a one-stop facility to produce, package and export products to customers around the world.

The next step, Chris says, was to find an integrated system to automate and control their supply chain, quality certification and production processes; and deliver real-time traceability of their supply chain, from the drums of bulk honey to the despatch of packaged products.

Choosing Abel, Chris says, was an easy decision.

“I wouldn’t work with anyone else. I’ve used Abel for the last twelve years at three different companies.

Everything starts with the bees whose honey Cosana sources from the hives of about 25 independent beekeepers from Kaitaia to Bluff.  Every drum of honey procured is registered in Abel with a unique batch code, and independently tested up to 10 times during various production processes for toxins, chemical markers and manuka DNA.

Each test result is recorded in Abel, including the measurement methylglyoxal (MGO) – the vital ingredient in manuka honey responsible for its antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Depending on test results, some batches of honey might need to be re-graded to a different inventory code over time, where revaluing also needs to take place.

Accurate MGO levels are critical, Chris says, because manuka honey ages like wine: the higher the MGO level, the greater the therapeutic value and the higher the price it commands. For example, Cosana’s 250g containers of honey vary in price from $6 to $180 depending on their lab-certified level of MGO, which is clearly marked on every label of honey.

“Automating price adjustments is a true testament to Abel’s flexibility and collaboration to find seamless solutions for critical business issues and industry challenges.”

Chris says this includes a suite of integrated software solutions from Abel Associates, like automated accounts payable system PlusOne from Acume that has simplified Cosana’s invoicing process. “It saves us time and gives me the real-time data I need to manage our cashflow.”

Another key advantage to Abel is ease of use. Chris says the Taupo team has taken an instant liking to Abel, whether they’re using barcode scanners and touchscreens on the factory floor, PCs in the office or a tablet at home.

“Even with a team of rocket scientists, you won’t realise the full value of a system if staff find it hard to use,” he says. “Abel simplifies our workflow so tasks like stock takes, honey grading and tracking despatched goods can be done quickly and confidently by our team.

“Abel is so easy to use that our chartered accountant used it to access documents and data for our year-end accounts, cutting his time and his fees in half.”

By all accounts, Cosana is just getting started. A year after launching the Taupo plant, Chris says they’re making plans to increase production and add new products to Cosana’s range.

“Without a doubt, we know Abel has all the flexibility and functionality we need to grow and succeed, as well as the support and innovation we might need along the way. The rest is up to us.”

(Read more about Chris Bowman’s history with Abel in this earlier case study.)

Source: This article was originally sourced from Abel

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AT A GLANCE

• Hyper Drive
• https://www.hyperdrive.co.nz/

INDUSTRY

• Automotive

BUSINESS OBJECTIVE

• Digitise a very manual retail experience
• Use technology to create continuous improvement
• Build a strategic partnership with a software vendor

SOLUTION

• N2 ERP from First Software

BUSINESS BENEFITS

• Deliver customers a unique online retail experience
• Expand nationally without investing in physical sites
• Reduce cost-to-service for supplies

FOR MORE INFORMATION

First Software
W: www.firstsoftware.co.nz
E: stewart@firstsoftware.co.nz
T: +64 9 573 2648

Hyper Drive and First Software: Why great software was quite literally, just the beginning

While it has its roots as an old-fashioned retail outlet, Auckland-headquartered rubber and car accessories specialist Hyper Drive today provides tyres and other automotive essentials for customers anywhere in New Zealand yet doesn’t maintain an extensive branch network.

“N2 is key to our business. It runs the engine inside, and the results we’ve achieved come back to the relationship”

The secret to its scalable business is a smart idea: customers order their tyres online, someone shows up and fits them, or you nip down to the local rubber shop and have them installed there. That idea has been brought to life with First Software’s powerful N2 enterprise resource planning solution – but more than a system, First Software has proven itself a pivotal partner to Hyper Drive over the course of more than a decade.

Hyper Drive is a 100% New Zealand-owned automotive destination specialising in car tyres, wheels, audio, tinting and roof racks. Founded in 2001, the company has supplied and fitted tyres for thousands of satisfied customers. With a retail superstore based in Penrose, Auckland, all products are either fitted and installed onsite (including car tyres, wheels, audio, tinting and roof racks) or via a mobile van service, while customers outside the Auckland are visited by Authorised Installers who fit wheels and tyres purchased online. Customers can also call in at any of 200 partner locations throughout New Zealand, where their online tyre purchases are delivered for installation.

Situation

The tyre business is more complex than meets the eye and it is also extremely competitive. There are thousands of different sizes and specifications of tyres available for the many makes, models and wheel configurations on New Zealand’s roads, and no shortage of retailers looking to supply them.

Simon Furness, Hyper Drive managing director, says the traditional way of selling tyres involves a lot of paperwork. “You’d literally page through catalogues, finding the right sizes for any particular vehicle, get on the phone to the supplier, and order them in.”

This is still how most tyre shops work, he notes. It’s also how Hyper Drive once did it – until it introduced First Software’s N2 more than a decade ago. “With Hyper Drive, we sort of evolved with the internet as it became a viable channel, with the guidance and support of First Software.”

In fact, he says, “Doing a website wasn’t a plan 20 years ago, but we followed where the market was going and now technology has enabled it. And a key part of that evolution is First Software; we’ve worked together for over 10 years and have grown up together, developing ideas, features and solutions in a lasting relationship which is about how we can make each other’s businesses better.”

Solution

What Furness describes as simply ‘doing a website’ has a lot more going on behind the scenes.

In addition to the website, which serves as the shop front for most Hyper Drive customers, First Software provides multiple N2 ERP modules including eCommerce Engine, Purchasing, Sales Order, B2B online, Warehousing, Complex Freight Calculations, Marketplace Integration, Forecasting and Customer/Supplier Integration. It also provides fully integrated Point of Sale for the Auckland retail outlet.

However, while these are standard modules, the close partnership has delivered multiple customisations, including multiple integrations with suppliers and data providers. These integrations pull data from various sources, so on entry of a vehicle number plate, tyre information is almost instantly presented, making selection fast, simple and convenient. The system is so comprehensive it shows literally every tyre available in New Zealand to fit any specific car, along with the price. With the selection made, customers can have the tyres shipped to their nearest participating rubber shop for fitting, or a Hyper Drive mobile van visits, fitting the tyres at home or the office.

N2 ERP handles the entire process seamlessly, from the website order to alerting the selected fitter, ordering and dispatching the goods, and closing the loop once the tyres or other products are delivered.

Results

Furness says the software and the ideas which flow between First and Hyper Drive have enabled the business to scale far beyond a local automotive accessories shop. “N2 is key to our business. It runs the engine inside, and the results we’ve achieved come back to the relationship, being able to have an idea and quickly turn it into reality. You can’t do that without face-to-face engagement with people who know our business so well that they deliver what we need and more. The retained intellectual property is enormously valuable.”

It’s not only what First Software can deliver which is important, but also what it doesn’t. This isn’t an oxymoron, explains Furness. “Software development is expensive. It is easy to waste money going in the wrong direction, where you can spend a lot for very little gain. At the same time, we know R&D is essential in keeping ahead of our many competitors.”

In this regard, he says First has performed for Hyper Drive, delivering features like a newly released Dealer Portal (allowing bulk orders by fleet managers), the capability to handle puncture repairs, and multiple bespoke integrations with suppliers. “You’re just not going to get that at a reasonable cost or even at all from any of the big international vendors as a small or medium New Zealand business.”

What the relationship boils down to, Furness says, is full support for Hyper Drive’s business and business model. “For us, it’s a key part in being the best possible customer to our suppliers, so if there are any issues, we are top of mind. And it is a key part in Hyper Drive, in turn, being the best supplier to our customers, consistently delivering convenience and a great price.”

There’s one final element to which Furness draws attention. “It does help that First Software are car enthusiasts. It makes explaining wheels to a software developer much easier!” he concludes.

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AT A GLANCE

• Isaac Construction

INDUSTRY

• Construction

BUSINESS OBJECTIVE

• Maintain reputation for on-time payment with suppliers
• Ease burden on accounts payable team chasing up paperwork
• Cope with business growth after acquiring another business

SOLUTION

• Esker Accounts Payable Automation delivered by the FUJIFILM Business Innovation Process Automation team

BUSINESS BENEFITS

• AP process now 100% paperless
• Fast and accurate invoice routing
• AI intelligently monitors and alerts errors & changes
• Immediate visibility across the procure-to-pay process

FOR MORE INFORMATION

FUJIFILM Business Innovation
W: FUJIFILM Business Innovation
New Zealand
E: kevin.ptak.pc@fujifilm.com
T: +64 21 275 4321

Christchurch-based Isaac Construction has earned a reputation for excellence by making sure everything it does is at the highest possible level of quality. Employing a team of more than 300 specialists, the company delivers a wide range of services, including construction, surfacing, bitumen products, transport, quarrying and professional contract management services.

Isaac recently acquired Blenheim’s Simcox Construction, adding a further 80 staff members active in civil construction, infrastructure works and earthmoving. Even prior to the acquisition, the accounts payable team were busy, often spending time chasing documents. While understandable and a practical reality in a company handling more than two thousand invoices every month, these situations were at odds with the organisation’s policy of paying its suppliers on time.

With the purchase of Simcox, the limitations of paper-based processes became painfully clear as increased volume exacerbated the situation.

“We’ve always done our best to pay on time. It’s reputational; when you get it right, people like to work for you – but paper has its limitations,” explains Arlee Folkers, Group CFO at Isaac Construction.

Folkers knew that Isaac would need a modern solution to maintain its hard-earned reputation.

After testing the market, Isaac engaged with the FUJIFILM team, who recommended Esker Accounts Payable Automation.

Solution

The implementation process started with several presentations and then a collaborative workshop.

“This proved invaluable, you could tell FUJIFILM had done many of these deployments in the past. They involved everyone who would be touched by accounts payable automation – and they sequenced it very well, so people weren’t in the room unless necessary.”

“Once an invoice is in our system, we can track every single one with absolute ease.”

Attendees included a project manager, a technical specialist and account manager from FUJIFILM, Isaac’s accounts payable employees, the company accountant, a representative from Nimbus (the Enterprise Resource Planning solution used by the business), an IT specialist an external project manager for added oversight.

The additional resourcing was helpful, Folkers adds, because her accounts payable staff members were eager to get the solution in, having been at the coal face dealing with inadequate paper processes.

“They were experiencing frustration and continual problems which had them feeling like they weren’t on top of the job.”

The project went live after just 4 months.

Results

With Esker, the entire electronic system works seamlessly, eliminating paper in the process. Most importantly, Isaac Construction now enjoys complete visibility across the accounts payable workflow. “If someone rings about their invoice, we can answer immediately because we can see it, when and to whom it’s been submitted, as well as where it is in the process. And once an invoice is in our system, we can track every single one with absolute ease.”

As a cloud solution, alongside a mobile app, Esker also allows AP staff to approve on the go.

The system’s built-in AI is also helping with fraud detection, “We’ve also noticed intelligence in the Esker system. For example, a client’s bank account changed but they didn’t notify us. Esker picked it up, though, and sent an alert so we could verify the legitimacy of the change.”

The visibility and workflow delivered by Esker also ensures Isaac Construction has maintained its reputation with suppliers at its Christchurch and Blenheim operations. “We’ve gone from ‘two and a half’ people focused on accounts payable, down to two. And they now have room to breathe,” says Folkers. She describes the entire project as ‘a pleasure’.

“You don’t hear that about many implementations, but FUJIFILM Process Automation has shown that when you get all the right people in at the start, and you have a clear idea of what needs to be done, an enterprise software project doesn’t have to be a headache.”

“The thoroughness of the preparation, including seeing how all the various systems talk to one another, set the scene for what was the best implementation I’ve ever been involved in.”

Source: This article was originally sourced from FUJIFILM Business Innovation

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AT A GLANCE

• Hyper Ride
• https://www.hyperride.co.nz/

INDUSTRY

• Retail

BUSINESS OBJECTIVE

• Leverage technology for growth
• Build efficient low-touch processes
• Easy to use systems for seasonal staff

SOLUTION

• n2 ERP from First Software

BUSINESS BENEFITS

• Growth supported without system updates
• Automation features without major investment
• Fast retail-ready data manipulation
• Accurate, on-time delivery to customers

FOR MORE INFORMATION

First Software
W: www.firstsoftware.co.nz/
E: stewart@firstsoftware.co.nz
T: +64 9 573 2648

How ERP helped turn big dreams into reality at Hyper Ride

When New Zealanders want to buy the gear that makes fun possible, they turn to online megastore Hyper Ride. For more than ten years, the Auckland-headquartered e-tailer of leading surf, snow, skate, wake, cycling, motocross, and camping brands has provided easy shopping and rapid delivery of more than 100,000 products. What they don’t see is that behind Hyper Ride sits First Software’s powerful, locally developed e-commerce-ready Enterprise Resource Planning solution, n2. The software has powered Hyper Ride from day one, when it was little more than a great idea, and has facilitated rapid business growth without ever requiring the systems upgrades demanded by an increasingly complex organisation.

“n2 has facilitated Hyper Ride’s expansion with absolute ease”

Hyper Ride was co-founded in 2008 by Simon Furness and Richard Bush, who spotted an opportunity for online retailing of a wide range of equipment and accessories for sports involving a ride of any kind. The business has rapidly grown, building relationships with hundreds of the world’s most popular brands to provide the widest range, provide excellence in customer service and next-level convenience.

Situation

As part of establishing Hyper Ride, Bush engaged with First Software as a key partner. Familiar with n2 ERP from a previous business, he wanted to start with a system which, for most startups, would be considered too complex. “Startups don’t usually invest in ERP software,” he confirms. “But the vision we had for Hyper Ride was clear: this thing could scale, and with the right approach, we could carve out significant market share by doing online retail better and faster than anyone else.”

He says conviction is as important as passion for the ambitious new business owner. “It is impossible to see the future, but we wanted to plan for success from the first minute of starting our operations. It’s a decision that has stood us in very good stead; where most startups might run off Excel spreadsheets and maybe an accounting software package, we equipped ourselves with a system which was more powerful than we needed initially, but which has facilitated Hyper Ride’s expansion with absolute ease.”

Solution

Designed for New Zealand businesses with multiple branches, N2 ERP offers a complete set of modules working together for accurate handling of common business processes. Hyper Ride’s implementation includes n2’s eCommerce engine, Purchasing, Sales Order, Warehousing, Complex Freight Calculations, Marketplace Integration, Forecasting, and Customer/Supplier Integration. With multiple custom integrations to its suppliers, Hyper Ride offers the widest possible range of products through its website, with accurate inventory control. In practice, this means when a customer selects an item, it is in stock and ready for shipping.

But Bush says while the software is indispensable to Hyper Ride’s efficient operations, it isn’t necessarily where the most value derives from the long association with First Software. “What makes our situation unique is the proximity of First as a vendor to our business. They know Hyper Ride as well as I do, and that means they know what works for this business, where development effort should be focused, and what makes our customers choose Hyper Ride ahead of any other competitor.”

This extends to the Hyper Ride website, also designed, created and supported by First Software. The site, which incorporates multiple services so customers can pay the way they choose, is designed for ease of updating; with so many products available, full control by Hyper Ride staff is essential to keep creating offers, uploading SKUs, and removing them once stock has sold out.

Results

Probably the best and most durable result of its association with First Software is Hyper Ride’s effortless expansion from startup to major player, now shipping thousands of items across New Zealand every week. “Our business model is low-touch and high-throughput. Thanks to the software, we take on inventory, load it to the website and have it ready for sale within hours. This reduces the time stock sits on the shelf, and if we’re moving it rapidly out the back door, it means our customers are getting their orders fast whether they are down the road in Auckland, or in Invercargill,” says Bush.

Innovations which he believes would be either impossible or impossibly expensive if working with an international vendor include a warehouse scanning solution, and an automated process for item repricing. “Features like this make a big difference to our business,” he says. “It reduces handling time and that makes for efficiency and accuracy.”

Thanks to n2 ERP, Bush adds that running the warehouse which sits at the centre of Hyper Ride is easy. “As a seasonal business, we have short term workers – often senior school pupils – coming in and helping out in busy periods. The way things are set up, we can hire someone and they’ll be productive within a day or two. That’s thanks to great business processes, backed by software that just works.”

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AT A GLANCE

• Sprint Fit

INDUSTRY

• Online retail (sports supplements)

BUSINESS OBJECTIVE

• Establish online business
• Create a testing ground for n2 development
• Handle complexity and growth
• Agility to move quickly with business decisions

SOLUTION

• N2 ERP by First Software

BUSINESS BENEFITS

• True partnership between retailer and tech provider
• Self-managed online merchandising
• Accurate inventory
• Fast order to fulfilment cycle times

FOR MORE INFORMATION

First Software
W: www.firstsoftware.co.nz/
E: stewart@firstsoftware.co.nz
T: +64 9 573 2648

ERP from day 1 drives Sprint Fit’s business to new heights

While it takes more than a leap of faith, Auckland-headquartered online supplements store Sprint Fit has demonstrated the enduring value of starting up with a highly capable enterprise resource planning software solution provided by a vendor within direct reach. In a short period of time, the store has rocketed from experimental startup to a major player in the hyper-competitive supplements and nutrition industry, underpinning basic business principles with First Software’s n2 ERP & Ecommerce solution from day one – and carving out a meaningful competitive advantage as a result.

“This is also a high volume, low margin business, so we must carefully manage markup and stock holding on a razor’s edge”

Established in 2014 by brothers Alex and Leon Petraska, Sprint Fit was initially a test bed for business development with First Software’s n2 ERP and e-commerce solution but has rapidly grown into a substantial business with a million-dollar + monthly turnover. With offices and a warehouse in Auckland’s Onehunga, Sprint Fit stocks thousands of products from more than 20 major local and international supplement and sports nutrition brands, including Optimum Nutrition, Ghost Lifestyle, EHP Labs, Balance, Musclepharm, Goli and more.

Situation

The supplements industry is highly competitive, with an enormous range of products available internationally and locally. Product is also available in-store anywhere from cycle shops and other specialty sports retailers, to dedicated nutrition retailers, and even in supermarkets. This reality made a daunting mountain for Sprint Fit to climb. “Basically, we have to be better than anyone else, including every local retailer as well as the likes of Amazon and eBay,” confirms Managing Director Leon Petraska.

“This is also a high volume, low margin business, so we must carefully manage markup and stock holding on a razor’s edge”

Being better means creating and delivering the very best online experience. That starts with an easily navigable website and routine contact with customers with special offers, new products, information, and education. And then it extends to the mechanics of e-retail, and nowhere are those mechanics more important than fulfilment: Fast shipping, unimpeachable support, secure payments processing, and something every customer appreciates, a great deal every time.

“We have massive complexity in stock management. Not only are there more than 20,000 SKUs, but there are minor differences such as flavours and colours – and those differences are important to our customers,” Petraska explains. “This is also a high volume, low margin business, so we must carefully manage markup and stock holding on a razor’s edge – down to the cent, really. And we need to know costings, margins, and stock holding immediately, we need to see what is going out the door and have accurate information at our fingertips, or it’ll cost money.”

Solution

Where most other new businesses are often powered by hopes, dreams, and Excel spreadsheets, Sprint Fit kicked off with n2 ERP modules including eCommerce Engine, Purchasing, Sales Orders, Warehousing, Freight Engine, Marketplace Integration, Sales Analysis, Forecasting, Customer/Supplier Integration, and First Software’s custom n2 Ecommerce website

Petraska explains that the proximity of First Software – the companies initially worked out of the same office – wasn’t about testing software, specifically, because N2 was already proven in some 60 customers in New Zealand and Australia. Instead, it was about testing a business model where software vendor and user co-operate in a partnership.

“You see a lot of claims about software vendors partnering with their customers, but most of that isn’t much more than lip service,” he points out. “Most vendors work through a channel, so they have little to do with their end customers. With Sprint Fit, First Software doesn’t just provide the ERP system – it also provides guidance on business processes, routes to market, integrations with suppliers, and much more.”

Unusually for an ERP vendor, First Software also provides a crucial component of every online retailer: the website itself. All too often, retailers treat the front and back ends of their web presence as separate entities, with a tension between the web design people, and those who run the ERP. Clunky integrations and difficult website management are often the result.

“First Software actually built our website from the ground up,” says Petraska. “The focus is very much on functionality over form, although a great looking site is obviously essential. But we have fast moving goods and that means we need to update all the time, get the new goods loaded up, and remove the ones sold out. First Software has made that easy – which, again, means we have an edge. As soon as goods come into the warehouse, they’re loaded and offered for sale, often leaving to customers the same day.”

He adds that the website is ‘customisable to anything we want’. “Any idea that comes up, we can implement exactly. It’s a massive advantage – for example, at checkout, we put in upsells, and can easily control the offers, increasing order size and moving inventory. If we want a one-day special offer, up it goes.”

A further advantage that Petraska describes as crucial to Sprint Fit’s success, is his custom dashboard, drawing information from N2’s warehousing, logistics and custom integrations to suppliers – from supplement manufacturers to NZ Post. “The dashboard tells me everything. New and returning customers, average order values, margin turnovers, buyer behaviour, stock levels, stock which is and isn’t moving. Through the dash, we can design offers and give discounts, with multiple angles giving insights on what is happening on any given day.”

If things are slow, for example, he says, it’s possible to put together an offer and email it to customers within minutes. “That literally moves stock almost immediately.”

In fact (see below) Sprint Fit customers routinely rave about the speed of delivery, with orders to Auckland often arriving within hours of placement. Again, this comes down to First Software working closely with Sprint Fit; when NZ Post provided a Web service, Sprint Fit found printing waybills took 5 seconds or more apiece. “If you pick and pack a 1000+ orders every day, that was a lot of wasted time. So, First Software developed a better system, integrated straight into NZ Post, which prints the labels immediately straight out of n2 ERP,” Petraska explains.

Results

Thanks to n2 ERP, Sprint Fit’s business is information driven.  Customers find the products they like on the website, place an online order which goes straight into the back-end warehouse system, which updates every second. The orders come through to the pick and pack department for boxing, with NZ Post courier labels printed in batches of 10. Tracking numbers go to customers as soon as the order is packed and again on dispatch, with often no more than 5 minutes between order placement and notification of successful packing.

Couriers visit several times per day, with orders fulfilled at mind-boggling pace. “Sprint Fit customers often comment on Google reviews about how quickly their orders get delivered. First Software has worked with us on an order processing optimisation effort,” says Petraska. “And with NZ Post label production embedded in n2 ERP, it’s literally ten times faster than the standard NZ Post software.” That optimisation effort means Sprint Fit offers multiple shipping upgrades – Auckland customers can, for example, place an order before 3pm for a 6-9pm same-evening delivery.

Petraska says n2 has played an integral role in the growth and success of Sprint Fit, right down to making it easy and engaging for staff members working on the shop floor. “The system is simple and intuitive, so we can train a new employee in minutes, and they will be proficient in as little as a week.”

More than that, he says the closeness of First Software is like having a tailored suit versus something off the peg. “Over the years, we’ve nipped and tucked on little things that add up to a lot. This has equipped Sprint Fit to process way more volumes with fewer people, so we can invest in demand generation. With straight-through processing, including views directly into supplier stock, we make fewer mistakes, get orders right more often, and deliver the experiences which keep our customers coming back for more.”

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AT A GLANCE

• Konica Minolta Australia

INDUSTRY

• Office Automation

BUSINESS OBJECTIVE

• Deliver complete view of customer
• Enhance user experience and self-service
• Modernise data & analytics infrastructure
• Improve cybersecurity
• Retire redundant reporting and licensing

SOLUTION

• Implementation services by Zag (part of Accenture)
• SAP BW 7.5 on HANA
• SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC)
• Migrate SAP on to AWS cloud

BUSINESS BENEFITS

• A central platform of trusted data & reporting for all employees
• Instant real-time data and reports via desktop and mobile
• Better visibility of data sources
• Self-service with less reliance on the IT team
• Better server performance with improved data security
• Reduced hosting costs

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Zag
NZ: w// zag.team
E: info@zag.team

AU: w// zag.team
E: info@zag.team

Auckland
T: +64 9 571 7100
Wellington
T: +64 4 472 1897
Sydney
T: +61 2 8520 3797

Australian print powerhouse Konica Minolta has transformed into a more customer-centric business with SAP Analytics Cloud and Business Warehouse on SAP’s in-memory database bolstered by Amazon Web Services, a significant milestone in their SAP roadmap designed to delight customers.

From the local corner shop to a meat processing corporation, print remains a cornerstone of modern business operations and nothing short of essential for commercial, industrial and medical progress. Having successfully embraced digital disruption, the print industry is thriving, but, as with so many other industries today, the gap between the top players and the laggards is widening.

“From a performance perspective, the speed at which people can access data and present data is almost night and day.”

Konica Minolta has over two million customers worldwide consuming its solutions including traditional, industrial and 3D print, robotics and imaging plus a variety of tailored content and print services. Locally, Konica Minolta Australia has about five hundred employees servicing over eight thousand customers.

The remnants of change

Konica Minolta’s SAP systems were first implemented in 2007 but since then customer expectation has changed dramatically, and so has its business. Nick Jones, Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Konica Minolta Australia explains, “We’ve seen the shift from customers buying outright to leasing to subscription consumption and we’ve modified our processes to suit. We’ve developed solutions adjacent to our core business and customised our systems to suit that. Now, we’re into robotics and 3D and needed to change again.”

“Without agility, we started to hit roadblocks. We needed to be able to respond to customers quickly, improve our speed to market and find new ways to market,” explained Jones.

With an ageing, on-premise, and heavily customised SAP landscape including ECC6 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Business Warehouse (BW) and Business Intelligence (BI), Konica Minolta Australia (Konica Minolta) was restricted in its ability to keep up with changing customer demands. Customisation had created technical debt and increased employees’ dependency on the IT department which amplified Konica Minolta’s challenges with agility and speed to market.

It was time to rethink foundations.

Sequencing an SAP transformation

“A fundamental pillar of our new strategy is Delighting Customers and we’re building out our tech stack to support this,” says CIO Jones.

To forgo the challenges created by the last 14 years in its customised ECC system, achieve standardisation, scalability and bring in new Finance and Logistics capabilities, Konica Minolta decided to deploy S/4HANA on AWS. “We decided early on to adopt not adapt. To follow best practices and leverage the native functionality that S/4HANA comes with, to ensure our business can make use of all the R&D SAP will do going forward, and ensure we keep our systems in a good state,” says Jones. “It was also important to us to move to cloud infrastructure to achieve greater scalability and flexibility.”

It was determined that a modern data warehousing solution was required to become the central repository and source of truth for historic and ongoing ECC and CRM data as well as for new S/4HANA data as it gets built out.

In early 2020 Konica Minolta brought on Zag (part of Accenture) as its SAP Support partner to help with day to day running of its SAP ECC and CRM systems. Impressed with the quality of service and expertise demonstrated, Konica Minolta also chose Zag to deliver its data warehousing and analytics project, but it first had some pain points to overcome.

Zag proposed the following solution to these challenges:

Driving insight into action with SAP on AWS

The solution encompasses an upgraded BW environment on SAP’s fast in-memory HANA database hosted on AWS cloud infrastructure, with SAP Analytics Cloud as the reporting and visualisation tool.  These four elements to the solution address Konica Minolta’s business challenges by driving more insights from the magnitudes of data they have and putting it in the hands of the right people to delight customers.

Database & Data Warehousing

Upgrading SAP BW 7.31 (Support Pack 5) to BW 7.5 on HANA to provide immediate performance benefits upon the conversion of current data models and, with integration to both SAP ECC and S/4HANA being fully supported, Konica Minolta can extract data from the CDS views layer in HANA for data modelling as well as its current extractors. With an upgraded and fully integrated BW environment, Konica Minolta has a single platform and source of truth for historic and new SAP data that allows the greenfields ERP implementation to follow best practice standardised processes without compromising Konica Minolta’s ability to execute valuable year-on-year analysis.

Analytics

In terms of visualisation and interaction with this data, SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) is a modern Software-as-a-Service solution based on HANA that utilises the SAP Fiori interface to provide users with autonomy and flexibility. SAP BW 7.5 is supported by SAC and SAC has native integration with SAP HANA-based ERP systems and BW allowing Konica Minolta to have live connections to SAP BW and SAP S/4HANA. This puts real-time information in the hands of Konica Minolta’s users who can develop, share, and collaborate on reports and dashboards. Down the track, the crossover to S/4HANA will be seamless as SAC uses the same environment and interface.

As SAP’s focal point of innovation, implementing SAC gets Konica Minolta onboard SAP’s roadmap for analytics. Quarterly updates are automatically applied to the system bringing new functionality and fixes without the need for downtime or maintenance by Konica Minolta or its service providers.

Cloud

Konica Minolta saw moving to cloud infrastructure as a critical piece in its transformation and chose to leverage AWS as its strategic cloud partner for SAP and beyond. For Konica Minolta, AWS was an existing and proven partner. They already used AWS for billing in the Customer Solutions department and customers were satisfied with these hosting arrangements. “As a platform, AWS is proven to be reliable, secure, and sustainable – it works 99.9999 percent of the time, customers are happy, and what they put in there from an R&D perspective is unbelievably good,” elaborates Jones.

“From a partner and relationship standpoint, AWS are awesome to work with, they provide a great customer experience.”

Going to BW on HANA in AWS with SAC

“When Zag proposed the upgrade and delivery of BW and SAC in a six-month start to finish project, there was some nervousness given the planning and design for S/4HANA was already underway, but we trusted Zag and we’re glad we did; it was a good decision to complete this project when we did.”

“The Zag team really delivered on this project, they brought their best people and AWS came to the table too delivering the infrastructure within seconds, which was fantastic.”

Remarkably, the project was delivered 100% remotely due to COVID-19 inflicted lockdowns. Important learnings concerning remote delivery will be applied to the S/4HANA project. “Another benefit to executing this project as a prerequisite is that it gave a diverse set of our employees insight into what the bigger S/4HANA project might be like,” says Jones. “As we hadn’t been through many system changes in last 14 years, it was good to prepare people for what that might look and feel like.”

Project success factors

There were several crucial factors that contributed to the successful implementation:

Proven delivery methodology – “We followed Zag’s delivery process, which is based on SAP’s Activate methodology and brought assemblance to the challenges we had and a consistency in approach which was great.”

Right people working together as one team – “It wasn’t like we were three different companies [Konica Minolta, Zag and AWS]; we were one project team working together towards the same deliverable.”

Stayed true to the project’s objective – “We successfully built a repository for old and new data that ensures business continuity and we have delivered an analytics dashboard for each of our four business divisions – with more beneficial capability coming in the future.”

Effective SAC training and support – “The training was a huge success and I have received some great feedback not only on the content of the training but also on Zag’s trainer and the structure and approach he took,” says Antoniette De Marco, National Manager Business Systems and Applications.

“During the project, we had helpful, robust conversations with our partners – often challenging conversations – and in that process, we built a really strong team that is now rolling into the S/4HANA project with a solid foundation for moving forward,” said Jones.

The upgraded BW environment is the first major system to go live on AWS, with S/4HANA coming next.

Reaping the benefits

The new SAP data warehousing and analytics solution is helping Konica Minolta pull different systems together to gather a 360-degree view of its customers and put these real-time insights in the hands of employees who are interacting with customers to empower their decision making in the moment.

“From a performance perspective, the speed at which people can access data and present data is almost night and day. Even purely from a look and feel viewpoint, it is a huge step up,” says Jones.

De Marco says, “SAC is really starting to be embedded in our business and its capability is a real value add for Konica Minolta in helping us drive forward our digital transformation.”

“Over the next year or two, there is a six-figure license saving based on decommissioning unneeded reporting and visualisation tools. On top of that, there is resource cost saving too, for lack of needing to manage and support those tools,” Jones outlines.

Looking to the future

The impact of the new BW and BI solutions on everyday operations is hugely beneficial, and the quick win got employees on board and ready for the bigger S/4HAHA project. “Going forward with S/4HANA, SAC will liberate a lot more functionality, including predictive insights, that our people can use to add even more value to the customer experience,” states Jones.

With a strong digital core in place, Konica Minolta will look to deploy lighter front of house engagement systems, potentially SAP Customer Experience solutions, as the next stop on its transformation roadmap.

FURTHER READING

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AT A GLANCE

• SealesWinslow

INDUSTRY

• Agriculture

BUSINESS OBJECTIVE

• Free up customer service team from order entry tasks
• Simplify temporary seasonal staff roles and training
• Improve service levels

SOLUTION

• Esker Sales Order Management ‘SOM’
• FUJIFILM Business Innovation’s Process Automation team

BUSINESS BENEFITS

• Removed manual data entry, giving the four-person team more than 8 hours back each day
• Orders processed 90% faster during peak periods
• Self-learning AI has improved accuracy and provided agility
• Provided full visibility into order processing analytics

FOR MORE INFORMATION

FUJIFILM Business Innovation
W: FUJIFILM Business Innovation
New Zealand
E: kevin.ptak.pc@fujifilm.com
T: +64 21 275 4321

Providing next-level customer service can be a fine balance between processing orders efficiently and taking time to proactively help customers.

For stockfeed manufacturer SealesWinslow, a subsidiary of Ballance Agri-Nutrients, there is an added challenge of huge seasonal peaks, which see around half of the company’s annual order book filled in just three months. With orders ranging from 20kg bags of feed to 10-tonne truckloads, and specialised ordering for customised stockfeed additives, order processing can get challenging.

A manual order entry process using emailed orders from both merchants and SealesWinslow’s sales reps saw the company’s lean customer service team stretched during peak periods. While temporary Customer Service staff for busy periods helped, the specialised knowledge required meant they could only do so much.

“The time saving has been quite mind-blowing for us.”

Nardia Crosby, Customer Experience & Shared Services Manager at SealesWinslow had a clear vision: “One of our main goals was to get our customer service team away from performing functions and allow them the time to talk to customers, resolve issues and proactively look at what was happening and how it was happening to minimise and remove issues before they happened.”

Solution

The Ballance Agri-Nutrients’ IT team suggested the Esker Sales Order Management platform ‘SOM’, locally delivered by FUJIFILM Business Innovation’s Process Automation team. The suggestion came with a thumbs up for Fujifilm’s reputation and the team’s ability to respond and implement quickly.

“We had a high volume of sales orders in a set format but with very manual processes,” says Crosby.

Fujifilm integrated Esker SOM with SealesWinslow’s ERP system across three manufacturing plants around New Zealand, allowing it to automatically capture information from sales order emails. For the Customer Service team, that meant no more retyping PDFs into sales orders. AI-driven machine learning accurately extracts relevant data and learns common corrections.

Results

Within three weeks of implementing Esker, SealesWinslow’s four-person customer service team was saving more than eight hours a day across the team. Order processing times are now around one fifth of what they were, and urgent orders can be dealt with instantly.

Crosby says the results were impressive. “The time saving has been quite mind-blowing for us. In a funny way, it was a bit unnerving for the team. Suddenly in our busy period, they had flexibility they’d never had before.”

That time saving has seen SealesWinslow step up its outbound calling, getting feedback from customers, and proactively working to minimise and remove any issues before they happen. It’s also enabling training for the team, even during peak periods.

“One of our main goals was to get our customer service team away from performing functions and allow them the time to talk to customers, resolve issues and proactively look at what was happening and how it was happening to minimise and remove issues before they happened,” says Crosby.

Order duplications are flagged by Esker and the way the two systems interact ensures incorrect information can’t be accidentally input. Fujifilm configured the platform to include SealesWinslow’s freight mechanism, ensuring the automation in its ERP for contacting correct carriers for each region wasn’t lost.

Esker’s autolearning abilities have been the key feature for SealesWinslow. The codes that merchant partners use often vary slightly from SealesWinslow’s own codes, and Esker’s AI has quickly picked up the differences.

“I know auto-learning works beautifully because we did a re-coding change in our ERP system, and Esker picked up really fast on those new codes.”

Esker has also helped fill in gaps in the ERP system’s reporting, enabling SealesWinslow to see for the first time how long it takes the team to process an order and how many times they have to verify information with a merchant or their own reps. That’s allowing the company to focus on those areas and provide training where needed to reduce future issues.

SealesWinslow is adding a new permanent member to its customer service team, and Crosby says their training will be considerably easier thanks to Esker.

You have to know a lot before you can be let loose on our main ERP system, which meant training people in the past took longer. With Esker, it’s much simpler. It has made a huge difference in the way we can work and the way we do that work now.

Source: This article was originally sourced from FUJIFILM Business Innovation

FURTHER READING

AT A GLANCE

• Xero

INDUSTRY

• Financial services

BUSINESS OBJECTIVE

• Automate invoices
• Non-finance business users to easily navigate invoices
• A platform to support purchase orders

SOLUTION

• Esker Purchasing & AP Automation

BUSINESS BENEFITS

• Reduced manual data entry through Esker’s automatic matching of invoices against POs
• Faster approval time from several weeks to 3-4 days
• Greater visibility across the finance team through dashboard metrics and reporting

FOR MORE INFORMATION

FUJIFILM Business Innovation
W: FUJIFILM Business Innovation
New Zealand
E: kevin.ptak.pc@fujifilm.com
T: +64 21 275 4321

Background
New Zealand-founded cloud-based accounting software platform Xero knows a thing or two about automation. With more than 2.7 million subscribers, Xero has offices in 18 cities across the globe.

For a business of Xero’s size, it’s not surprising that their AP team were seeking a platform that could not only handle a significant number of vendor invoices but one that would also make it easier for non-finance business users to navigate.

“The platform also needed to support Purchase Orders, and some of the options we initially considered couldn’t do this. But the main thing for us was the automation and its ability to connect back to Netsuite ERP,” says Sam Tsoi, Systems Accountant, Xero.

Solution
After talking to several vendors and an RFP process, Xero confidently selected FUJIFILM Business Innovation to implement Esker Purchasing & AP Automation.

Esker’s ability to support the Finance team in managing Xero’s different subsidiaries was the deciding factor, along with the feature set and convenience of local support.

“We were looking for something user-friendly and intuitive for the end-user. The interface design was quite an important consideration for us.”
Sam Tsoi – Systems Accountant, Xero

Results
The most significant benefit has been Esker’s efficiency in matching invoices against POs. This was previously a manual process, but Esker’s OCR (Optical Character Recognition) automatically converts invoices into searchable data, extracts, and then enters information into the system.

There are other flow-on benefits too. “It’s super easy for invoice approvers to approve an invoice straight from their mobile phone – they don’t even have to log in from their laptop. And of course, faster approval means we’re able to get the invoices paid on time,” explains Antoinetta, Accounts Payable Administrator. “I can easily track what’s happening with a particular invoice, so we’re getting fewer enquiries from suppliers about where payment is or how far along it is.”

Esker has also helped change some of the internal processes across the company. “Before Esker, it was more common to receive an invoice first, and then a PO would have to be raised retroactively. Since implementing Esker, we’re finding that more people are raising a PO initially, and then we’re receiving an invoice to match it.” says Antoinetta.

“It used to be hard to keep up with queries and juggling invoices. With Esker, it’s definitely freed up our time to do other things!”

Esker’s intelligent dashboard has improved visibility within the team. Now they can see the number of invoices coming in, manage, share and track workload. Smart filtering flags important items, such as unmatched invoices or incorrect currencies. “I think we’ve definitely benefited from having something more user-friendly and nicer looking for our business users,” says Sam.

Customised reporting has allowed Xero to build relevant reports for specific business functions, while dashboard metrics ensure the most important data is visible without seeming like ‘information overload’.

Overall, efficiency gains have been significant. The improvements that the Finance team set out to achieve have been met and more. Where previously an invoice would take several weeks to be approved, it’s now just a matter of days, says Antoinetta.

Source: This article was originally sourced from FUJIFILM Business Innovation

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Process automation relieves staff from boring repetition…

AT A GLANCE

• Comvita

INDUSTRY

• Mānuka honey and bee consumer goods

BUSINESS OBJECTIVE

• Enable remote working
• Faster processing of invoices
• Improved visibility over the procurement cycle and less compliance risk

SOLUTION

• Esker platform
• Fujifilm Process Automation
• Esker Anywhere mobile app

BUSINESS BENEFITS

• Full reporting on requisitions, items purchased, invoices processed, and payments
• Raise POs and pay recurring invoices automatically and electronically without any printing
• Accurate and efficient payments
• Ability to negotiate better rates with future suppliers

FOR MORE INFORMATION

FUJIFILM Business Innovation
W: FUJIFILM Business Innovation
New Zealand
E: kevin.ptak.pc@fujifilm.com
T: +64 21 275 4321

Comvita was founded in 1974, with a purpose to heal and protect the world through the natural power of the hive and is the global market leader in Mānuka honey and bee consumer goods. Their procure-to-pay cycle was being hindered by excessive paperwork.

“Paper costs money, and shifting it around to individual desks takes effort and time,” explains Lisa Blackstock, Comvita’s GM of Finance. “Sometimes invoices would stay on peoples desks, so we’d have a lot of chasing up to do. It was also hard to see which invoices we could pay and which were still waiting for approval, while some invoices required more than one signature, which only magnified the challenge.”

“My team needs more exercise, as they’re no longer running around with pieces of paper!”

Solution
The Fujifilm Process Automation team took a comprehensive and proven approach to implementation, starting with an on-site workshop to understand Comvita’s current processes and identify areas for improvement. This discovery phase informed the proposed solution, which was then built over six weeks. After deploying the software, training was provided, followed by twenty days of support to get the Comvita team comfortable with the new solution.

The Esker platform provided by Fujifilm Process Automation has proven a sweet deal for the company – and a particularly timely one, with the implementation completed just ahead of the COVID-19 lockdown.

Results
Comvita’s executives had no difficulty processing purchase orders and invoices during the lockdown, thanks to the Esker Anywhere mobile app. “The timing of the new solution couldn’t have been better. Quite simply, if we were on the old system, we would have had a major problem,” says Blackstock.

With AI-powered data capture, touchless processing, and digital workflow capabilities, Esker optimises spend requests and goods/services ordering. Every Purchase Requisition is raised and authorised electronically before a Purchase Order is issued. Every transaction is tracked – from purchase request to invoice approval, with full reporting on requisitions, items purchased, invoices processed, and payments made.

Integrating the Esker platform with Comvita’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution was easy thanks to Esker’s multiple ERP integration capability. Comvita gained further efficiency by having a single unified view across their business.

The net result is that Comvita can raise POs and pay recurring invoices automatically and electronically without printing a single sheet of paper. They have complete visibility of their purchases and payments at any time while also meeting their compliance and anti-fraud obligations.

Blackstock says Fujifilm’s engagement, onboarding, and delivery processes were impressive. “This was promised at the start and delivered in practice. The consultant, for example, remained engaged throughout, helping facilitate the implementation and support us in the initial phase of use.”

The company’s suppliers love the introduction of Esker too. “The accuracy and frequency of payments have improved, and they benefit from the improved visibility our team enjoys over the procurement cycle,” Blackstock confirms.

While it is still ‘early days’ for Esker at Comvita, she says the company is preparing to take full advantage of the visibility and analytics. “We’re working on setting up limits and approval lines as well as better understanding our procurement so we can contract approved suppliers and negotiate better rates.”

In short, Fujifilm Process Automation and Esker has made life better for the finance department, Blackstock says. “There is only one complaint, though, my team needs more exercise, as they’re no longer running around with pieces of paper!”

Source: This article was originally sourced from FUJIFILM Business Innovation

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Meet Trustpower’s robot workforce

May 10, 2019 | Fujifilm

Process automation relieves staff from boring repetition…

AT A GLANCE

• Quint

INDUSTRY

• Business and IT Consulting Services

BUSINESS OBJECTIVE

• Integrate data from the three various source systems
• A solution for effective data normalization and consolidation to simplify reporting

SOLUTION

• Jet Analytics

BUSINESS BENEFITS

• Automated data preparation making instant reports
• Fast and low-maintenance data transformation
• Can easily generate complete financial reports by themselves

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Insight Software
W: insightsoftware
E: aunz@insightsoftware.com
AU: +61 300 662 649
NZ: +64 4 473 7137

Quint is a global consultancy, training, and technology company. It supports organisations in designing and implementing digital transformation solutions. Quint’s key focus areas are digital strategy, data activation, lean agile enterprise, sourcing advisory, IT governance, enterprise cloud, enterprise DevOps, and enterprise automation.

The Challenge
Quint’s Malaysia branch had been using Microsoft Dynamics NAV for many years, integrated with its proprietary ERP system, Quint Information System (QIS). As the organisation grew, Quint decided to migrate all its systems into a new ERP, Odoo. However, with increasing amounts of data to report on, and with legacy data still residing in NAV and QIS, they needed a solution for effective data normalization and consolidation to simplify reporting and to establish a single source of truth.

After comparing different solutions on the market, they opted for insightsoftware’s Jet Analytics as a data preparation, automation, and modelling solution. Thanks to Jet Analytics, they could successfully integrate data from the three various source systems: legacy accounting data from NAV, legacy sales data from QIS, and combined accounting and sales data from Odoo. They also chose Jet Reports as a front-end financial reporting tool within Excel.

Jet Analytics is flexible and easy to use. If you have some basic database knowledge, you will discover even more possibilities with Jet.

Yin-Ting Chua, Software Development Engineer

Building to success with Jet
Using Jet Analytics and Jet Reports combined, Quint has been able to automate data preparation and make it report-ready in an instant. They can easily publish the data to their users with the built-in Jet Reports scheduler, which generates reports to the organisation’s cloud storage. In order to fully utilize the aggregated data, they are published to Google Data Source for report visualization via Google Data Studio.

Jet Analytics has allowed Quint to enable fast and low-maintenance data transformation. The data preparation and automation are done in a matter of minutes.

The finance team uses Jet Reports to generate and analyze monthly consolidated financial reports, always using reliable, single-source data prepared in Jet Analytics. “Jet Reports provides the finance team with a clear view of consolidated data within Excel,” said Yin-Ting Chua, Software Development Engineer at Quint. “Also, the team can easily generate complete financial reports by themselves.”.

By implementing Jet Analytics and Jet Reports, Quint has been able to enjoy several benefits:

• The finance team can easily access a common, reliable single source of truth collecting data from multiple source systems.
• Users can query data from Jet Reports in Excel without the need for P/SQL programming knowledge.
• Time-savings with data preparation, automation, and modelling done in a matter of minutes

Navigating Success
With simplified data management and reduced dependency on the IT department to create reports, finance users can now access the data they need and generate reports by themselves.

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