Version One’s Systems Cure Boehringer Ingelheim's Purchase-to-Pay Issues

Boehringer Ingelheim, a privately-owned global pharmaceutical company, has revolutionised its purchase-to-pay (P2P) processes with Version One’s document management and imaging systems (as sold by V1 Document Management). Improved efficiency, cost savings and enhanced supplier relationships are some of the key benefits Boehringer Ingelheim is experiencing as a result of implementing Version One’s systems

Juliet Cherry, Treasury Manager from Boehringer Ingelheim, says, “We were using suboptimal and disconnected systems which proved restrictive. We recognised that we needed a more reliable and integrated document management system to streamline our purchase-to-pay processes.”

To solve its P2P issues, Boehringer Ingelheim implemented a document management and imaging system from Version One comprising modules for electronic form design, cheque printing, automated electronic delivery, document storage and automated data capture. All these solutions are tightly integrated into the company’s Proactis purchasing and BPCS accounting systems.

Boehringer Ingelheim’s incoming and outgoing business documents, including purchase invoices, purchase orders, statements, remittance advices and supplier details are now electronically stored. Paper documents arriving into the organization are now scanned-in prior to processing. Once imaged, the documents are indexed and automatically tagged to the appropriate records in the accounting system. Users wishing to locate a particular document can do so quickly and easily by drilling-down through the accounting system.

Version One’s systems have enabled us to significantly streamline our business processes ensuring our organization remains world-leading.

- Juliet Cherry, Treasury Manager, Boehringer Ingelheim

Cherry comments, “Since implementing Version One’s document management, our purchase invoice processes have become significantly more efficient and cost effective. Suppliers now have 24 hour online access to imaged documents, such as purchase orders and remittance advices. As a result, the number of queries we now receive has decreased and we can pay suppliers in a more timely manner.”

Cherry continues, “In addition, as we are no longer printing, posting and duplicating documents, we have made considerable savings of time and money. We have also freed-up an entire room that was previously used for storing paper, can now retrieve copies of documents instantly from the desktop and are confident that they are being efficiently stored.”

Further time savings have been achieved by reducing administrative time spent manually entering data from purchase invoices and credit notes. Version One’s automated data capture solution, DbCapture, which uses the latest optical character recognition (OCR) technology, automatically recognises, verifies and extracts the relevant data from incoming documents. This data can then be uploaded to the core financial system, reducing manual data entry by up to 80%.

Cherry comments, “DbCapture has significantly reduced manual data entry. Entering invoice and credit note data into the finance system was very time consuming, an inefficient use of accounts payable resource and vulnerable to error. Since implementing Version One’s OCR system, administrative time has been freed-up. This time is now better spent managing supplier accounts.”

Cherry concludes, “Version One’s systems have enabled us to significantly streamline our business processes ensuring our organization remains world-leading.”