Assignment Option #1: Ralley Inc. is beginning a project to convert their paper-

Question

Assignment Option #1:
Ralley Inc. is beginning a project to convert their paper-based manual purchase and payment process to an automated process in their new system. What recommendations would you make to redesign the process and implement best practices? Assignment Option #1:
Ralley Inc. is beginning a project to convert their paper-based manual purchase and payment process to an automated process in their new system. What recommendations would you make to redesign the process and implement best practices? Assignment Option #1:
Ralley Inc. is beginning a project to convert their paper-based manual purchase and payment process to an automated process in their new system. What recommendations would you make to redesign the process and implement best practices?

Explanation / Answer

Paper-based processes are inherently less efficient than automated processes, can negatively impact customer service and generate costs associated with creating, storing and retrieving paper documents. Manual paper-based processes inherently take longer to complete because of time associated with actions such as creating multiple copies of a document, physical delivery of documents to different approvers, entering the same data into both manual forms and electronic systems and correcting errors not detected when preparing paper documents.

Financial Aid. Costs associated with creating, storing and retrieving paper documents include the following: Costs to create paper documents include materials such as paper, toner, envelopes and postage. Physical space is limited and expensive to rent or build and better utilized for offices or other workspace than for paper storage, and other costs for storage include file folders, labels and cabinets. Retrieving paper documents can take significant amounts of time for actions such as locating mishandled paper documents and identifying, pulling and moving paper documents to relocate, archive or destroy.

Automation’s primary influence is on the efficiency of procurement staff. The adoption of automated purchase order processing allows procurement staff to be more efficient and productive. This in turn can reduce staffing costs associated with purchase order processing. It can also allow the organization to shift employees from the more basic task of processing purchase orders to more value-added activities within the procurement function.

Recommendations and steps to effectively guide the transition to an automated procure-to-pay process :

1) Develop an overall strategy for managing procurement and accounts payable within the organization.

2) Assess what technology is currently available in-house. Many organizations already have procurement automation modules available as part of their ERP systems. Using a module from an already deployed system will come with the added benefit of integration.

3) Look outside the organization to leverage specialized procure-to-pay solutions that take advantage of lessons that others have already learned. Many of the existing best-of-breed solutions for procurement come with effective best practices programmed into the package. Solutions to consider include document management tools, e-invoicing and automated requisition systems with tracking for workflow and approvals tied back to internal controls.

Should enable to achieve :

§ Share data across business applications

§ Include purchasing and other involved departments in the workflow

§ Include pre- and post-processing steps in workflow

§ Extend approval workflow to remote staff and mobile devices

§ View archived invoices and audit trail outside an ERP application

§ Designed for Ease of Use (Through an easy-to-use web interface, users working inside or outside an ERP solution can quickly code, approve and release invoices)

§ With 24/7 year-round monitoring and support for different time zones and multiple languages.(Cloud based solution can much easier to setup and scale rather than a homegrown product)

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