This RPA Case Study explores how robotic process automation delivered an 85% saving on time previously spent on manual work.
Company Overview
The Santova Group is a specialist international trade solutions business list- ed on the Main Board of the South African Securities Exchange with offices throughout Africa , Asia, Mauritius, Australasia, Europe, Singapore and the United Kingdom, as well as strategic partners throughout the world. Santova’s strategic global presence and diversification in terms of geographies, currencies, industries, products and services focuses on managing a network of interconnected activities for multinational clients, including planning, organizing, procurement and logistics from origin to point-of-consumption.
In essence, Santova assumes responsibility for the entire supply chain, allowing clients to focus on growing their core business. With continuing intense competition and pressure on price and margins that will continue into the foreseeable future, Santova is well placed to leverage off a borderless and integrated world economy that is driven by globalization and technological advancements.
Industry
Logistics and Supply Chain
Location(s)
Africa , Asia, Mauritius, Australasia, Europe, Singapore and the United Kingdom
Challenge Faced
Within BMG’s accounts department, processing supplier invoices through the system involved a large amount of tedious manual work, including reading, validating, registering, and posting invoices.
This meant:
- A time-consuming process
- Delays in payment
- No accuracy
- No mapping of business rules
- No exception management
One of the accounts payable (AP) teams, which processes approximately 1,000+ invoices monthly for 40+ suppliers across 4 different geographies was an ideal candidate for automation.
Solution
A solution was required that could integrate humans and zozBots to automate the Accounts Payable process.
The solution needed to include:
- Supplier specific rule mapping
- Human in the loop exception
- Full auditability and traceability
Invoice Receipt & Digitising (Intelligent Document Processing)
Extraction data from multiple document formats and convert to readable data, and validate the data against defined business rules.
Invoice Receipt & Digitising (Intelligent Document Processing)
In the ERP system, identify the supplier and the organization associated with the invoice, then register the data and attach the invoice to the record.
Dashboards & Reporting
Measure, monitor and manage work and teams.
Results & Outcomes
Through AP Automation, Santova has gained significant benefits.
Results achieved over a two-year period include:
- A 85% time saving previously spent on manual work
- 70 Seconds processing time per invoice
- Up to 70% decrease in costs
- More than 95% improvement in efficiency
- Total invoices received 11000+
- Total amount of invoices processed by zozBot: USD 15 431 170
- zozBot runtime: 600 days
- Human hours saved: 8 900 Hours