Business Challenge – Finding Ways to Automate Workflow
Based in the United States, American Fruits and Flavors (AFF) is a major juice processing and flavor manufacturing company. Because they were experiencing significant growth, they were looking at ways to become more automated to increase efficiency and streamline their workflow. Documents were often duplicated numerous times on paper because they didn’t use a central repository. All of these documentations lead to a lot of waste and significant expenses. It was also taking up a lot of time from employees who could be focusing on other tasks.
AFF was looking at ways to streamline business processes. For example, they wanted to be able to combine related documents and automatically post purchase orders. However, the small support staff was losing many hours each day due to the amount of time it took to sort all of these documents. Another issue was making sure that all of the product details met FDA requirements. AFF also needed to implement strong security measures. This was particularly necessary, as many of these documents included proprietary recipes for various customers.
Software Solution – DocLink
The Corporate Controller at AAF attended an AP Expo event to explore different ways that other businesses were automating processes. However, looking for a solution proved unsuccessful, as he decided to reach out to AFF’s ERP partner to receive a recommendation.
The initial demonstration of using DocLink, a document management and process automation solution by Altec, highlighted many good features. Some of these features included customizable workflow, accessible repository, and simple integration into SL, for instance. Eventually, DocLink was implemented in AR a few years after it was used in AP.
According to Accounting Supervisor, Daisy Lorenzo, including all of the documents in one place created a much more efficient process for the company. Previously, a simple AP process wasn’t even viable before DocLink. Now all this information is accessible in one location. This includes customer calls, POs, and other important information. Whether you need invoices, orders, or other data, everything is easily accessible. You can also implement permission levels for different employees. This is helpful in providing greater security across numerous departments.
The Results
The initial benefits of using DocLink in AP were significant enough to expand this software solution into AR. Once the process was implemented, the amount of time it took to process and send out AR invoices was reduced by nearly 90%.
Despite experiencing such significant growth, the company also has not had to add new personnel due to the efficiency of using DocLink. Due to the system’s efficiency, employees who were often working overtime now do not have to work extra hours. They no longer need to keep track of their ever-growing amount of AR documents in cabinets. This not only saves everyone a lot of time, but also reduces costs.
The implementation of DocLink significantly improved business efficiency. It also made each employee’s job much more manageable. The success of this software has already led AFF to begin looking at ways to further expand their services by implementing DocLink into improving their customer service capabilities.
