In a recent discovery call, I had the opportunity to speak with a furniture retail company struggling with the limitations of non-integrated systems and the burden of administrative tasks.
The company relies on a popular cloud-based finance system, which unfortunately lacks integration with their warehouse management system. As a result, orders are generated in the finance system, while goods are logged separately in the warehouse management system. These systems operate in isolation, causing inefficiencies and frustrations.
This disjointed process poses a significant challenge for the Accounts Payable team, who must manually execute the necessary three-way match to validate supplier invoices for payment.
To compound matters, the company currently outsources its administrative functions offshore, requiring a sizable team of six or more individuals. Their responsibilities include manual document handling and data entry for various processes involved in international procurement, shipping, and distribution to both business and consumer customers within the UK.
Although it’s still early days, I can envision how a combination of process engineering, intelligent document capture, and robotic process automation (RPA) could alleviate the pain points and reduce costs associated with these challenges. By streamlining operations and embracing automation, the company has the potential to overcome these hurdles and enhance their overall efficiency.