Adelaide headquartered Bianco Building Supplies is currently introducing advanced scanning and document management software tools to streamline the processing of its accounts payable operations.
With Australia wide operations, five separate divisions and a fast growing annual turnover, that currently exceeds $130 million, Bianco processes several thousand individual purchasing transactions every month. Group business administration manager, Enzo Centofanti notes that getting this work done with maximum efficiency, accuracy and speed is a major priority.
To meet such challenges, Bianco elected, in late 2005, to undertake a major review and overhaul of its accounts payable operations.
As phase-one of this streamlining, it now has all relevant paperwork scanned into digital format. Original documentation is sent to the Scan Conversion Services (SCS) bureau in Adelaide once a week. SCS validates and indexes this data and then produces summary electronic files that are emailed back to Bianco’s central IT system within 24 hours. A back-up CDROM is also produced monthly.
At Bianco, the scanned data is automatically entered into Dv TDM document management software developed and supplied by Practical Programs . This ensures that all relevant ‘raw’ creditors information is instantaneously available, on-line to all relevant staff who can access files using a range of specifically defined search criteria. This, Centofanti reports, has resulted in accounts payable reconciliation and payment work already being much simpler and faster.
With its scanning process having been in operation for some months, phase-2 of Bianco’s accounts payable upgrade is now being developed. Using the Dv TDM ‘Workflow’ software solution, this later development will totally integrate the electronically scanned data into the company’s Movex ERP computer business system. Once complete, this will automate the posting of invoices into the business system thus removing much of the manual workload previously required. Along with other streamlining, this means that additional accounts staff will not be needed nearly as quickly to handle the company’s continued growth.
It will also automatically trail all invoices and invoice queries through the entire payment process.
“Overall, the new approach has been all about eliminating the bulk, time consuming manual processes and focusing on the effective management of exceptions. This is a substantial improvement”, Centofanti says.
