Process management is critical to any business, and the construction industry is no different. In the current climate, businesses need to ensure their processes are agile and efficient in order to survive, thrive, and stay ahead of the competition.
Disparate systems and paper-based processes continue to be used by many construction organisations in their procure-to-pay and order-to-cash cycles. However these manual, labour-intensive processes are often the source of negative KPIs such as lengthy processing times, high error rates and low visibility.
Digitally transforming and automating the P2P and O2C cycles delivers a multitude of benefits by removing manual, time-consuming activities and giving staff the time and resource to work on more strategic, value-adding tasks.
Sounds ideal, right? But how exactly do digital transformation and automation work?
Process Automation
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) drives efficiency through organisations by:
- Eliminating manual tasks such as invoice handling, PO matching, order consolidation
- Enhancing visibility and analytics with real-time, customisable dashboards to monitor KPIs such as order processing time, DSO, early payment discounts
- Improving the experience for customers and supplies with accelerated cycle times
- Boosting staff productivity by freeing up resource to focus on tasks that can really contribute to the bottom line
Alongside RPA, Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions observe inputs and learn what works and what doesn’t, to mimic human intelligence in repeated tasks so that the desired outcome is always achieved. Sounds complicated, but the end result is pretty simple: AI makes your job easier and your company easier to do business with.
Complex IT Landscapes
Construction companies often run on disparate, legacy systems that have been accumulated over time and through mergers and acquisitions. These come with added costs and complexities, and can be a spanner in the works when it comes to collaboration across departments, business agility, and ultimately, profits.
The thought of adding another technology to an already complicated infrastructure may seem counter-intuitive. However, automation via a Software as a Service (SaaS) model allows workflow outside ERP systems with no additional software, hardware or maintenance associated with the implementation. A great solution complements whatever infrastructure is currently in place — minus upfront costs, downtime and interference with existing systems.
How Automation Works
Procure-to-Pay
- Purchase orders created in a few clicks and verified against invoices with 3-way matching
- AP invoice data automatically extracted and, if necessary, routed for approval
- On-the-go approval with Esker Anywhere™, reducing delays and bottlenecks
- Improved collaboration and shortened payment cycles with key suppliers
- Greater visibility over indirect and indirect spend
Order-to-Cash
- Automatic extraction of incoming order data with machine learning
- Orders logged in the ERP system with a copy archived for full audit trail
- Custom dashboards to monitor metrics, and customer portals to track order status
- Automatic extraction of invoice data and delivery to the customer based on their preferences
- Cash allocation matches incoming payments to outstanding invoices
- Collections management go beyond DSO to optimise and accelerate your cash collection process
Ready to go digital?
Designed to help business leaders and their teams achieve their goals, process automation makes your job easier. Work smarter, not harder.
Esker’s solutions can help across P2P and O2C cycles in the construction industry. Or – take one step at a time.
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