Automated release and approval processes in SAP

The beverage manufacturer Refresco is employing tangro IM in order to process incoming invoices automatically and therefore particularly efficiently. "We looked at several live systems. tangro IM impressed us at every level – particularly due to its integration in SAP and the powerful learning function,” says Joachim Ringstmeyer, who, as ICT Director of the Refresco Group, is responsible for this project. A further criterion for the IT Director at Refresco was the fact that tangro offers a workflow solution in addition to incoming invoice processing. It is used to automate approval and release processes within SAP. It was also important for Joachim Ringstmeyer to receive a solution along the lines of plug & play that was particularly quick and easy to implement in order to make the rollout in the other branches easier, among other things.

tangro was introduced here within just three-and-a-half months between September and December 2009 – in full at all four locations simultaneously. What was implemented was a tailor-made solution that is shaped precisely to the needs of the beverage manufacturer. For the scanning process, for example, the solution was set up in such a way that it was possible to use the existing multifunctional devices. What’s more, the images are not optimised during scanning itself, as is the usual procedure, but downstream on the server. This enables especially fast throughput of up to 80 pages per minute during the scanning procedure.

Because tangro is integrated in SAP, the data can be further processed directly within SAP with no media break. This makes tangro IM particularly easy to operate – both for processing clerks and IT support: “tangro’s integration into SAP is so important to us because it enables the employees to work with one solution without exception – SAP – and means that there is no need for additional training and induction. What’s more, there are no unnecessary interfaces and hence no additional maintenance work,” says Ringstmeyer.

The tangro workflow solution correctly maps a wide range of scenarios for this purpose. Depending on the invoice total and whether an order already exists for an invoice that has been received, the corresponding document is automatically forwarded to the right cost centre owner for approval.

All procedures are fully transparent and can be traced at any time, which means that no more complex and time-consuming research is required. Furthermore, reminders can now be sent very quickly. In order to see what is still open, all the processing clerks need to do is filter the invoice receipt journal in tangro and they can then send a reminder directly from there to the cost centre owner. If an employee is absent, the corresponding message is rerouted automatically. In this way, an invoice is now verified and signed off much faster than before, which has a positive effect on the use of discounts.