+31 (0)33 2471599
info@cadran.nl
Shimano – Electronic Invoicing in Oracle JD Edwards ERP
Shimano now processing incoming invoices automatically in Oracle JD Edwards
Following a thorough selection process, Shimano chose ISPnext to help the company process its incoming invoices – more than 20,000 per year!
Shimano Europe Group is the umbrella for several offices, successfully selling, marketing and servicing high quality products for the European bicycle and fishing market. Its headquarter is located in Nunspeet, the Netherlands. The European ‘Team Shimano’ currently consists of more than 400 enthusiastic colleagues spread over offices in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, England, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Poland.
The Shimano Europe companies in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands share a single financial administration department, which is centrally based at the headquarters in the Netherlands. They use Oracle JD Edwards software for a number of purposes, including processing roughly 21,000 incoming invoices each year for seven sets of financial records. Six full users and almost 60 controllers, advisers and budget holders are involved in approving and processing the invoices.
Out-of-office approval, improvements to internal controls and greater efficiency
Invoices used to be processed at Shimano Europe in the same way as at most other organizations: invoices would be received on paper or in PDF format, then be printed and processed by the accounts receivable department. The invoices were booked in Oracle JD Edwards with a payment block and the original invoice was then sent to the approving party for their approval in the form of a signature. Once approved, the payment block on the invoice would be deleted manually in Oracle JD Edwards, enabling the invoices to be paid. “Because many Shimano employees travel regularly, we wanted them to be able to approve invoices while out of the office. We also wanted greater efficiency in the processing of incoming invoices and improvements to internal controls,” explains Wim Hartog, Financial Project Manager at Shimano Europe.
Extensive selection process
Shimano obtained information on a large number of suppliers, mainly on the internet. From those suppliers, the company selected four and gave them the opportunity to demonstrate their software. “After those demonstrations, based on knowledge of – and integration with – Oracle JD Edwards, we narrowed the selection down further. So we visited a current user of ISPnext and one other potential supplier. We were already quite confident about the integration options offered by ISPnext AP Automation, so during the visit we concentrated mainly on whether the process ran smoothly and whether the workflow module worked well. And it was good to hear from an experienced user too,” says Hartog.
Knowledge of Oracle JD Edwards and proven reliability of integration – the decisive factors
Shimano ensured that the future users were very closely involved with the selection process. “Two of the six full users were members of the project team. The other four future users were naturally also involved in the selection process at regular intervals. The final decision was taken by the entire project team. The differences that led the team to their choice included the carefully considered way in which integration with Oracle JD Edwards was organized, the advantage of having support based in the Netherlands, and the solution offered by ISPnext for ‘voucher logging’. Voucher logging ensures that invoices for which the ledger number is not yet known are booked to a temporary account. That means that the accounts receivable position is known in Oracle JD Edwards right from the start. Oracle JD Edwards also sends a detailed report back to AP Automation on any shortfalls and anything that cannot be processed properly. Those functionalities indicated that ISPnext already had lots of experience with processing incoming invoices in Oracle JD Edwards. In other words, we opted for the solution offered by ISPnext AP Automation because they had already built a proven and carefully considered solution for Oracle JD Edwards,” says Hartog in conclusion.
Interested in automatic invoicing in JD Edwards?
Would you like to know more about automatic invoicing Oracle JD Edwards? Get in touch with Ed Pieters and discover the possibilities for your company.
