"Too many people were processing purchase invoices."

You can't think of anything so crazy as to have something from Low & Bonar in it. This originally Scottish company produces yarn and synthetic fibers, for example, and uses them to manufacture woven and non-woven semi-finished products. The London Stock Exchange-listed company recorded sales of €457 million several years ago.

Low & Bonar also operates in the Netherlands, specifically in Emmen and in Arnhem. There, Low & Bonar took over a privatized part of Akzo's warranty division several years ago. Arnhem is also home to the financial shared service center, which currently processes 25,000 invoices annually for some 15 entities.

The goal is to start doubling that number soon. How? By soon bringing invoicing for the Low & Bonar branches in Belgium, Germany, the U.S. and perhaps China to Arnhem as well.

Invoice processing needs to be more efficient

Ambitious? "Yes, indeed," is the response of Teun Gerrits of the accounts payable department: "We are working very hard on improving efficiency and introducing more structure. And we have to. Within Low & Bonar there are too many people around the world processing purchase invoices, and that simply costs too much. So we do need to start working more efficiently."

That high bar was an added challenge for the supervisor/project manager to get started at Low & Bonar. Getting on a moving train is not something he finds exciting. But building a track and then running a train on it is right up his alley.

And the fact that Low & Bonar is experiencing the effects of organizational changes on the one hand, from a line to a matrix organization with 3 global business units, and on the other hand is in the middle of an ERP migration, only made it more interesting for him.

"There are no more limits to invoice processing"

Operational excellence is required reading

That there were opportunities was clear to Teun, who has been working as a financial officer for 15 years, from the start. "They have been working with Basware here for six years, and that is proven technology. With that, we can guarantee the quality to attract other countries to our service center as well."

And quality is an essential concept within the company. Operational excellence - the best quality at a competitive price - is compulsory at all Low & Bonar production sites, and service departments like Teun's notice this too. Low & Bonar is increasingly developing as a global player.

They recently opened a new factory in China. Purchasing takes place worldwide, as does processing and sales. Production capacity is thus optimally deployed. Teun: "Our service center is also developing more and more globally. There are no longer any limits to invoice processing." The invoices that come in vary widely. From a bunch of flowers for a birthday colleague to raw materials delivered in bulk by sea container.

Getting invoices via Basware Network

Asked about the department's future plans, Teun immediately lists a whole laundry list. Recently, a start was made with several suppliers to receive invoices digitally, via Basware Network. Together with ICreative, they want to expand this rapidly in order to eliminate manual scanning of invoices, improve the quality of the input to their process and, as a result, achieve a higher automatic matching rate between orders/receipts and invoices.

By extension, Teun is already looking at the possibilities of storage in the cloud with an oblique eye. "I think that's where the solution for the future lies. But with colleagues from IT, from procurement and also from the legal department, I do want to look carefully at the consequences as well as the security."

Efficient billing starts at the front end

Furthermore, Teun holds in-house discussions with procurement, logistics and planning, for example, to make the organization aware that efficient billing must start "at the front end. "As finance, we are still too often at the back end of the process doing repairs. We have to get rid of that."

Yes, it's a laborious process to get everyone into it. "And at the same time, it's also a very fun and interesting process. You see the organization professionalizing. How we are moving from a local office, where anything could be arranged, to a global player that operates cost-consciously in the market."

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