Pon Logistics successfully connects first suppliers to Basware Network

How do you get suppliers to move to e-invoicing? 'The added value for suppliers is sometimes difficult to explain,' admits Walter Bunnik, head of Finance at Pon Logistics. He therefore enlisted the help of ICreative, he reveals during Basware Connect Solutions in Utrecht on June 20, 2018.

Pon Logistics is Pon's own logistics service provider. The business unit has five storage and distribution centers in the Netherlands with a total storage capacity of 100,000^m2. Pon Logistics handles the distribution of parts and accessories for cars, tires, internal and external transport equipment such as forklifts, trucks and earth-moving machinery. In addition, Pon Logistics processes approximately 145,000 vehicles annually for the largest car importer in the Netherlands.

On an annual basis, the company receives about twenty thousand invoices from suppliers from whom the logistics provider purchases products and services such as transportation, packaging materials, tools, temp hours, company clothing, facility services and IT services.

Before Pon Logistics started working with Basware Network, half a workweek was lost opening, sorting and archiving mail. Scanning, recognizing and invoicing was also half a job. The turnaround time from receipt of invoice to first approver averaged one and a half working days. 'The old scanning and recognition solution was end-of-life. We needed something new,' says Bunnik. 'When you want to optimize processes, you have to digitize first. And why invent the wheel yourself?" he explains the choice of Basware Network.

Onboarding

Basware Network connects suppliers with customers. It is the world's largest open network to where so-called any-to-any conversion of invoices and orders takes place. Over 1 million suppliers and buyers send and receive invoices and orders in the exact format they want. The platform processes more than 150 million transactions per year.

Pon Logistics pulled up with ICreative as its implementation partner to hook suppliers onto the platform. 'In practice it turns out to be difficult to get suppliers on the agenda. If you want to onboard extensively - so including the longtail, or the very small suppliers - then you are usually two or three years down the road,' says Rob Coolen, project manager at ICreative.

Together, Pon Logistics and ICreative created a roadmap for connecting suppliers. In such a roadmap, an analysis of suppliers is made first. The first segment is formed by suppliers responsible for the largest share of spend. "These are mostly parties with whom you have personal contact," Coolen says. The second segment is mass communication. Coolen: 'We direct this group to the website. Pressure is usually more successful here to get them moving, but it always remains the question: how much pressure can you put on them?'

In any case, the tone of communication and the tools are very important, according to Coolen, because "the tone makes the music. Furthermore, he strongly advises sticking to the standard fields as much as possible. 'Anyone who wants to make an automation move would be wise to start from the basic fields of an invoice. Ask yourself what is really necessary to include on the invoice. Talk to your suppliers about this and you will see that e-invoicing does not have to be complex and that the benefits can be achieved quickly.'

Reduction of lead time and payment period

Pon Logistics has now made its first move. Thanks to its connection to Basware Network, the logistics service provider no longer needs anyone to open, sort and archive mail and only 0.2 FTEs to scan and recognize invoices. The turnaround time from invoice to first approver has been reduced from a day and a half to half a day.

Pon Logistics is certainly not finished yet. 'Points for improvement lie first of all in a good focus within our own organization and ensuring that our employees who have contact with the suppliers have even better knowledge and skills. They have to be aware that there is a new process and there is a big challenge in finding the right contact person with the suppliers,' says Bunnik.

We also need to put more pressure on suppliers and make the added value clear. We now apply a payment term of sixty days; we could take fifteen days off that. At the same time, we have to make sure that we are not fighting a running battle. We need to connect new suppliers immediately. We started in October 2017; we will be busy for another year I expect," Bunnik said.