About Patrick

Patrick Redfern is responsible for the business development of Celtrino's product portfolio, and the management of key customer accounts.
Patrick has many years experience in business development, and has worked with leading multi nationals (Western Digital Corp, Standard Microsystems Corp) across Europe in delivering solutions vital to customer business processes. He has also served as a Technical account manager for OEM clients such as IBM, NCR, OLIVETTI, APRICOT and NOKIA as well as the leading distributors and resellers in Europe.

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Supply Chain Management: Preparing for Material Shortages?

 

Supply Chain Management: Preparing for Material Shortages?Much is made of the impact that natural disaster can have on the supply chain, but businesses in the manufacturing sector are also having to think more strategically about sourcing materials which are becoming ever more rare as we consume more. The British Geological Society has gone on record to state that 52 commonly used minerals are now classified as rare. More troubling still is that 27 of these can only be obtained from China.

Alarm bells ring for supply chain managers whenever their business is forced into a single channel as the margin for knock-on effects on production and stock level is nullified. Where China is the only supplier of elements critical to high tech product development, the best that a business can do is source a number of suppliers to provide fail-over in the event of a disaster. That or stockpile materials, driving up prices in the market and increasing costs through warehousing and the like.

Sourcing additional suppliers can be costly and inefficient, particularly where a high degree of integrated supply chain management between buyer and seller is required. Each new supplier requires significant investment for full onboarding, in both time and money. The provision of a hosted supply chain portal or method by which systems can communicate automatically with minimum onsite intervention can reduce many of these costs whilst delivering the benefits expected of an integrated system.

And although these mineral shortages are currently restricted to high tech electronics manufacturers, other materials are certain to become scarce, affecting the wider manufacturing sector as a whole, regardless of output. The conscientious supply chain manager will be not only scouting for alternate materials and providers, but planning for the capacity required to support and maintain the business relationship.

Does your current supply chain management system provide the flexibility required to add additional capacity as and when required? Can it communicate cross-border without major intervention? If not, perhaps you’d best give Celtrino a call to discuss their Smart Admin platform which can do all this and more.


Posted on February 27, 2012 in Integrated Supply Chain Management Platform, Supply Chain, Supply Chain Management by
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Electronic Invoicing – You Have to Go the Whole Hog

 

Electronic Invoicing – You Have to Go the Whole Hog he flexible nature of electronic invoicing allows for a phased approach, moving a tranche of accounts at a time and creating a hybrid system of physical and electronic accounts paperwork. For the small to medium business, such a system is workable but for the larger enterprise completely impossible.

For any business running physical and electronic invoicing systems in tandem, the overhead of managing such a workflow places a huge additional burden on accounts staff and thereby reduces many of the cost benefits associated with e-Invoicing. The greatest single motivator for migration to electronic invoicing tends to be the promised financial savings of the medium; if these savings are being reduced because of inefficiencies, your business loses out.

Electronic invoicing also provides a way to centralise accounts records, drawing information which would normally be held on a departmental basis into a single repository. Cash flow information can finally be retrieved immediately easing business decisions and allowing for a more agile trading model.

So although the hybrid system may work for a while, the overall goal must be a total switch to electronic invoicing. This goal may be easier to achieve in some industries than others, but with careful planning and by securing the agreement of suppliers and customers, any business can eventually manage total migration.

Unfortunately there will always be a level of resistance to change from certain key suppliers, much of which is caused by ignorance of e-Invoicing and the fact that suppliers also stand to reap benefits from electronic invoicing. Successful supplier on-boarding should therefore be a consideration when choosing a platform for electronic invoicing; if the supplier of your invoicing system can assist, so much the better.

Fortunately Celtrino are masters of outsourcing electronic invoicing services and uniting supply chains for the mutual benefit of all involved. If you need help going the whole hog with your e-Invoicing roll-out, please get in touch – we’re happy to help!


Posted on February 15, 2012 in Cash Flow Management, e-Invoicing, EIPP, Supply Chain Management by
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e-Invoicing, Beyond the PDF – Part 2

 

As discussed in the first part of this article, electronic invoicing can be as simple as simply emailing a PDF version of the traditional accounts paperwork to a customer. However, this reliance on email comes with a risk that the invoice may be lost or delayed. This time we look at how Dumping Double Entry benefits your customer, and therefore you too.

How it usually works

Although the concept of buying and selling is simple, the paperwork associated with the process tends to be more complex than expected. A customer sends a purchase order when they want to buy a product from your business. Your company delivers the item and an invoice to the customer. Somewhere along the line, the invoice is paid and everyone is happy. Except it never quite seems to work like that.

e-Invoicing, Beyond the PDF 2The order is manually entered onto your system upon receipt of the purchase order, and an invoice is also created manually when the goods are despatched. When the invoice is received, your customer must then manually enter the details into their accounts system, whether you send a paper copy or a PDF attachment. All the information in the entire purchase process is entered twice  – once into your customer’s accounts system and once into yours.

This duplication of data entry leaves plenty of room for human error. The accounts clerk at your customer’s business accidentally enters the wrong line item total when processing your invoice and suddenly everyone is chasing everyone else to identify where the problem occurred. All the while, the outstanding invoice remains unpaid.

How it could work

Celtrino’s Smart Admin platform prevents this issue from ever occurring because all the data is only ever entered once. Your client submits their purchase order from their accounts system to Smart Admin, which converts the data and enters it directly into your accounts system. You in return submit an invoice directly from your accounts system via Smart Admin and it is entered automatically into theirs.

Because the invoicing data is correct at the point of entry and manual intervention minimised, there should be no more need for chasing up invoices because the details have been transcribed incorrectly. You and your customer therefore both save time and money. And no chasing up, means shorter delays to payment.


Posted on January 9, 2012 in Business Process Automation, e-Invoicing, Smart Admin by
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e-Invoicing, Beyond PDF – Part 1

 

At the most simple level, electronic invoicing is replacing a physical, paper invoice, with an electronic equivalent. For most businesses, their e-Invoicing process is to create a PDF version of the invoice document which is then emailed to their customer. Although this system works well in principle, it can still be improved upon.

Firewall Failure

One of the basic problems that has plagued email since it became a major business tool, is its vulnerability to misuse. The most common way to distribute viruses and malware is via an email attachment which is opened unwittingly by the recipient.

Modern network security techniques and antivirus software reduce the risk of viral infection, but at the same time are notorious for detecting ‘false positives’ and archiving or deleting genuine messages as well as those that are infected. Should your invoice be one of those messages incorrectly identified as a virus or spam, there will be a natural delay in payment of your bill.e-Invoicing: Beyond PDF

Valuable time and effort will be spent emailing additional copies of the original invoice or negotiating with IT departments to have the message released from quarantine. Such delays cost in terms of duplicated effort, time spent chasing up missing invoices and increased costs associated with late payments.

The Solution

The obvious way to prevent an electronic invoice from being incorrectly deleted is to completely bypass traditional email mechanisms completely. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) technologies already exist to perform these transactions, but they tend to be both costly and difficult to implement.

Enter the hosted e-Invoicing platform. These systems, exemplified by Celtrino’s Smart Admin service, require no onsite EDI installation and are capable of traversing corporate firewalls and anti-malware systems quickly and efficiently. An electronic invoice submitted via Smart Admin leaves your accounts system and is entered automatically into your client’s accounts system without any delay or manual intervention.

PDF invoicing is a step towards greater efficiency, but Smart Admin invoicing will revolutionise your billing and payments system for the better. Watch out for the second part of this article about life beyond the PDF on Dumping Double Entry.


Posted on December 21, 2011 in e-Invoicing, EDI, Smart Admin by
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The rise of “social” ERP

 

In the same way that email revolutionised the way we do business from the mid-90s onwards, social networking is set to me the next major game changer. Previously regarded as a novelty, or consumer communication method, provisions by major ERP and CRM vendors, such as Salesforce’s Chatter product, have seen the concept embraced by businesses across the world.

Admittedly social networking is still normally used as an additional communications channel between the brand and its consumers, but deployment of private social networks are also changing the way business ‘talk’ internally. Many businesses using internal social networking have begun supplanting the traditional corporate intranet with short messaging systems.

Social ERPWhere company announcements may have been posted on internal bulletin boards, forums, intranet pages or even disseminated by mass email, some businesses are now broadcasting the same information using social networking. On the ERP front, social collaboration tools allow departments to stay abreast of relevant information or to pass on specific project-related data to ensure all staff are fully informed. A quick ‘tweet’ like message can inform all stakeholders of production delays, sales figures or performance data quickly and simply.

Social collaboration tools allow for quick and easy communication both within businesses and with each member of the supply chain without having to rely on integrated messaging systems or email. The immediacy of communication via social networking allows for instant updates to be transmitted to relevant parties effortlessly. Corporate social networking tools also allow for archive and retrieval of messages, ensuring an accurate audit trail of communications can be created and referred to at a later date, or in the event of a dispute.

Social networking for business, particularly within the ERP arena, remains something of a curiosity at present. Those companies already using such tools swear by the efficiencies created by instant communications, whilst others are somewhat suspicious of mixing business with informal communications techniques. Regardless of an individual business’ position on the debate however, enough ERP vendors are getting behind the technique to ensure its future in the workplace.

 


Posted on December 16, 2011 in CRM, ERP, Supply Chain by
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ERP Automation

 

ERP – It’s all about automation

Regarded by many as a must-have application for the modern business, Enterprise Resource Planning systems have become ever more common, helping companies to assume control of their day-to-day operations with a high degree of accuracy. Whether deployed at a single site organisation or a multi-national corporation, ERP has become an essential part of those businesses.

Despite the prevalence of ERP however, the major benefit of such systems is often missed. Much is made of potential cost savings, but few understand that these savings are not based on methodology or concepts, but on a reduction of duplicated effort and automation of common tasks. A business’ greatest cost is always its workforce, which is ultimately where the greatest cost savings are found.

Automate for savings

ERP automationMost business processes contain inherent inefficiencies, but it is only during analysis and benchmarking that they come to light. Unfortunately many businesses only carry out process analysis exercises during major projects. At these times resources to address such issues are often unavailable. An ERP implementation provides the ideal opportunity to not only identify inefficiencies, but also implement changes to reduce or minimise them.

ERP systems have the added benefit of not only highlighting inefficiencies, but also providing a way by which automation can completely negate them. Legacy systems typically involve the same information to be entered and manually updated several times throughout the manufacturing or production procedure. ERP platforms can reduce much of this manual data entry, progressing virtual paperwork through the production chain automatically.

This use of automation immediately reduces the amount of time spent by employees on administration, allowing them to focus on carrying out their core duties without worrying about burdensome paperwork. Eventually automation of enough common tasks will create efficiencies sufficient to allow for workforce redeployment and/or reduction. It is at this point that cost savings increase from minimal to significant, finally realising the cost savings promised by ERP vendors.

As an addendum, it is also at this point that we must delineate between those tasks that the ERP system is best placed to automate and those tasks that are best automated outside the ERP – the tasks associated with supply chain management. A common failing of many ERP projects is loading the ERP system with tasks that it was not designed to automate.


Posted on December 14, 2011 in Business Process Automation, ERP, Supply Chain Management by
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Document Tourism

 

What?

Document Tourism is a phrase we use to describe the process whereby a particularly important piece of paperwork “goes round the houses” upon receipt because it lacks certain critical information. The best way to explain the concept is with an example:

A Purchase Order arrives by post at the Supplier’s office. The document is directed to the Accounts Payable department via internal mail ready for processing. However as the clerk begins to enter the Purchase Order onto the in-house accounts system, he notes that the requisite purchase order is missing. Document Tourism

At this point the clerk must contact the account manager for the client and pass the incomplete purchase order back to them for follow-up. The account manager will almost certainly have to send a copy of the faulty document back to their contact at the purchasing company (physically or electronically) so that an amended version can be sent back. Depending on the complexity of the purchasing and payment procedures in place at the buying or selling company, there may well be several more steps involved.

So?

Just like a tourist on a hop-on hop-off bus service, the document travels around several locations, spending varying amounts of time in each location as it makes its way back up the supply chain. Just like a traveller, every stop takes time and therefore costs money (although purchase orders don’t have to buy a coffee at every stop).

Each step in obtaining the missing data results in a delay, and if time is money (which it is), every stop on the trip costs the Supplier.

Touchless to the rescue

The way to resolve similar problems is to implement a data verification gateway, preventing incomplete forms and documents from entering the supplier’s system. Known as “Touchless Systems”, presentation of purchase orders are presented electronically, sent directly from the buyer’s accounts system to the supplier’s electronically.

Taking the example of the missing purchase order number, the document leaves the buyer’s accounts department and is checked for data integrity as it reaches the supplier. If anything is found to be incomplete, the purchase order is immediately rejected and the buyer is notified. Both buyer and supplier benefit from automated processing in this way because less time is wasted by physically passing documents for manual correction.

Touchless processing immediately cuts out the problem of document tourism as there is only ever one stage in passing information back to a buyer in the event of an incomplete request. The savings of time, effort and money will grow exponentially as fewer and fewer documents require manual correction.

For more about touchless systems and how Smart Admin could help prevent document tourism within your organisation, please get in contact.


Posted on November 18, 2011 in Accounts Payable, Business Process Automation, Order Management Processing, Purchase Order Capture Automation, Supply Chain Management by
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