Elplast +

Elplast + sp. z o.o. is a Polish brand based in Jastrzębie-Zdrój. The company, operating as a family business, has been present on both the Polish and foreign markets since 1999. In the field of production and processing of plastic products, mainly polyethylene and polypropylene, it meets the needs of many sectors of the economy and industry, developing and improving its offer. It offers products ranging from pipes, manholes, large components to floating platforms, harbours and jet ski slips. It does not limit itself to typical productions, opening itself up to niche, non-standard orders specifically for customer requirements. All made possible by its own machinery, which consists of 12 production lines for extrusion and rotoforming.

Challenge, analysis of the Company’s situation

The company’s workflow processes are carried out on paper or electronically without system support.

It was noted that the administrative and financial areas of the company are labour intensive and too much time is spent on them.

Invoices and contracts arrive by post or email, both from contractors and employees billing for business trips or the purchase of goods. Subsequently, the description process (substantive approval) is carried out through the various channels available, either by paper or e-mail. This brings employees and the company reasons for dissatisfaction. These are mainly due to the lack of a single systemic view of the processes.

Moreover, with the current mechanisms, it is not possible to analyse the data in terms of document processing and use the data contained in the documents in circulation. Only after a document was posted did it appear in the ERP system, giving only a partial picture.

The main reasons for dissatisfaction with the current state of invoice circulation:

• lack of information on the financial document in circulation, which contributes to incomplete reporting of results, or difficulties in preparing analyses,
• lack of effective time management and control of document circulation,
• unnecessary repetition of the same document-description activities by substantive staff and then by accounting in the form of decrements in the ERP system,
• no systematic access to the electronic image of the invoice

The main reasons for dissatisfaction with the status quo in the contract circuit:

• the lack of information on the contract document circulating at company level, which causes difficulties in reliable reporting of results,
• long waiting time for acceptance and substantive assessment of the contract,
• lack of effective control over document circulation times,
• no effective way of reducing document circulation times.

The solution introduced

Above all, there was a desire to digitalise the company, with a particular focus on administrative and financial areas.

Cooperation on the solution started with meetings during which the current situation in the company was analysed. Thanks to this approach to the project, the common expectations and goals we were aiming for were clarified through the digitalisation of selected areas:

Solutions and benefits obtained

Solution applied:

V-Desk system in partial integration with ERP.

Modules:

• electronic invoice workflow
• electronic circulation of contracts

Effect of implementation and expected improvements

With the introduction of the V-Desk System, the disadvantages mentioned earlier have been eliminated:

• eliminating the manual description on a paper document,
• eliminating the situation where documents are lost in the company during processing,
• reduction in the time needed to process cost invoices and the ability to control their circulation, bottleneck analysis,
• enabling provision planning that takes into account all documents that have been received by the company,
• simplifying and improving the quality of the document description, defining invoice description templates using dictionaries,
• providing users with an interface that allows remote access to documents, their acceptance and description without the need for physical possession of the document (e.g. acceptance of invoices by people who are currently outside the company).

Other benefits, or what else V-Desk has given

In addition to these benefits, the implementation of the V-Desk system has brought additional benefits not directly related to the identified causes of dissatisfaction, but important for the company. The electronic archive will result in:

• increased control over document access (the paper document will be available only at the registration desk and in accounting, where it will be archived); it will not be possible for unauthorised employees, cleaning staff, security staff, etc. to “accidentally” see the document on the desk.
• afull record of document views (who, when, from which computer), the possibility of creating reports, tracking ‘dead traffic’, i.e. unjustified viewing of documents by employees. This translates into increased company information security;
• decommissioning of local archives (local copies of documents kept by staff ‘just in case’). Such archives are generally uninventoried and poorly secured;
• eliminating the cost of copying documents for the local archives described above;
• quicker access by staff to the document they need (at the moment, a local search in the archives or involving accounting to request a copy and make it available), which will result in more efficient use of working time.

The planned indirect benefit of the project will be that the company will have an electronic archive and document workflow system, V-Desk, which can be used to optimise further processes within the company.

V-Desk at Elplast +

Circulation of invoices

In the invoice workflow process itself, the proposed workflow system ensures that expenses are properly authorised and posted through the controls defined in the system. By introducing a process management tool, we have first and foremost gained oversight of the processes, impacting on the saving of time and financial resources.

The solution has an email notification system for assigned tasks, so that a quick response from the user is possible.

Reporting

The added value of the V-Desk System is the ability to create extensive reports based on the data available within the individual registers. Each document is available in an electronic version and information about it can be quickly searched within the functionality of the electronic archive. The information collected in the system is accessible and easy to search according to the applicable authority structure.

OCR reader

Application of the OCR mechanism already at the registration stage in the system. A solution based on intelligent data reading technology has been applied to the invoice workflow process, automating manual processes and eliminating the circulation of paper versions of documents. Thanks to this solution, there is no need to duplicate documents or forward them by e-mail.

Circulation of contracts

The preparation of the contract from draft through to its modification and final approval is carried out in the system, where access to selected tasks is based on the rights granted to users. Documents are in one place, there is no need to print them out or forward them by e-mail, which may involve a lack of security.