QAD User Organization MTF Improves Integration to Their Suppliers, Digitizing the Purchasing Process to Reduce Cycle Time and Improve Supplier Relationships
Morristown, NJ
Challenge:
The Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation (MTF) is a non-profit service organization dedicated to providing clinically sound, safe allograft tissue. They are comprised of a national consortium of academic medical institutions, organ procurement organizations and tissue recovery organizations.
MTF was faced with a slow and cumbersome paper-based process to requisition materials. Requisitions would get misplaced or stopped at someone’s desk while they were out of the office. Constant changes were needed because of manual input errors between requisitions and purchase orders. The requirement was to find a way to improve the relationship with their suppliers, and to reduce the cycle time between MTF creating a requisition for material from a supplier, routing that requisition for approvals in a controlled manner, and converting the requisition into a Purchase Order that is routed automatically to the supplier.
The key requirement was to reduce the entire requisition to PO cycle to delivery, and improve accuracy and control. There was also a need to quickly and easily requisition materials wherever they are, and on whatever device the individual placing the requisition was using. This could be a computer, a tablet, or even a smart phone.
Previously, users would create a requisition and it would often get lost or sidetracked, especially when there were questions that needed to be answered. They needed to find a way to digitize the process and avoid the creation of hard-copy forms that would get misplaced or left on a desk, or company mailbox.
A second problem for the users was the ability to find out the ‘status’ of needed requisitions that would get lost on someone’s desk, or be held up; for days or longer, waiting for information and approvals. All of this created a cycle time that would extend for days or even weeks.
Solution:
MTF determined that a new Purchasing Management and Workflow solution should be a web-based system, allowing for full visibility to requisitions throughout the process, with easy but controlled approvals via email and web links to the web system. Users should be able have full traceability across the entire process, and be able to then transmit the purchase orders directly to the suppliers automatically upon final approval of the requisition.
Each user also required access to reports showing open and closed POs and requisitions. Full data security would be required to ensure that users only see those records and fields per their role and identity.
After a thorough review of existing Purchasing Management and Workflow solutions from other suppliers, MTF selected ISS Group as their vendor. A key differentiator in the ISS Group solution that was a critical requirement to MTF was the ability to provide an off-the-shelf real-time integration to their QAD ERP system…ISS Group is the only vendor to offer a solution, iPurchase™, which provides the features and functionality required, along with seamless integration to the QAD ERP application.
“When ISS Group demonstrated that the combined solution could greatly reduce cycle time and forward the final approved fully compliant Purchase Order directly to the vendor, eliminating errors, missing and inaccurate information, and replacing paper with a digitized process, we knew iPurchase was the way to go.” said Rushik Patel, the IT director in charge of the project.
“ISS Group’s personnel were extremely reliable, knowledgeable and a pleasure to work with,” noted Mr. Patel, “They were able to answer questions, resolve issues, and make sure that the system was running completely the way it was intended at all times.”
Benefits:
Centralized Data Available to Everyone – ISS Group performed the implementation on time and on budget, and now buyers can focus on important purchasing issues instead of non-value-add time. There is now visibility and auditability of the entire process for requisitioners, purchasing, and finance. Most of the personnel at MTF are now using the ISS Group solution. MTF can track the complete history of the digitized requisition process, and because of the integration with the QAD ERP application they do not need to maintain master data in two disparate systems.
The Bottom Line – By implementing iPurchase, MTF now has complete control of the entire purchasing process for hundreds of employees in real-time affording the following benefits:
• Process Standardization
• Reduced Process Cycle Time
• Elimination of Maverick Spend
• Improved Process Visibility and Tracking
• Elimination of Paper Forms
• Improved Supplier Relations
• Improved Financial Controls
About ISS Group ISS Group delivers solutions which digitize business processes to connect people and processes via the cloud, mobile devices, and social networks, for Mid-market and Divisions of Fortune 1000 Manufacturing and Distribution organizations. ISS Group has developed a proprietary development and implementation methodology named Process Digitization™ to transform business processes from the old and slower 20th century way of operating a business (Analog) into the new and faster 21st century way of operating a business in real-time (Digital). This innovative methodology transforms business processes to leverage current technologies, including the Internet (or Cloud), Mobile Devices, Social Media, and Rules-based Approval Routing and Workflow technology. By utilizing these technologies, connectivity between people and business processes are significantly improved affording ISS Group’s Clients bottom line benefits.
© 2014 All Rights Reserved. ISS Group, iApprove, AART, iQuote, iPurchase, iRFQ are either registered trademarks of ISS Group in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein, including but not limited to, Progress, QAD, Enterprise Applications, may be the trademarks of their respective companies
