December 15, 2009 - Madison, WI

BASF chooses Esker to Automate Customer Purchase Orders  

Document process automation project rolled out internationally, successfully reduces order management costs

Madison, WI – December 15, 2009 – BASF, the world’s leading chemical company, has chosen Esker, the leader in document process automation solutions, to automate sales order processing. An international project to automate customer purchase orders received by fax or email has proven extremely successful in Europe, the USA and Asia.

In the current business climate, companies are searching for new ways to reduce the costs of document exchange. Fax remains a media transport of choice to send purchase orders, but consequences of processing orders by fax — including the expense of manual entry and high error rates — require resolution of order cost issues.

BASF chemical products implemented an e-business portal to automate the ordering process, allowing customers to place orders directly online. Still, even with the web portal to help eliminate manual order entry, BASF was receiving 20 percent of its orders worldwide via fax — adding costs to the bottom line. To eliminate these significant costs BASF decided to implement a document processing solution, notably in countries where Asian languages are prevalent, to completely automate the customer ordering process.

The Esker document processing solution was chosen for its ability to capture orders regardless of format, as well as seamless integration with SAP applications:

- Esker DeliveryWare captures incoming orders: Order information including customer name, shipping address and line-item details are automatically captured using Optical Character Recognition technology.

- Captured data is automatically verified: Esker DeliveryWare reconciles item numbers with information stored in the SAP database and verifies minimum order quantities and set prices.

- Workflow approval before entering the SAP system: Once verified by Esker DeliveryWare, validation and/or order exceptions can be easily handled using split screen technology displaying the original order image next to the captured order information. The order can then be posted to the SAP solution or routed to a second-level approver.

- Touchless processing: Orders meeting specific conditions, as defined by business rules, can pass through without manual intervention. 

Project rollout

The global rollout of the solution was divided into three steps. Following successful implementation in Europe, the solution was implemented in the USA, followed by Asia. Now implemented worldwide, the solution is proving to be a grand success and was presented jointly by BASF and Esker at the recent German SAP user group (DSAG) conference in Bremen.

“A project of this magnitude represents a real challenge in that customer orders arrive in a variety of Western and Asian languages and need to be entered accurately,” says Jean-Michel Bérard, CEO of Esker. “Our single platform solution allows BASF to overcome this issue and efficiently process orders regardless of location or language.”

Speed and reliability

Esker DeliveryWare effectively optimizes order management processes and the quality of customer service:

- Orders are received an entered up to 65% faster than manual processing

- Order-to-cash process costs are cut by up to 70%

- Order errors and fulfillment delays are reduced

- Cash flow is improved, with lower Days Sales Outstanding

- Customer satisfaction levels are increased

- Competitive advantage is gained by reducing the time between ordering and delivery of goods

“The international dimension of the solution, technical support, as well as Esker DeliveryWare functionality, were major factors in our choice,” comments Sean Jones, Director of E-solutions at BASF SE. “In addition, being able to integrate directly into our existing customer orders’ web portal demonstrated another strong point of the Esker solution. With successful deployment of the solution in Europe, the United States and Asia, we have taken a major step in achieving our objective of complete order process automation.” 

About Esker

Esker is a recognized leader in helping organizations eliminate manual processes, gain process visibility and control, and reduce the use of paper by automating the flow of documents into, within and out of the organization. With patented document delivery automation software and hosted document delivery services, Esker offers a total solution to automate every phase and every type of business information exchange. Customers achieve significant and immediate operational efficiencies, cost savings and measurable ROI in as little as three to six months. Founded in 1985, Esker operates globally with more than 80,000 customers and millions of licensed users worldwide. Esker has global headquarters in Lyon, France and U.S. headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin. For more information, visit www.esker.com.