It is well established by now that business processes requiring repeated manual data entry, paper transport and/or approvals or intervention from a diverse group of users can hamper productivity, increase cost and introduce systemic risks in any organization. When such processes involve enterprise business applications such as SAP, they need to be brought under a controlled framework, or the promised ROI could be elusive. Workflow technology has been around for a while now, and promises such a controlled and consistent framework. In general, if all of the following checkpoints are valid for any business process, it is a good candidate for a workflow-based transformation:

• Are different people involved in the process?
• Is the processing-time critical?
• Is process-tracking or auditing critical?
• Is the process-consistency critical?
• Is the cost of failure high?

If a process passes these checks, proper modeling of the business process, tasks, users and events can help optimize high volume or high-risk business processes when coupled with advanced data ingestion tools and user interface. Typical examples of such processes in SAP are Accounts Payable, Sales Order processing, Accounts Receivable Cash Application and Human Resources new hire processes.

For SAP customers, the technical implementation of such workflows may present many choices. The most obvious choice is to leverage the SAP workflow engine since it is, without any consideration of SAP Business applications, one of the most robust workflow engines out there. Because SAP workflow skillsets  are not in abundance, SAP developers occasionally write custom ABAP-based task management and pseudo status based workflow scenarios as a workaround. Typical arguments in support of this approach are:

• Let’s not be purist and go for the seemingly simpler solution. Business process transformation is not another IT academic exercise
• Custom ABAP based task management interface provides better UI possibilities as we are not limited to the constraints of the SAP inbox
• ABAP skills are more widely available
• Debugging problems are easier with no workflows involved
• Perception (as misguided as it may be) that SAP HR is needed to define workflow roles
• Personnel changes require involvement of IT resources as a business user cannot manage the workflow roles

While some of these arguments are valid, one should consider this: At the onset, workflow may seem simple enough where real life issues associated with high volumes such as deadline management, detailed logging, and workitem reservation/locking/unlocking may seem trivial. However it took SAP 20 years to perfect them in their workflow engine. Re-implementing these from scratch on an ad hoc basis may infest the process with a continuous need for expansion of ABAP components responsible for these tasks.

So what’s the solution as both options have their own set of issues?

The solution lies in the realization that these are not mutually exclusive options. You can implement the business logic, rules, UIs and even the task queue user interface through pure ABAP. However, you can still leverage the SAP workflow engine as an invisible framework for managing task allocation, record locking, deadline monitoring and load balancing. This approach can counteract all of the concerns listed earlier:

• Users are given optimal UI for specific tasks; no need to use the SAP inbox
• The use of workflow only for core services ensures that workflow templates are stable, reducing the need for workflow skills. All business rule changes are managed through configuration or ABAP exits.
• ABAP-based routing that uses custom tables with references to work centers ensures that no SAP HR is needed. Business users can be given pointed access to user/group assignments through IMG-like table and work center maintenance.
• Debugging is easier since the business logic is in ABAP
• Standard SAP “out of the office” assignment and substitution options just work
• Non-SAP users can be involved in this workflow through the use of events that can be triggered through the SAP NetWeaver gateway or another implementation of simple REST-based APIs that can be triggered from mobile devices

To summarize, an ideal approach for SAP-centric process optimization implementation is to leverage the SAP workflow engine for core services and ABAP components for everything else. This approach addresses aforementioned concerns about using the SAP workflow engine without risking a short-sighted and sub-optimal architecture that is not designed for growth.

After all, there is a happy middle ground in this dilemma.

I just came back from the SAPinsider Financials Conference in Las Vegas. Had over 75 people in my session on Friday morning … interesting for a last day. The topic, “Leading change in the finance organization,” clearly hit home. I had several attendees tell me that it was the best presentation they had been to this week as it wasn’t technical and provided them with real tips and insight into change leadership.

And now today we are almost one week into spring and it’s time to seize upon the opportunity to deliver value in our organizations: spring cleaning can in fact include performance-enhancing transformation. This calls for Change Leadership throughout the organization and a laser focus on where we can secure some early wins, and what projects might take a little longer to deliver but still offer up real ROI. Let’s take a look at opportunities for financial process improvement initiatives for the remainder of the year:

1. Improve Performance

1. Near-term: Remove paper and hand-offs from key near-cash processes like Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable. List the reasons why your organization has yet to deploy a workflow solution to efficiently route transactions.
2. Longer-term: Review the metrics by which your team or department is measured. Are they actionable? Do they provide real insight into bottlenecks in the process? If not, look for a solution that delivers leading edge reporting and analytical capability to track the business process for continuous improvement.

2. Contain or Reduce the Cost Structure

1. Near-term:
   1. Do a quick, back of the envelope study of how many copies are being made of paper invoices and other documents coming into the department.
   2. Stop making copies.
   3. Count the savings.
2. Longer-term: Evaluate the true cost of paper to your department: filing cabinets, cost to locate documents, off-site storage, copies that are made through the life cycle of the document. Implement a scan and index solution to digitize the paper and follow through on destruction timelines for the paper.

3. Optimize Cash Flow

1. Near-term: Evaluate discounts offered and lost in 2011. Identify possible causes and implement a prioritization process to ensure discount-relevant invoices are processed in a timely manner.
2. Longer-term: Implement a program to increase discount options on a wider breadth of invoices with advanced discount solutions such as Dynamic Discounting.

4. Fine Tune Risk Management Strategies1.

1. Near-term: Evaluate invoices that have been processed and/or paid more than once. Identify cause, including any patterns with certain vendors, services or approvers.
2. Longer-term: Implement a controlled workflow approval chain with adequate duplicate record checks to guard against fraud and inappropriate approval processes.

5. Change Leadership 101

1. Near-term: Empower key resources from your team to research process improvement opportunities. Register them for SAP SAPPHIRE NOW/SAPInsider/Fusion conferences to help expand their knowledge base.
2. Longer-term: Learn about opportunities and implications of Change Leadership in the Finance Organization by attending our upcoming sessions at Regional ASUG Chapter Meetings and Fusion in Nashville: “Effectively leading change in the finance organization.” Deploy our suggestions and look for projects to increase in efficiency and likelihood of success.

By implementing some of these quick and easy short term tips, you will undoubtedly recover some costs, reduce risk and optimize your cash flow. We are always available for a free initial consultation to discuss planning a roadmap for process and technology innovation in your organization. Good luck and have a great spring and summer!

The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) has just wrapped up in Detroit, Michigan. The show has delivered a one-two punch that shows the industry has a renewed focus for the first time in years on the recovery of the American car-buying market. There is significant potential for the US market to help pull the troubled European economy out of its skid, not to mention the ripple effects throughout the supply chain. Automotive manufacturers and their vast supplier networks have been operating in survival mode for not months but years, and now there is finally an opportunity to revisit process innovation projects that were shelved in favor of higher priority programs.

This does not mean that financial process optimization or effective data management were unimportant to these organizations in the past few years. They were merely discretionary expenditures versus necessary and imperative ones. But as the NAIAS reveals, organizations coming out of such an economic trough must be positioned to remain competitive with showroom glitz and buzz, and also with efficient processes that scale, contain costs, reduce risk and most importantly, optimize cash flow. This is particularly true for companies using ERP systems such as SAP solutions. Companies such as American Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Visteon, Daimler Trucks, Volvo, Johnson Controls and Chrysler rely on Dolphin for data archiving and process optimization strategies.

If you use SAP and want more information on Dolphin’s solutions to improve process and system performance, email contact@dolphin-corp.com or call 650-654-0630.

‘Tis the season of out-of-control diets and talk of trimming the fat. As year-end nears, we often contemplate how to rid ourselves of unwanted pounds, live better, be more efficient, save more money.

The same is true of managing business processes. How can you do more with less and still operate at peak performance? By automating your business processes—procure-to-pay, order-to-cash and other back-office operational procedures—you save time and money because your employees aren’t engaged in non-value added activities. No more researching, reconciling exceptions and tracking down where something is within the process. Once routine tasks have been automated they become part of the natural flow of how tasks are handled and productivity is heightened.

An automated SAP business process speeds up your business by making your knowledge workers more efficient and your executives more effective. They now have access to real-time information that helps them make more informed decisions about managing the business. A proven process that reduces errors and increases both system and process performance translates to sustainable cost savings and increased cash flows. This is the power of an automated process.

Dolphin’s business performance improvement solutions for SAP environments maximize your investment in SAP applications by saving you time. By automating how the data enters your system as well as the process for handling exceptions and approvals, we take the time and cost out of manual processing. We also place information at your fingertips to give management the visibility it needs to actively manage your organizations’ cash positions. In other words, we take SAP transactional information and make it available at the right place at the right time.

Dolphin has helped some of the world’s biggest brands for nearly 20 years optimize their SAP applications and systems. Learn more about the power of process and how we may be able to help you get the right information at the right time at the right price. Contact us at contact@dolphin-corp.com or 888-305-9033.

Based on Dolphin’s many years of helping customers with the most efficient and flexible improvements to their SAP business processes, we’ve gained insight as to what works best in the SAP environment. Here are  the Top 10 Reasons why the ‘best practice’ third-party solutions for Accounts Payable automation and enhancements for SAP applications is one that leverages your SAP system.

1. System of Record. Your SAP system is your corporate system of record.

2. Why pay twice? If your company is running SAP business processes, your organization owns SAP Business Workflow.

3. An upgrade to SAP could also mean an upgrade to your non-SAP workflow. Typically, at the very minimum, this means additional time and inefficiencies. It can also add expense and disruptive changes.

4. No duplicate backups. Your SAP system is backed up regularly and monitored. High Availability and Disaster Recovery plans are in place. Adding external software duplicates those operational tasks.

5. No synchronization. An external workflow may require regular refreshes of exported SAP data. Refreshing exported SAP data can create duplicate data and can cause synchronization issues.

6. Inherent data validation and verification. SAP Business Workflow has inherent, immediate access to live data for validation and verification.

7. Security. Information security and access control is crucial. Your business community is already licensed with the level of SAP access you determined.

8. Ease of use. Change Management and training on a new user interface falls in the category of another distraction to the business.

9. Compatibility. Workflows within the SAP system and certified by SAP will remain compatible with future SAP releases,

10. Lowest Total Cost of Ownership. An external workflow system requires more hardware, storage, database licensing and more IT and operations resources.

When you use SAP applications, you have a powerful platform for managing the flow of work for key business processes like Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Order Management, Human Resources and more. The smartest solution is often a platform that brings out the best in the system you already are using.

That’s why we build our solutions incorporating the SAP Business Workflow engine. When you think about it, taking advantage of – leveraging – SAP features to optimize your business processes in SAP just makes sense. It’s safe, cost-effective and doesn’t add to your infrastructure. Want more detail?  Go to full article.

Many suppliers are willing to agree to discounts in exchange for earlier payment of their invoices. But for scores of companies, the financial supply chain is just not equipped to take advantage of the opportunity—missing out on early pay discounts because it is too difficult to change payment terms, or the accounts payable tools simply aren’t in place to offer or accept a change in payment terms.

Without automation and real-time process visibility, it is extremely difficult for businesses with high invoice volumes to take advantage of early payment discounts. The process can be complex, requiring alignment between purchasing, liquidity management, accounts payable and suppliers. And often accounts payable processes are highly structured and lack the flexibility to process invoices with non-standard “dynamic” payment terms.

The process is called Dynamic Discounting and allows buyers and sellers of commercial goods and services to change the payment terms for an individual invoice or group of invoices to accelerate payment based on a sliding discount scale. The process is specifically designed to allow buyers and sellers to manage early payment discount offers easily and seamlessly.

Incorporating Dynamic Discounting into our Dolphin AP solution offers our customers a host of additional benefits. It allows buyers to convert a large number of their suppliers to slide scale payment terms and to enable their suppliers to opt for an earlier payment of approved non-discount invoices against a discount. Dynamic discounting functionality enhances supplier relationships, improves the AP department productivity and facilitates effective cash flow management that can benefit the bottom line. A win/win for both buyer and seller.

It would be interesting to know how many companies are actively using dyanamic discounting, or are looking into it, and what their experience has been. www.dolphin-corp.com/ap-dynamic-discounting/