Challenge
Royal Dutch Shell is a global group of energy and petrochemical companies with 90,000 employees in more than 80 countries and territories. Providing transport fuel to about 10 million customers each day through its 44,000 service stations worldwide, Shell produces the equivalent of 3.2 million barrels of oil and natural gas per day, saw 2011 revenues of $470 billion and is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands. The company is currently ranked #1 on Fortune’s Global 500 list.
Shell needed a scalable platform for header-level data extraction that would enable internal controls and accelerate the processing of new vendor invoices. The company was looking to centralize accounts payable for all of its global operations and needed to establish standard global AP invoice processing protocols.
Solution
Shell first implemented Brainware Distiller in 2003, having selected the technology as a scalable platform for header-level data extraction, enabling internal controls and processing new vendor invoices swiftly. In 2009, Distiller played a key role in centralizing accounts payable operations to Shell’s shared services center in Manila, as well as
establishing a standardized global protocol for processing invoices into SAP.
Result
“We’ve counted on Brainware as a cornerstone of our global SAP
rollout since 2003, relying on Distiller’s capabilities for handling multiple languages, countless document formats and a complex array of regional compliance needs with a single platform, which supports the efficiency goals of our captive financial shared services operation, the world’s largest,” said Steven Breaden, Senior Manager of Expenditure—Technical Strategy at Shell. “Furthermore, automated capture has given us greater control throughout the accounts payable process, and has allowed us to implement a standardized process for payables in our global Downstream business.”
technology’s language-agnostic capabilities supported the processing of documents from diverse regions using a single data capture platform. From the outset, the company was surpassing 90% field extraction. Breaden also noted Distiller’s ability to provide an end-to-end solution capable of handling both high-volume suppliers and the “long tail” of invoices that typically require manual keying to process.
Esker
Esker began in 1985 as a company focusing on fax technology, but has evolved into a recognized leader in helping organizations eliminate paper and improve business processes by automating the flow of all types of incoming and outgoing business documents with on-demand and on-premise document automation solutions. Based in Lyon, France, Esker serves more than 80,000 companies from offices in nine countries. Its Americas headquarters are in Madison, Wisconsin.
Esker solutions speed the revenue cycle, improve customer satisfaction and increase profitability. For organizations running SAP applications or other ERP systems, Esker offers a comprehensive solution spanning multiple business processes in the cash conversion cycle. Esker develops cutting-edge document automation technologies specializing in integration within any enterprise system to automate inbound and outbound document processes.
Website http://www.esker.com/
Founded 1985
Headquarters Corporate: Lyon, France; Americas: Madison, Wisconsin Other Locations France, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, Malaysia and
Singapore Number of
Employees 275 Number of
Customers 80,000 companies are using Esker software or services around the world Key Clients Brady Corporation; Hershey Foods Corporation; Hertz
Corporation; Honeywell International; John Deere; Microsoft; SAP France; Samsung; Siemens; Starbucks; Whirlpool Corporation
To view a list of additional Esker customers, please visit http://www.esker.com/customers.
Partners / Resellers Certified partners — Connectis; Intelligence, Inc; Merkur Group; NETech Corp.; CDW; Unity Business Systems OEM partners — Epicor, Infor, Merge Healthcare; Merkur Group; Produce Pro; Singapore Post; Pitney Bowes Asterion; Paragon; Belgian Post Group; Neopost
Technology partners — Crystal Decisions; Dialogic; FileNet; Fujitsu; Hewlett-Packard Co.; Hyland Software; IBM; Lotus
Transactions
Processed Annually More than 400 millions of pages are automated and sent by Esker on Demand services Awards /
Recognitions Business rule engine patented software
Solution Name Esker on Demand 4.1 and Esker DeliveryWare 5.0 Year Introduced 2008
Differentiators
» End-to-end solution for vendor invoice processing » No additional software required for fax or capture » Available both on premise and on demand
» Tightly integrated into SAP, but ERP independent – works with most ERP systems
» Cloud solution meets SAS70 requirements
» Global operation supports cross-border implementations Installation
Esker on Demand SaaS requires no installation. Upon signature of Esker service contract, the customer is provided with his/her login required to connect to the solution using a standard web browser. Customers subscribing to the entry level package can be up and running in only a few days.
Configuration
Configuration of the solution can vary depending on the project complexity and geographical scope. The solution comes pre-packaged, featuring generic invoice recognition, exception management workflow, user profiles, preset reports and document queues that can be easily customized to meet specific customer needs. Document Acquisition
Esker emphasizes its data acquisition, which uses system intelligence including keywords, relative positions of information, fuzzy search and database comparison. The solution does not require pre-scan document sorting or separators. It detects document separation automatically and provides an easy point-and-click splitting interface for any necessary corrections.
from the user via a point-and-click teaching interface. If information extracted does not meet the preset quality criteria, the order will be presented to the user for verification so that only correct information is entered in the ERP.
Validation/Correction
Users are able to easily change data incorrectly extracted by the system using the copy and paste feature that comes with all packages. Keyboard shorts are also available to users in order to speed up the correction process. The system will draw the user’s attention by highlighting required fields in red when empty. Users can tab through the captured fields to reconcile extracted data against the scanned document. Documents with low capture/extraction quality are flagged by the system and sent to a teach/re- teach queue.
Matching/Error Detection
Esker matches scanned invoice data against purchase orders and goods receipts, flagging exceptions for user intervention.
Maintainability
After configuration, new document formats can be added and taught to the system in the same manner as the initial training. The system manages a number of different languages out of the box. Other language templates can also be easily uploaded. Pricing
Esker on Demand, the cloud-based solution, includes a one-time setup fee, a monthly subscription fee and traffic fees (based on total volume).
Esker DeliveryWare, the on-premise solution, is sold as a perpetual license with installation, setup and configuration charges, plus a yearly maintenance and support fee.
Support
Standard office-hour support and 24/7 support are available, along with remote or local trainings and an online knowledge base.