Order-to-Cash Solution Extension for SAP®: Ask the Expert!

Order-to-Cash has been a sore spot for many supply chain companies due to a heavy dependence on manual data entry and paper hard copies. When a lot of orders come in, the process is costly. Recently we sat down with Thomas Ebert, SEEBURGER BU Head, Discrete Industries, to discuss the SEEBURGER Order-to-Cash (OTC) Solution Extension for SAP.

Q.         Order-to-Cash Process – Why is improving or accelerating so important for the success of a business?

A.         Despite the fact we live in a very technical world today, many orders still come in on paper or via email. This creates a lot of work for companies. An Order-to-Cash SAP solution extension helps standardize and automate the process so it won’t matter what kind of orders you receive. This is really important, because traditionally orders require manual checking for missing information and so forth. This requires a lot of resources.

Q.        Order-to-Cash Process – What have you observed about the cost to businesses of inefficiencies in the process?

A.         I’ve seen us cut costs and accelerate the process for the more than 70 percent of incoming sales orders that are still manually entered. With such a high volume, you have a good opportunity to cut these costs and accelerate the process through automation. The SEEBURGER Order-to-Cash SAP Solution enables us to save you time and significantly reduce costs.

Q.         What about Order-to-Cash solutions that operate outside of SAP?

A.         There are some companies that have Order-to-Cash solutions, but none of them do it completely inside SAP like ours does. We see a lot of customers who have run those solutions that now want to consolidate onto one system. With our solution, everything you need is within the SAP system you already use every day. This means also there’s little need for training, because the users are already familiar with SAP.

Q.        What is it like for the user once information goes into SAP?

A.         On the technical side, the user starts one transaction in SAP and completes it on a central screen in SAP. Our solution guides you step by step through the whole Order-to-Cash process. Of course, many business users already know SAP’s usual functions. But SAP has a lot of different work steps and transactions. What we do is provide something like a guided tour.

Q.        So what is the top benefit for IT managers? 

A.         It’s standard software available as an SAP add-on. You can install it within standard SAP without the need for additional third-party software, an industry solution, CPG, or whatever. Once you pay the maintenance fee you’ll always receive updates and future new releases for free.

Q.        What are the benefits for the person who has responsibility for the supply chain business process?

A.         I can’t state enough that the biggest benefit for business users at the end of the day is time and cost reduction. A massive reduction of the manual handling of paper-based orders saves a lot. Also, it’s a nice to be able to say to trading partners and customers “hey, send me your order online, in an email, on paper, etc. It doesn’t matter — I have the solution.” Easy orders make for better business.

The SEEBURGER Order-to-Cash Solution Extension for SAP is a best practice solution that reduces process costs and the time spent processing orders. It provides seamless optimization and transparency of the Order-to-Cash process — from order receipt, to delivery, to invoicing. Visit our SAP extensions solution center to learn more.