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Optura Announces Two New Products that Improve Accounts Receivable Business Processes

SALT LAKE CITY, March 5, 2003 Optura, a wholly owned subsidiary of SBI and Company, announced today the introduction of two software products that help enterprises speed up the collection of accounts receivables and improve the management of credit. The products, AR Collection Control Console and AR Credit, automate time-consuming collections tasks and provide through a digital dashboard all the information required to make appropriate decisions about credit approval for a company’s current and potential customers.

By using AR Collection Control Console and AR Credit, enterprises can expect to reduce costs by managing credit risks more effectively and also see a decrease in days outstanding and collection reserves. Both products, which increase the accuracy and visibility of critical customer information, are fully integrated with SAP to assist businesses in streamlining internal processes.

Coleman Barney, senior vice president for Optura, said, “Collection personnel and management have long agonized over reducing the amount of time it takes to manage credit assessment and collections. Many businesses also shuffle the tasks of collections follow-up and tracking between departments, which creates confusion and wastes time. AR Collection Control Console and AR Credit give our clients the critical tools they need to enhance their SAP collection and credit workflow processes.”

AR Collection Control Console

The AR Collection Control Console application identifies, documents and facilitates the follow-up of receivables. Automation reduces many of the manual activities associated with the collection process, such as sorting and prioritizing aging lists and documenting collection activity (all within SAP). Enterprises therefore see a decrease in days outstanding as collection agents become more efficient.

The application provides an online, real-time environment for dynamic management of receivables. Along with collection documentation and prioritization of receivables, AR Collection Control Console can create automatic follow-up dating and provide access to collection note screens to expedite resolution. As well, it can provide performance metrics on Collector efficiency.

AR Credit

Completely integrated into SAP, the AR Credit application presents a customers online credit file (including credit history, financial statements and credit scoring), which provides all the credit information needed to make correct decisions. Traditionally, this kind of credit management task took days, weeks, even months for completion, which resulted in the enterprise carrying needless administrative costs and credit risks. Personnel with access to the Internet can evaluate customers’ credit information quickly and efficiently from any remote location.

“AR Credit gives our clients the ability to improve enterprise business software in a way that virtually eliminates the slow and expensive manual processes associated with credit evaluation and solicitation,” said Barney. “Both of these products provide a significantly increased level of usability for our clients’ SAP systems.”

About Optura
Optura, a wholly owned subsidiary of SBI and Company, develops Business Process Optimization (BPO) software and services that help customers capture more value from the significant investments they've already made in their enterprise systems. Optura develops and supports a line of packaged workflow applications under the RapidFlow product line. RapidFlow products include AP Invoice Exception, APLink, AR Shortages, AR Collection Control Console, AR Credit, Material Master Data, and Customer Master Data.. For more information, visit www.opentext.com.

For more information, please contact:
Jil Goorman
Optura
Communications Director
( 801)733-3236

jgoorman@optura.net

Optura and Beiersdorf: Partnering for Workflow Excellence

Tom Walker, Senior Process Architect for Optura and Beiersdorf North America, co-presented Best Practices for Optimization: Using Workflow Tools for Material Masters and Accounts Payable Processing at the recent ASUG Philadelphia chapter meeting. The presentation discussed the important function and benefits of a workflow driven process such as improved cycle-times, increased production, data accuracy and improved efficiency.

Beiersdorf, a leading international branded goods company, is focused on the development and cultivation of global consumer brands such as NIVEA, EUCERIN, FUTURO, ELASTOPLAST and CURAD. The presentation centered on current Beiersdorf business issues and process challenges they faced prior to implementing the Optura pre-packaged workflow solution.

One such challenge was the processing of important master data. Common problems revolved around missing data, inaccurate data, and even the management of data outside regular system channels. Processes were heavily dependent upon human communication which meant poor coordination, process ownership issues and a lack of overall process visibility while working with other sites and departments. Monitoring deadlines and providing effective shipping dates were two important issues that also had no easy process. Optura’s Material Master Data was able to address Beiersdorf’s workflow issues head on. The business benefits to Beiersdorf from this solution were:

· Reduced cycle time of material creation, which allows resources to focus on fixing pricing and improving materials
· Increased accuracy of data
· Providing visibility into the process
· Standardization of material creation process

RapidFlow Material Master Data workflow:

Beiersdorf also had process challenges within their accounts payable department. The most significant issues they needed to overcome in this arena were lengthy cycle-times for processing and payment, balancing workload across local and remote locations and very slow routing for paper invoices. They were also dealing with the difficult and time consuming practice of tracking the payment status of an invoice and the slow approval for non-PO based invoices.

Optura’s solution for Beiersdorf was an implementation of RapidFlow Financials—AP Link and Invoice Exception. This is a process that utilizes Workflow to automate invoice image approval and routing. The business results of this solution for Beiersdorf were:

· More timely payments (including reduced cycle time)
· Less cost-per-invoice
· Improved tracking and visibility of invoices
· Reduced paper handling
· Balanced workload in A/P by location and streamlined communication between A/P and Procurement in diverse geographic locations
· Increased confidence in month-end expenditure numbers

RapidFlow AP link workflow:

RapidFlow Invoice Exception workflow:

For a copy of the ASUG presentation send an email to jgoorman@optura.net or to learn more about Optura’s Business Process Optimization products, visit the website.

Contact Optura
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