When it comes to technological advances in the manufacturing sector, it’s important to invest in document automation. In the end, an automated system will pay for itself.
Challenges Facing Manufacturers Today
Many manufacturing companies are faced with a significant number of challenges including:
- The need to operate remotely
- 24/7 access to important organizational documents and data
- Finding technologies that work synergistically with older software
- Keeping sensitive information protected and private
- Finding ways to avoid outliers in data entry
- Preventing inaccurate reporting
- Pivoting from the administration of manual processes to avoid lost documents and time-consuming filing & retrieval
- Ensuring accurate documentation for shipping and receiving
How Automation and Document Retrieval Improves Shipping Efficiency
Having an automated document retrieval system in place helps maintain a level of accuracy in all departments including Shipping and Receiving.
One of the biggest setbacks for a manufacturing facility can happen within the shipping department. If an order is not pulled and shipped correctly, your company will be operating at a loss on an order they now have to find and reship out to the customer (who no doubt will be frustrated).
Here are a few examples of how automation can help:
- Automation allows you to take a look at the bigger picture and provides accurate reporting. Managers are able to use automation to ensure their Accounts Payable and Shipping Departments are running efficiently.
- Any audit or compliance issues are easily resolved. Let’s face it, audits can be very time-consuming and with provincial, local, and federal agencies increasing industry-wide regulations, automation can ensure compliance in the simplest form.
- Processing can be streamlined which can protect you from human error. Duplicate payments, overpayments and order inaccuracy can be eliminated. Your Accounts Payable department no longer has to enter and re-enter data. Your shipping department isn’t left in a scramble to find a missing order. Any challenges can be found at a much quicker rate and handled swiftly to avoid loss of any kind.
Automated AR Cash Receipt Processing Saves Time and Money
Automation allows for easy payment processing. Gone are the days of old school manual processes which often involved pulling invoice data from the company system, manually entering the payments, and reconciling them against issued invoices.
Accounts Receivable Automation For Cash Application increases efficiency and improves cash flow. If your organization is still manually applying cash remittances against outstanding accounts receivable invoices, you are spending two to three times more money and resources than if you were using an automated process. Improved cash management is one of the key benefits of automation.
Cost Reduction Through Automated Accounts Receivable
The crux behind time-consuming, multi-step workflows involving several team members can deplete a department’s resources in short order.
Through automation, routine AR tasks can be handled quickly and effectively. The savings alone on a department-wide level more than pays for the investment in automation.
Streamlined Customer Experience
Your customers have never had more options than they do now. As competition grows, your customers will expect a higher level of customer service to set you apart.
The mindset of your company should be as a partnership – not just in providing a service.
The easier you make things for your customer, the greater the chance they will not shop around.
AR is typically the last communication your customers have with your company. When the payment process is fast, simple and stress-free, AR staff are actually driving repeat sales and improving your customers’ experience.
Better Employee Retention in Your Finance Team
If you think about all the manual processes that your AR Team is faced with, it makes sense to find a more streamlined approach to handle these processes.
Without automation, your staff is at risk of making more errors due to being overworked and overstressed. With automation, your team can be much more productive while spending their time on more analytical tasks rather than on tedious manual processes. Automation promotes individual and team satisfaction and provides a more rewarding work environment.
Our Solutions
From the foundational Document Scanning and Cloud Document Management Platforms to the most comprehensive suite of Business Process Automation Solutions, ACI offers the choice and flexibility to meet your business requirements. Reach out to us today to discuss your Document Automation requirements.
