Customer stories

Sysmex Europe GmbH

Sysmex Europe transforms purchase-to-pay processes with OpenText. Leading healthcare company improves budget control, reduces costs and increases efficiency with OpenText Business Center for SAP Solutions

Challenges

  • Previous system was prone to error and time-consuming
  • Need to improve budget control

Results

  • Improved budget control with real-time SAP® data access

  • Reduced cost with improved automation

  • Simplified user interface with SAP Fiori® applications

Story

While Sysmex has been using SAP® as its main Enterprise Resource Planning platform since 2010, it was managing general expenses purchase order requisitions using a solution based on Microsoft® SharePoint® . When raising a requisition, there was no check that budget was available for the associated cost, as there was no link to SAP.

Extending our use of OpenText Business Center and its support of SAP Fiori applications was an obvious and natural progression for us, further extending the value of our investment in OpenText. It also paves the way for future innovation around the use of mobile devices, which will further increase efficiency, speeding up processes and further reducing costs.

Torben Draeger
Financial Key User and Business Analyst, Sysmex Europe

Torben Draeger, financial key user and business analyst at Sysmex Europe, explained the objective of implementing a new solution, “We wanted to have linkage between the purchase requisition process and SAP as part of our purchase-to-pay processes, providing a real-time check on budget availability for both the person submitting the requisition and the approvers. We also wanted to eliminate the need to key in purchase order information twice, which is prone to error and time-consuming.”

Sysmex had already selected OpenText™ Business Center for SAP® Solutions for its support of SAP Fiori® . Combined with OpenText™ Vendor Invoice Management for SAP® Solutions, the two are able to meet the challenges for its second project, New Request Process, or NRP.

“We decided to use Business Center for SAP Solutions and its support of SAP Fiori applications, which we can develop, to best meet our needs for mobility, flexibility and user-friendliness,” said Draeger. “By extending our use of OpenText, we also take advantage of existing knowledge within the business and the two solutions use existing hardware, thereby minimizing the cost.”

Using SAP Fiori applications developed by OpenText, the purchase order approval process is delivered in an intuitive user interface requiring very little training, fewer than 30 minutes in most cases, which has led to high user adoption rates.

“When an order is sent for approval, the approver can easily and quickly confirm the availability of budget for the particular cost center,” said Draeger. “It is then a simple process to approve or reject the request, automatically moving the process on to the next step in line with our corporate signature policy and all instantly captured in SAP. Also, a full audit trail is maintained, which is essential for our auditors. This gives us greater control and is helping us reduce our overall costs.”

Adhering to policy and keeping a record of each step is key to Sysmex Europe meeting its obligations under quality control standards, such as ISO. It is important this is enforced, as each business function at Sysmex Europe manages its own general expenditure, with no centralized purchasing function. By deploying the Fiori applications in this way, it will be able to consistently provide scale for all regions in EMEA.

Doctor speaking with patient

We worked closely with OpenText Professional Services throughout the design and implementation of the new applications. Their support has been invaluable in helping us achieve our goals of control and flexibility.

Torben Draeger
Financial Key User and Business Analyst, Sysmex Europe

“We had already deployed OpenText Vendor Invoice Management and Business Center for invoice capture purposes, so extending our use of OpenText Business Center and its support of SAP Fiori applications was an obvious and natural progression for us, further extending the value of our investment in OpenText,” said Draeger. “It also paves the way for future innovation around the use of mobile devices, which will further increase efficiency, speeding up processes and further reducing costs.”

For personnel who do not routinely use SAP, the Fiori applications built on OpenText Business Center remove the often daunting and overwhelmingly complex interface of SAP.

“The interface is smooth and clean and is effectively reduced to the bare bones of the steps of raising a requisition, approving or rejecting a request and reporting. Users can access applications via a browser on their laptops and tablets, once they are connected and authenticated on the corporate network. In the future, they will be able to use smartphones too,” said Draeger.

Deployment of Vendor Invoice Management began in Austria and is now moving to other regions. Sysmex Europe is planning a wider rollout to more than 10 EMEA organizations.

“We worked closely with OpenText Professional Services throughout the design and implementation of the new applications,” said Draeger. “Their support has been invaluable in helping us achieve our goals of control and flexibility and we’re now extremely well placed to maximize the benefits provided by the solution, including even greater automation of vendor invoice and purchase order matching.”

About Sysmex Europe GmbH

Sysmex Europe GmbH, a subsidiary of the Sysmex Corporation, is among Europe’s top laboratory diagnostics and healthcare companies and is the global leader for hematology diagnostics and service. From its German headquarters in Hamburg, the firm operates throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), with net sales of ¥64.6 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017. It operates in more than 100 countries in the region, including both developed countries and emerging markets, building sales and support service structures tailored to regional characteristics.