Challenges

Aimed to drive rapid business growth as demand for travel returned after the COVID-19 pandemic
Needed to streamline and improve back-office functions, starting with invoicing
Wanted to refresh digital systems to offer smoother, more competitive customer services

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the global air transport industry experienced an unprecedented challenge. As passenger numbers sharply declined because of international travel restrictions, global airlines collectively suffered an estimated $230 billion in economic losses during 2020.

Across Asia Pacific, the pandemic wiped an estimated $102.5 billion in value from the passenger airline market. For this major airline, the goal was to weather the storm and prepare its business for profitability as soon as demand for passenger services returned.

A spokesperson for the airline said, “During the pandemic, we scaled back our operations significantly in line with the drop in passenger volumes. However, the challenges of COVID-19 didn’t distract us from planning for the future. We formulated a strategy to build back to our previous passenger numbers and beyond—growing our business significantly.”

The airline set out on an ambitious transformation program. The project included a comprehensive refresh of the company’s digital systems, enabling the airline to offer smoother and more competitive customer services, both online and on mobile. Behind the scenes, the company also aimed to enhance its SAP business systems to establish even more integrated and efficient operations.

The spokesperson continued, “As part of our transformation roadmap, we will improve our core back-office functions, beginning with accounts payable [AP]. In the past, we relied heavily on manual, paper-based processes to manage invoices, which consumed significant time and resources. To avoid increasing our AP headcount as we ramped up our business operations, we looked for a way to streamline invoice processing.”

By lifting our straight-through processing rate to 50% with OpenText, we can process a higher volume of invoices without increasing our AP headcount.

Spokesperson
Major airline

Solution

To achieve its AP automation objectives, this major airline deployed a new invoice processing solution powered by OpenText Vendor Invoice Management for SAP Solutions—enabling its team to post invoices accurately with less time and effort.

Products deployed

OpenText™ Core Archive for SAP® Solutions

Integrate business documents with SAP transactions and processes, adding imaging capabilities and convenient document access within the SAP user interface
OpenText™ Core Capture for SAP® Solutions

Easily capture all incoming business documents in SAP ECC and S/4HANA with cloud-native OCR functionality and an advanced machine learning engine
OpenText™ Vendor Invoice Management for SAP® Solutions

Optimize and automate end-to-end processing from receipt to posting with pre-configured rules, roles, and actions

Replacing manual processes with automated workflows

During the selection process for the new solution, the airline set out several key criteria. As well as ease of integration with its SAP solutions, the company targeted a platform that could accurately capture data from paper and electronic invoices alike.

The spokesperson explained, “We wanted a technology platform that would empower our AP team to process a higher volume of invoices with less manual work. When we began to explore the capabilities of Vendor Invoice Management for SAP Solutions, we quickly recognized that it was the perfect fit for our requirements.”

Combined with OpenText Core Capture for SAP Solutions, the new solution enables the airline to leverage continuous machine learning to extract data from invoices submitted on paper or as electronic documents. Once processed, all data is retained securely using OpenText Core Archive for SAP Solutions—helping the airline meet its regulatory obligations.

Deploying securely and cost-effectively in the cloud

Working with its local OpenText business partner I AM Consulting, the airline deployed and configured the new solutions, replacing paper-driven AP processes with digital workflows. The entire solution runs securely in the OpenText Cloud, which eliminates the need for costly procurement and management of additional on-premises IT infrastructure.

“Our transformation program includes a cloud-first strategy, so the ability to deploy and run the new AP automation solution in the OpenText Cloud was an important advantage,” explained the spokesperson.

Achieving the first stage of the digital transformation project

Following a thorough testing and validation process, the airline moved its new AP automation solution into production. Invoices received on paper are scanned on site and then uploaded to the cloud, where they are processed using Core Capture and then routed to Vendor Invoice Management for onward processing.

The spokesperson commented, “With OpenText and I AM Consulting, we’ve shaped a cost-effective, secure and automated approach to our AP process—an important step on our long-term transformation journey.”

Our transformation program includes a cloud-first strategy, so the ability to deploy and run the new AP automation solution in the OpenText Cloud was an important advantage.

Spokesperson
Major airline

Results

By placing Vendor Invoice Management, Core Capture and Core Archive at the heart of its AP organization, this major airline is optimizing its settlement processes, boosting operational efficiency, and creating headroom for business growth.

Avoided hours of manual work re-keying invoice data

Currently, around 60 percent of the invoices that the airline receives are printed on paper. With the OpenText solution, the company significantly reduces the cost and time involved in manually re-keying data from paper invoices into its SAP applications.

“In the past, our AP team spent several hours of their working days simply entering data into our SAP system,” confirmed the spokesperson. “With Core Capture and Vendor Invoice Management, we eliminate much of that labor-intensive work—empowering our AP professionals to focus on value-added activities."

Created headroom for growth with 50% straight-through processing rate

Thanks to accurate data capture and intelligent automation from the OpenText solution, the airline can now post thousands of invoices a year with almost no human input.

“We are now posting around half of our invoices without intervention from the AP team,” said the spokesperson. “By lifting our straight-through processing rate to 50% with OpenText, we can process a higher volume of invoices without increasing our AP headcount. This headroom will be very important for us as business growth accelerates.”

Increased the sustainability of back-office processes

In partnership with its suppliers, the airline is now striving for a fully paperless AP process. By encouraging suppliers to send invoices in digital formats, the company aims to unlock additional cost-efficiency and boost its environmental performance.

“We are always looking for ways to increase sustainability across our operations,” commented the spokesperson. “Our AP automation project with OpenText fits into our wider sustainability strategy by enabling us to reduce our use of paper and shrink our carbon footprint.”

The spokesperson concluded, “Together with OpenText, our airline has transformed manual, time-consuming AP activities into a fast, automated process. We couldn’t have asked for a better partner to help us prepare for rapid business growth.”