New supplier management solution strengthens Esker’s Procure-to-Pay suite

SPI, the African distributor for utility software products and services to the open systems segment of the IT industry and the southern African reseller for Esker, a leader in document process automation solutions, today announced the latter’s launch of a new supplier management solution integrated in its Procure-to-Pay (P2P) automation suite. This new solution takes a full life cycle approach to help businesses manage supplier information and automate processes across the supply chain.

The solution completes and strengthens Esker’s P2P suite and promotes business continuity with its agile, cloud-based infrastructure, which has proven more critical than ever given recent events. This flexible infrastructure helps organisations maintain their operations while protecting employees, serving customers and interacting with suppliers. Offering a 360-degree view of supplier information, the solution helps businesses effectively manage compliance, minimise risk, gain full process visibility and reduce their P2P staff workload.

With the ability to collect information and legal documents directly from their vendors with supplier self-registration, companies can accelerate the new supplier process and start doing business faster. Esker’s supplier management solution enables businesses to request only the right information needed, depending on the type of suppliers. With visibility into all supplier activities (eg, new vendor registration, validation and documented audit trail), businesses can ensure that decision-making is data-based and reminders can automatically be sent to suppliers to update their information.

From a supplier standpoint, Esker’s simple supplier self-service portal enables vendors to quickly and easily complete and submit their account information, significantly speeding up their onboarding process. They can make changes to their information at any time and in full autonomy, and they are notified when their changes have been reviewed and approved by the buyer. This also benefits the buyer’s P2P teams as they no longer need to chase down suppliers for updated information. Coupled with Esker’s intuitive user interface, the new solution features offer a user-friendly and collaborative experience, encouraging supplier and employee participation.

Esker’s scalable and risk-free supplier management solution protects businesses by verifying that all supplier information is correct (eg, bank details, VAT number, D‑U‑N‑S number, W9, insurance certificates, diversity questionnaire and code of conduct), and ensures that financial and compliance regulations are met. Additionally, Esker leverages third-party data to monitor supplier risks. Businesses simply approve new suppliers the same way they would a purchase requisition, without having to leave Esker’s interface or use another solution to manage the information.

“We are continuously enhancing the scope of our P2P solution and providing a truly collaborative platform,” commented Catherine Dupuy-Holdich, Product Manager at Esker. “Buyers and suppliers alike want a comprehensive supplier management policy to generate sustainable business relationships, compliance and process excellence.”

“A comprehensive supplier management policy plays an important role in the success of our organisation,” added Irene Kouam, Director, Shared Services Center Manager at Lapeyre. “It’s crucial that we engage properly with our suppliers, manage requirements and maintain our reputation. Esker has given us a view into all our supplier activities and ensures that processes are informed with accurate supplier, risk and performance data.”

Esker’s supplier management solution spans the entire P2P process, bringing much-needed unity, efficiency and transparency to financial operations. In its ongoing commitment to bring value to businesses in their digital transformation across P2P and order-to-cash processes, Esker continues to enrich its P2P suite to transform the way businesses purchase, book and pay.

For further information, please contact Chris Anderson at tel (+27) 11 234 1560; fax (+27) 11 234 1387; e-mail chris@spi.co.za.