In the genre of light bulb jokes, there’s the one that asks, “How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?” The answer is, “Only one, but the light bulb has to really want to change.”
So it goes in the world of procure-to-pay transformation. You can throw all the technology at your disposal to fix a broken process and improve collaboration internally and with suppliers, but if affected parties stick to their old ways, the initiative stalls.
BC Hydro recognized this fact, and made change management a key aspect of its procure-to-pay makeover. Working with business partner Optis Consulting Network, the electric utility is automating its procure-to-pay operations and has involved key stakeholders in its core business units—corporate, generation and distribution-transmission—to make it happen.
BC Hydro must be doing something right. Within the first year, 60 percent of its invoice volume was automated, on-time payments reached 95%, and the utility saved $1 million from the improved process. Moving forward, those savings will increase substantially as invoice automation continues to expand and BC Hydro begins to embrace dynamic discounting.
You can learn more about this business process transformation in a breakout session at CDN 360, the 2014 Financial Operations Symposium to be held September 14-16 in Vancouver, British Columbia. It’s part of a conference agenda that features presentations and best-practice discussions relating to accounts payable and the procure-to-pay process, while also offering opportunities to meet with show exhibitors such as Ariba to discuss innovation that is dramatically impacting the procurement, accounts payable, and treasury functions.
The networked economy is proving to be a catalyst for procure-to-pay transformation. Read more about developments that can help your organization by clicking here.
