Success Story
SAP outgoing invoice

Case study

Goals achieved through digitization platform MailCenter – Outgoing invoices

1. Replacement of a workaround when sending invoices from SAP
2. Creation of a central document pool for sales
3. Reduce manual invoicing effort
4. Send attachments with invoices in an email

PDF-Download Success Story | H. J. Brüggen

company

H. & J. Brüggen KG

• Registered office: Lübeck
• Sector: Food industry
• Turnover: 330 million euros (2018)
• Employees: approx. 1,900
• Internet address: www.brueggen.com/

Project Objectives

1. Replacement of a workaround when sending invoices from SAP
2. Creation of a central document pool for sales
3. Reduction of manual effort in invoicing
4. Attachments should be sent with invoices in an email

Choosing MailCenter

1. Complete SAP integration of the solution
2. Features far beyond the SAP standard

Solutions and Services

1. Digitization platform MailCenter
2. Solution partner: munich enterprise software GmbH

Implementation Highlights

1. Customizing took place completely online
2. Fast and competent support in case of technical problems

Main benefits for the company

1. Representation arrangements speed up the sending of invoices
2. Four-eye principle within SAP is adhered to
3. Replacement of the paper process for reminders
4. Better response options for customers

Environment

SAP ERP ECC 6.0

Case study in detail

“The MailCenter provides us with a central pool within SAP to which all access
and be able to approve and send invoices in it.”

Sylvia Wonrath
, Head of Sales Internal Processes Sales & Marketing, at H. J. Brüggen KG

Four-eye check of outgoing invoices

Brüggen sends 14,000 invoices per year to customers throughout the EU. A good half of them are already fully automated via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), but there are still thousands of invoices that go out by e-mail as PDF. Paper invoices only play a role in non-European customer traffic, because they are also given there as a goods accompanying document of the delivery.
Every outgoing invoice must first be subjected to a four-eye check at Brüggen before the customer receives it. Therefore, the documents could not simply be sent from SAP via message processing via the SAP standard applications and interfaces. “Out of necessity, each invoice document was scanned manually by the individual clerk,” says Steffi Falckenhagen, Head of Accounting at H. & J. Brüggen KG, describing the workaround. He checked the invoice again and then sent it to the customer. Often, however, the responsible persons changed or someone was simply on vacation. Then it hooked with the release, the bill remained longer than it should.
“A central pool within SAP would be the solution to which everyone has access and can send invoices in it – even replacements in the event of vacation or illness,” says Sylvia Wonrath, Head of Sales Internal Processes, Sales & Marketing at Brüggen. Together with accounting, she formulated the requirements for such an application. The result was the introduction of the digitization platform “MailCenter” of the Munich-based manufacturer munich enterprise software in 2018. This is directly integrated into SAP and allows invoices, reminders, delivery notes and other business documents to be sent by e-mail from the ERP system.

Sophisticated information mechanism

The platform offers features that the SAP standard does not provide. On the one hand, there is the pool functionality. Invoices are created in SAP and automatically enter the MailCenter cockpit. There, the responsible persons from the processing department can call it up from their work list, view it for control, enter an individual text if necessary and then send it at the push of a button. The correct e-mail address is already pre-populated, others can be added.
Agent regulations guarantee that every invoice is processed promptly and does not get stuck in an individual’s mailbox for long. Sylvia Wonrath: “The interface of the MailCenter is very easy to use, you can see a history of your own invoices and can also send a document a second time, simply by entering the invoice number.” Furthermore, there is the possibility to send attachments, e.B. terms and conditions, which happens regularly at Brüggen. “The fact that you can select several sender addresses in our company has advantages in customer communication. Queries from the customer go directly to the right clerk and do not end up in a big pot,” says Sylvia Wonrath. Likewise, you can also write to several recipients at the customer, in purchasing, in processing or accounting – a helpful information mechanism for the accounting team.

Paper process replaced for reminders

Both sales and accounting work at Brüggen with the MailCenter digitization platform for invoice control and dispatch. Today, the company also sends reminders via the platform, where paper was previously still in use. In the past, the accounting department sent the reminders in paper form to the sales department, which also scanned them and forwarded them to the customer by e-mail. Since the introduction of the MailCenter, the system has been running without restrictions, and Brüggen has hardly had to make use of the support so far. And if so, the problem was solved within 24 hours.

“Questions from the customer go directly to the right clerk and
don’t end up in a big pot.”

Sylvia Wonrath
, Head of Sales Internal Processes Sales & Marketing, at H. J. Brüggen KG

H. & J. Brüggen KG

H. & J. Brüggen KG, headquartered in Lübeck, is one of the leading European manufacturers of muesli, cereals, oatmeal and bars as well as other high-quality cereal products and sells products for its customers (private label) as well as under its own brand in over 90 countries worldwide. The managing partners are Hanno, Jochen and Johannes Brüggen, who have been running the fourth-generation family business, which has existed since 1868 and is now a medium-sized company. Brüggen produces at a total of five production sites worldwide. Customers are national and international retail chains as well as manufacturers of branded goods and companies in the food processing industry.