User report: Conextrade automates invoice receipt at SV Group

The SV Group comprises the five business segments of community catering, hotel, public catering, hospital and home catering, and event catering. The company employs around 8,500 people and operates in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Its core businesses are community catering and hotels. The company operates staff restaurants and canteens under the "SV Restaurant" brand, making it one of the leading providers in the DACH region. "SV Hotel" operates the Marriott brands Courtyard, Residence Inn, Renaissance and Moxy in Switzerland and Germany as a franchisee. In addition, individual hotels in Bern (La Pergola) and in Olten (Amaris) are part of the portfolio. The company looks back on a 100-year history. Founded in 1914 by Else Züblin-Spiller as the non-profit organization "Schweizer Verband Soldatenwohl" (Swiss Soldiers' Welfare Association), the original aim was to provide Swiss soldiers with inexpensive and balanced food without alcohol. From this, a dynamic and innovative company has developed and established itself. The billing processes have become correspondingly demanding. With Conextrade, the processes were significantly automated and optimized. 

Old system: time-consuming, confusing, error-prone

For a long time, SV Group in Switzerland did not have an electronic invoice receipt and processing system, even though the company relies heavily on invoice data. With a document volume of 240,000 invoices per year today, managing the receipt of postal documents, 100 percent manual invoice entry, account assignment and approval became a Herculean task. Since the process was neither electronic nor automated, the invoice receipt turned out to be intransparent and error-prone. However, rapid and reliable communication with suppliers is very important for the SV Group.

The traditional approval process was as follows: Invoices were sent by mail from suppliers to the plants for content review. After manual review by their managers, the invoices were forwarded by mail to Accounts Payable, where they were formally reviewed, assigned, and recorded. The problem: excessively long lead times, no possibility for cash discounts, no monitoring of invoices, and not infrequently lost invoices. The procedure was technologically underdeveloped, decentrally organized, and therefore highly confusing. This becomes even clearer when you consider that the SV Group operates 300 locations in Switzerland and 500 in the DACH region.

Work more efficiently with automated processes free of media discontinuity

Years ago, the urgent need to bring order and clarity to the processes was recognized. In 2014, following an overall evaluation, the SV team compiled a requirements catalog for necessary renewals. The goal was to establish the electronic invoicing process and a workflow throughout the Group. This was to replace the manual process in Switzerland and the existing electronic solutions in Austria and Germany.

Since a large number of employees are affected, there was a need for a reliable, but also easy-to-use system with a short implementation phase and a low error rate. In evaluating the appropriate solution, the SV Group held very intensive discussions with all suppliers who also had to be able to cope with the system. In addition, legal framework conditions, including data protection, must be observed, especially in Germany and Austria. The choice ultimately fell on Conextrade, a platform ported by Swisscom for electronic invoicing and electronic data exchange for Swiss SMEs. As an established full-service provider, Conextrade can offer the entire portfolio and fully understood the needs of SV Group. According to Eros Merlini, Head of Conextrade, over 4000 other customers are already working with this solution. 

Automated and transparent vendor invoice processing

Already at the end of 2015, the new, automated system for invoice processing could go live in Switzerland. The Conextrade services "E-Invoicing", "Scanning2E-Invoicing" and "Accounts Payable Workflow" guarantee automated and transparent accounts payable invoice processing and include not only the receipt of invoices from suppliers, their approval and release, but also the sending of invoices to customers.

Olivier Tesoro, Project Manager Finance at SV Group, says with satisfaction: "The processes are now fully integrated and consistent. In addition to Switzerland and Austria, the solution was also rolled out in Germany in the fall of 2018." Conextrade's local and therefore always quickly available service proved to be extremely valuable during the implementation. The SV Group had set the goal of establishing efficient invoice processes without media discontinuity and a 100 percent automated electronic invoice receipt. This goal was also achieved. Today, the SV Group uses all components of the "E-Invoicing" and "Scanning2E-Invoicing" services without any problems.

Cost benefits directly after introduction

"With its solution, Conextrade has covered all our requirements in invoice processing," sums up Heinz Giezendanner, Director Shared Services and Member of the Management Board at SV Group. After the gradual rollout of the system in Switzerland from December 2015, employees were trained using videos. "Today, a good 1,000 people in Switzerland and 1,800 in the entire DACH region are working with the Conextrade system without any problems," says Tesoro. As early as fall 2016, processes became noticeably more efficient. "Our throughput times have become massively faster, and communication with suppliers has become much more transparent in parallel." Due to the more efficient handling, SV Group can already save considerable costs today.

Further projects in planning

The digitization of the value chain remains a top priority for the SV Group following the successful project to automate billing processes. The introduction of further modern forms of communication, such as digital solutions with apps for dialog with the guest, is planned for the next few years. Thanks to the partnership with Conextrade, SV Group can approach and implement such projects step by step, comprehensively improve all processes and thus move into the digital future fit and competitive.

More information about Conextrade:
Swisscom (Switzerland) Ltd.
Enterprise Customers
P.O. Box, CH-3050 Bern
Tel. 0800 800 900
www.swisscom.ch/enterprise