SUCCESS STORY
Linde Schweisstechnik GmbHIndustry• ManufacturingSolutions• OpenText™ Vendor Invoice Managementfor SAP Solutions• OpenText™ Intelligent Capture forSAP Solutions• OpenText™ Archiving for SAP Solutions®

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Linde Schweisstechnik automatesvendor invoice processing with OpenText
Manufacturer cuts costs, improves efficiency and increases transparency
with OpenText Vendor Invoice Management for SAP Solutions®

Services• OpenText Professional Services

Results
Reduced cost of invoice processing
Increased efficiency withautomatic invoice posting andpurchase order matching
Eliminated reliance on individuals
for invoice approvals
Improved transparency with easeof access to invoices for auditors,
along with complete audit trail“The OpenText solution
has met the objectives we
set to reduce costs andimprove efficiency. We’reable to handle all invoices
faster, more accurately
and with fewer staff.”
Andrea Leva

Regional Process Owner andSystems Finance EMEA
Linde Schweisstechnik GmbH

Linde Schweisstechnik automates vendor invoice processing with OpenText

Linde plc is a leading industrial gases and engineering company
employing approximately 80,000 globally. The business hascustomers in more than 100 countries and revenue of approximately$28 billion USD in 2018. Linde Schweisstechnik GmbH, a subsidiaryof Linde plc, headquartered in Pullach in the district of Munichin Bavaria, Germany, has grown both organically and throughacquisition, with branches throughout Germany.
With a growing network of branches, many using legacy systems,
the task of processing, matching to purchase orders and approving
vendor invoices had become a challenge. Approval of invoices wasoften reliant on a single point of contact at a branch, with a physicalsignature required on a paper copy of an invoice. This would thenbe scanned and attached to an email for processing and postingin SAP, an inefficient process, prone to delays and errors. Linde
Schweisstechnik, like other companies in the group, used SAP as its
central finance platform and so the decision was made to seek asolution that would streamline the processing of vendor invoices.
“Our main driver in seeking a solution was to improve efficiency,
whilst also considering our compliance responsibilities,” explained
Andrea Leva, Regional Process Owner and Systems Finance EMEA atLinde. “We wanted a solution that would allow us to automate thecapture of supplier invoices, whether they were received in paper
form or as email attachments. Once captured, the solution had tobe capable of automatically recognizing the invoice content andmatching it to the correct purchase order. If successfully matched,
the invoice would be posted and passed for payment, without theneed for any intervention. In the case of queries, the invoice needed
to be routed to a team, not an individual, for further processing.”

Linde Schweisstechnik had, for some time, been using OpenText™
Archiving for SAP Solutions to securely archive its SAP businessdocuments and data, keeping them accessible from within SAPand audit ready.
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“We had experience using OpenText™ Vendor Invoice Management
for SAP Solutions at other group companies, notably Linde Gas,
and having considered other options, came to the conclusion thatthe OpenText solution was best suited to our needs,” added Leva.
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A select team was assembled to drive the project forward. It
kicked off with a team consisting of representatives from financemanagement, project management and IT, as well as OpenText
Professional Services.
“Our preference was for a rapid deployment, less than threemonths from start to go live. This was made possible thanks tothe close cooperation of our team and the OpenText Professional
Services team, who worked tirelessly to ensure there wereno delays. We attribute the success of the project and its fast
implementation to the open dialogue and fast decision making
made possible by working so closely with OpenText,” said Leva.
Vendor Invoice Management for SAP Solutions was deployed largely‘out of the box,’ with only minor changes to process structures tomeet the needs of Linde Schweisstechnik. This avoids delays byensuring that groups are responsible for invoice approval and never asingle individual.
Invoices are now captured and archived upon receipt, whether frompaper or as email attachments, using the optical character recognition(OCR) capabilities of OpenText™ Intelligent Capture for SAP Solutions®

“Our preference was fora rapid deployment, lessthan three months fromstart to go live. This wasmade possible thanks tothe close cooperation of
our team and the OpenText
Professional Services
team, who worked
tirelessly to ensure there
were no delays.”
Andrea Leva

Regional Process Owner andSystems Finance EMEA
Linde Schweisstechnik GmbH

Linde Schweisstechnik automates vendor invoice processing with OpenText

that automatically extracts all header and line item details. From thispoint, the invoice can be viewed within SAP and there is no further
reliance on paper.
“Our staff have responded very positively to the OpenText solution.
Frankly, we expected some teething problems, but it has beena very smooth transition. Importantly for us, there was nodisruption to relationships with our suppliers. Staff no longer
have to ask, phone or email their colleagues when looking for aparticular invoice. They can quickly access it from their familiar
on-screen environment,” explained Leva.
All invoices, once captured, are stored in a single, central archive. Thismeans that queries can be made from any Linde Schweisstechnik
location, providing further efficiency gains. Where invoices are notautomatically matched to a purchase order, the individual handlingthe exception can easily see the invoice, purchase order and otherrelevant information. They can then take prompt action to move theprocess forward, whether they originally posted the invoice or not.

“With supplier invoices captured promptly, this has a positiveeffect on reporting, too. For example, at month or quarter-end
accruals, we no longer have to call around to the various branches
to ask if they have any unprocessed, high value invoices that weneed to post accruals for,” said Leva.
Auditors can also quickly access invoices when required, rather thansearching branches, filing cabinets or an individual’s desk. Also, allapprovals are tracked and a full audit trail of who did what and whenis always maintained.
“The OpenText solution has met the objectives we set to reduce
costs and improve efficiency. We’re able to handle all invoices
faster, more accurately and with fewer staff. We are now actively
deploying the solution to additional branches in the coming
months in addition to the nine we have successfully completed todate,” concluded Leva.
linde-schweisstechnik.de

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