DocuWare > Case Studies > Kloster Eberbach Foundation Streamlines Administrative Processes with DocuWare

Kloster Eberbach Foundation Streamlines Administrative Processes with DocuWare

Company Size

200-1,000

Region

Europe

Country

Germany

Product

DocuWare

Tech Stack

Microsoft Dynamics (NAV)

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Cost Savings
Productivity Improvements

Technology Category

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration

Applicable Industries

Education

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Services

System Integration

About The Customer

The Kloster Eberbach Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Germany. The foundation's administration performs a broad range of tasks on their historical grounds near the town of Eltville am Rhein, including catering establishments, a hotel, and a museum. Wine is produced in a sister company. Founded in 1136, the monastery is now used for numerous cultural events and as a conference center. Because of its impressive medieval-Gothic architecture, it is frequently featured in movies or on television and is visited by about 300,000 people a year. Since the beginning of 2021, Yannick Mueller, was put in charge of the entire Finance, Controlling and IT department.

The Challenge

The Kloster Eberbach Foundation, a non-profit organization with a broad range of administrative tasks, was facing challenges with its invoice receipt workflow. The old method of distributing mail by basket and folders meant that invoices were often paid too late or, in the worst case, inadvertently paid twice. The mail was distributed between various locations on the grounds, wandering from A to B, and it was often impossible to track where it was at any given time. This lack of clarity and inefficiency in the process was causing significant issues for the foundation.

The Solution

The foundation implemented DocuWare to revamp the invoice receipt workflow. Each year, the foundation receives around 1,500 incoming invoices. About 95 percent are now received digitally; the rest are scanned. After an email containing an invoice PDF is received at the foundation's 'Invoices' address, index data (such as vendor name, date, gross and net amount, cash discount, etc.) is automatically generated and forwarded with the invoice to the accounting department, which checks and post-processes the data. From there, it goes to the respective purchasers, usually the relevant staffers in Purchasing and to additional stations for larger amounts that require board approval.

Operational Impact

Invoice approvals, which in the past could often take many days or even weeks, are now usually completed within just one hour. In exceptional cases, such as when a technician is involved who is not permanently in the office, it can take a day.
As a result, cash discounts can no longer be lost. Reminders or disputes, which are now extremely rare, are resolved immediately, as it is possible to see where things are going wrong in the workflow with just one click.
The foundation plans on building out the system for a variety of topics - from correspondence with customers (which is to be transferred to the DMS in 2021) to contract management and the integration of outgoing invoices - process optimization with DocuWare is the obvious choice.

Quantitative Benefit