LifeScan enhanced its competitive advantage by implementing Tungsten Network’s AP solutions
Read how a company that enriches the lives of people with diabetes enhanced its competitive advantage by implementing Tungsten Network’s AP solutions
LifeScan has a vision to create a world without limits for people with diabetes and related conditions. For more than 40 years LifeScan has advanced glucose management and diabetes care with pioneering technologies and new products defined by simplicity, accuracy, and trust.
In 2018, when LifeScan was divested from its parent company and into private equity ownership, Abu Subhan, was charged with finding a new Procure to Pay system.
As ERP Project Manager, Abu, was brought in to help with the divestiture into the new company, LifeScan. One of his initial remits was to find a system that integrated with the new owners’ existing systems. There was an Accounts Payable license agreement in place, costed on a percentage of turnover, however, LifeScan’s large revenue meant it was an expensive choice. And Abu and his team were tasked with saving costs. They then needed a comprehensive Accounts Payable solution that would integrate and work with their P2P solution.
LifeScan held a competitive review and whittled the choice down to four bids from the main players in the market. This involved two-day selection workshops where each vendor showcased their services and solutions.
Ease of administration on the LifeScan side was a big driver, as was integration with their existing systems. But the biggest drivers were realising automation and keeping costs and overheads to a minimum.
“Tungsten came out as the best solution for our needs,” said Abu.
Abu started out on his journey with clearly defined objectives. These made choosing the right partner a much more focused and successful process.
He listed his key objectives as:
- To make it as easy as possible for our suppliers to invoice.
- To make it as easy as possible for end-users within the business to use a system that allows them to approve invoices and have visibility of what is out there – and of our risk.
- To automate as much as possible.
- Drive up efficiency and keep down costs.
Tungsten’s Total AP solution, plus Workflow, gave LifeScan a complete suite of services covering all their needs. Additionally, Tungsten’s e-invoicing service is compliant in more of the countries where LifeScan operates than any of the other bidders.
LifeScan’s suppliers were at different stages on the digitalisation journey. Some were keen to e-invoice, but others still needed to send their invoices in paper or pdf format. Having both e-invoicing and IDC with Tungsten meant that all invoices and archiving would be in one place, regardless of format. This was a big plus for ease of administration. It also meant a shared joint objective of, over time, assisting the suppliers with their digitalisation efforts and moving them from IDC to e-invoicing.
Tungsten’s e-invoicing also has a PO Services solution which makes it easy for LifeScan’s suppliers to receive POs and convert them into invoices at the click of a button. While Tungsten’s Invoice Status Service gives the supplier 24-hour visibility of where their invoice is in the payment process.
LifeScan set a rigorous timeline for implementation. It was an 8-month plan. “All credit to the Tungsten team, “says Abu. “They worked to our deadline and met it. The team was great, and as you work with the same people all the time, you build a good rapport.
“In fact, it feels like that the Tungsten team are an extension of our team”.
By achieving the implementation deadline LifeScan made significant savings by moving from the previous system. More significantly LifeScan is now seeing 99% of its invoices processed within 2 days and is achieving 99% invoice accuracy. They now have a high volume of suppliers processing substantial invoice value through Tungsten Network’s Workflow. According to Abu, Workflow was the biggest contributing factor to their success. “It was one of the best decisions we’ve made to go with the Tungsten Platform”.
