On February 9, Esker, a worldwide cloud platform and industry leader in AI-driven process automation solutions for finance and customer support tasks announced that Givaudan, the world's largest maker of flavors and fragrances for the taste, health, and fragrance, and beauty industries, has chosen Esker to automate its accounts payable (AP) and order management services. A few years ago, Givaudan decided to use Esker's cloud-based solutions worldwide as part of the design of the Givaudan Business Solutions journey.
Givaudan wanted an automated solution that could satisfy its current demands while scaling to accommodate its increasing portfolio as it pursues certification as a Certified B Corporation. These are firms that adhere to the strictest social and environmental performance requirements. Givaudan first hired Esker to solve order input inefficiencies. After noticing a favorable impact on order processing times, the firm turned to Esker for their accounts payable needs. Esker's solutions will help Givaudan become more efficient and free up employees to build and maintain customer relationships.
Givaudan's adoption of best-in-class technology is paramount in driving our forward-thinking methodology and providing an unmatched customer experience, which is the foundation of everything we do at Givaudan, Even in today’s unique circumstances, and with newly distributed and remote workforces, our standard for quality work and quick turnaround is unwavering. We look to Esker as a trusted provider to improve and scale our operations with turnkey and reliable solutions. "
-Jan-Willem Scheele, Solution Expert, Customer Care and Demand Planning Service Manager at Givaudan.
Givaudan is in the process of implementing Esker's AI-powered Accounts Payable and Order Management systems throughout its global operations. Givaudan, which has shared services centers in Kuala Lumpur, Buenos Aires, and Budapest, is constantly growing and wants to improve its global reach.
Automating Order Management
Givaudan receives 60,000 orders each month and each order requires multiple human revisions and selections before using Esker's AI-driven solution. Each week, Givaudan's customer support staff increases its ability to handle orders without user assistance. As a result, up to 20% of orders are already processed without human participation in certain places. This has enabled the firm to eliminate bottlenecks and time-consuming processes, thus enhancing the speed and quality of order processing—all without increasing manpower as Givaudan expands.
Automating AP
Givaudan resorted to Esker to assist with its AP revamp to further accelerate company development and value. While SAP® provided Givaudan with a highly tailored solution, the procedure for entering invoice data mainly remained manual. Esker's automated invoice capture helps Givaudan keep up with growing business needs by saving a lot of time.
"Givaudan, at heart, is a manufacturing company, and given the nuances of handling raw materials, we required a solution that supported the needs of our purchasing channel from end to end, On average, we’re processing 2,300 to 2,500 invoices every day across the globe, and the benefits of deploying Esker’s solutions are already clear. Their team took the time to fully understand our needs, quickly outlined how to most effectively improve our AP processes, and helped us deploy a new system that serves to simplify our team members’ jobs—so they can concentrate on the aspects of their roles that require human creativity and care."
-Marton Nagy, Global Solution Expert Procure-to-Pay at Givaudan
By automating accounts payable, the firm enables its accounts payable team to provide unmatched customer care for which Givaudan is renowned.
Our goal for automation is not to make our people redundant, but to make them more valuable, continued Nagy. We need our employees to be creative, to think, to make sure we go further than where we are today. Automating the tedious, repetitive tasks lets them use their time for more valuable purposes.
Leveraging Automation Through Change
Givaudan began its automation journey and the "Esker Touchless Journey" well before the COVID-19 outbreak. Still, its embrace of process automation aided in its easy transition to the new way of working. In addition, Givaudan says that the implementation process and close collaboration with the Esker team played a big role in how well it did during the epidemic and how well it could deal with future changes in the global business climate.