July 2006

University implements eCONNECT to automate electronic document delivery, streamline processes and reduce costs

Manchester Metropolitan University has invested in electronic document delivery software from eTransactions software author, Albany Software. The eCONNECT software is providing the university with automated delivery of remittance advice to suppliers, streamlining administrative processes and driving down costs. The university is already using ALBACSip, the BacsTEL-IP compliant software from Albany Software, and decided to implement eCONNECT as part of a programme of improved financial control and process automation.

Manchester Metropolitan makes annual supplier payments in excess of £80 million annually via the Bacs Direct Debit (DD) process. Every fortnight the university makes between 1,000 and 2,000 DD payments and has traditionally manually printed, folded, stuffed, franked and posted the same number of remittance advice documents - at a significant business cost.

"Obviously when we paid suppliers via cheque, the remittance advice was attached," explains James Kua, Systems Controller, Manchester Metropolitan University. "But now the majority of our payments are made via Bacs, the process of sending remittance via the post is time consuming, expensive and, frankly, unnecessary."

By adopting eCONNECT the university can automate the delivery of remittance advice to suppliers, leveraging overnight, off-peak telephone rates to send the documents via fax or email. The remittance information is automatically generated by the financial software, SAP, and imported into eCONNECT.

eCONNECT allows documents to be tailored to meet specific supplier requests and includes intelligent routing to maximise the number of documents successfully sent electronically. And, with the ability to deliver up to 400 documents per fax line, the process is both fast and efficient.

"By implementing eCONNECT, Manchester Metropolitan University can remove the manual overhead required to deliver remittance advice to suppliers - freeing up at least one day per person per payment run," says Mr Kua. "Further cost savings can be achieved by slashing paper, print and postage overhead."

The university can also ensure suppliers receive remittance within 24 hours of the Bacs payment process, significantly earlier than the traditional print/post solution. The speed and accuracy of the eCONNECT solution is also contributing to a drop in supplier payment queries.

Mr Kua concludes, "By automating key financial processes Albany's eCONNECT is fundamentally reducing the administrative overhead, removing many repetitive tasks and providing a rapid return on investment while enabling the university to deliver improved financial services to its suppliers."

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