Anglesey Aluminium Metal aims to save between £50,000
and £60,000 a year with a new purchase-to-pay system from software
suppliers Proactis.
The system has replaced a paper-based purchasing system at the
aluminium producer, where staff had been filling out purchase
request forms that would cascade through a management chain and
eventually reach the purchasing department in a process that could
take 11 days.
Now purchase orders could be placed on the same day they are
raised in many instances, the company said.
Phil Bedford, senior accountant at Anglesey Aluminium Metal,
said the software, which runs on existing PCs and required two new
servers, would reduce the administrative burden and drive cost
savings for the organisation by offering greater control and
visibility over its indirect spend.
“Because we have complete visibility over all of our spend, our
staff have become more accountable and maverick spend has been
reduced,” he said. “Also, because they know the purchasing process
is much more efficient they are less inclined to over order and
waste money on ‘squirrel stocks’ where they keep extra stocks to
avoid running out of essential items.”
Anglesey Aluminium was keen to keep costs down because the
contract with its main electricity supplier ends in 2009 and it
anticipates electricity charges higher than its current contract.
Bedford said the Proactis software investment would contribute
towards mitigating those cost increases.
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