PKC has steered the solar manufacturing company toward the effective utilization of SAP S4 HANA, addressing their operational inefficiencies in the process.

Key problems

Under utilization of SAP S4 HANA

1. Approval processes for purchase orders are not done in ERP system.
2. Scanning and emailing signed purchase orders outside the ERP system.
3. RFQ’s are maintained out of ERP System.
4. Down payment invoicing and linking of down payments to purchase orders are not utilized.
5. Incomplete Master Data Management, Vendor and Customer bank details are not maintained in ERP system
6. Payment processing and approvals is not enabled within the ERP system.
7. Payment Advices are prepared manually and sent to vendor instead of direct emailing from ERP upon payment.
8. Documentation in ERP is not enabled for maintaining attachments to the financial document in ERP.
9. Lack of automated triggers to monitor and manage Down payments for purchase orders.
10. No Reminders for invoice payments on due date, Purchase HOD has to maintain an MIS out of ERP and request for payment processing based on due date.
11. Manual Preparation of Budget Vs Actual Cost report, Project Profitability report instead of customization of reports in ERP limiting the management’s visibility in real time basis on the project performance and profitability.

Operational inefficiencies

1. Lack of visibility to purchase department on payment status to handle vendor queries on status of payments
2. Excessive people movements and Paper works for internal approvals
3. Manual tracking of due dates related to payment transactions leading to delayed Vendor payment.
4. No proper tracking of discrepancies in PO , Invoice documents leading to delayed payment processing.
5. Delay in submitting original invoices to Accounts Payable due to delayed couriering from Site to HO.
6. BOM revisions are not effectively communicated to the purchase department
7. Segregation of procurement duties in BOM is unclear between Purchase Head and executives.
8. Import Status are not being tracked systematically have paid penalties and interest due to late filing of BOE lack of consolidated report regarding import data.
9. Incomplete purchase requests necessitate multiple follow-ups with the requestor to process the purchase request.
10. Increased turnaround time for processing advance and reimbursement requests from Site Engineers.
11. Manual efforts by multiple individuals for consolidating petty cash, advance, and reimbursement requests for approvals and reporting.

PKC Solutions & Impact

Internal Controls in ERP

• Approval of Quotation in SAP with quote comparison –> Linking of Price, Vendor, Quantity and Delivery terms from approved quotation to PO in SAP
• Approval for Creation and Amendment of PO in ERP
• Approval of PO and Payment run through Mobile phone for management.
• Enabling Down payment request and inclusion of DPR to payment run in ERP
• Retention is linked with PO & Invoice and tracking of retentions from PO report
• Validation in BP Master for Vendors to maintain Bank details
• Linking of payments to invoice – restricting excess payments to vendors

Automations in ERP

• Automatic Payment Run Program
• Automatic Payment Run Program
• Direct Emailing of PO and Payment Advice directly to vendor upon approval with attachment functionality
• Email to respective approvers for approvals pending from them.

Reports in ERP

• Enabled Standard RFQ Reports
• Customized Overall Project cost
• Customized Overall PO report

Impacts Achieved

• Centralized RFQ management and Approval.
• Streamlined procurement, ensuring
• accurate PO and Payment approval.
• Mobile approval reduces delay in
• outstation scenarios.
• Improved data integrity, in master data management
• Reduced risk of excess payment to vendors through validation in Down payment and Invoice payment
• Streamlined payment processes, ensuring tracking down payment and Invoices due for payment.
• No manual effort to remind the payments due based on the MIS report.
• Enhanced communication efficiency
• with vendors.
• Real-time access to reports of project
• data to enhance decision-making.

Internal G tools

• BOM Tracker
• Import Tracker
  • Import Status Report
  • Import Cost Report
• LC Tracker
  • Outstanding LC report
• Purchase Request Form
  • Quote Comparison
• Advance Request Form
  • Consolidated Advance Report
• Voucher Claim Form
  • Consolidated Voucher Claim Report
• Courier Inward tracker
• Overall Purchase tracker
  • Action Pending Report
• Plant Cash Request
• Admin MIS
  • Renewals Report
• Admin Purchase Request
• Purchase Request Tracker
  • Purchase Status Report
• Dashboards

Impacts Achieved

• Comprehensive material tracking for each project, including additional purchases not originally listed in the BOM, for better oversight by management.
• Increased efficiency through automated email notifications for the purchase team regarding BOM revisions and pending purchase activities.
• Informed decision-making facilitated by consolidated reports tracking total import costs.
• Reminders as to due dates of import stages for better logistics planning
• Streamlined workflow from courier inward to Payment enhanced inter-departmental communication and transparency.
• Proactive management with action pending reports.
• Timely reminders on days before due date for LC Payments
• Streamlined procurement with validated purchase request forms and quote comparison tool.
• Improved compliance and accountability with escalation notifications for timely submission of vouchers and plant cash.
• Reduced processing time in the approval process
• Timely renewal of contracts and agreements handled by admin
• Enhanced visibility for all request status by tracking screen for requestors.
• Efficient reporting processes facilitated by automated report consolidation for accounts and approvals.
• Dashboards for Imports, Bonded Items, LC and Purchase status for better visibility to management