Naumann Hobbs brings precision and speed to accounts payable process with approval workflow solution

The Challenge

Naumann Hobbs is the US Southwest’s oldest and largest provider of material handling equipment, services, and solutions. Given the nature of their business, they deal with a large number of suppliers and approximately 4,000 invoices per month. Running their accounts payable (AP) department manually left many on the team spending a lot of time on data entry and approvals, leading to an inefficient and costly Accounts Payable (AP) process.

The Solution

Naumann Hobbs had a clear vision of what they wanted out of an AP solution, including:

• Centralized, online storage for AP documents
• A single point for vendors and internal users to send documents
• Status tracking to prevent vendor invoicing from being overlooked
• Visibility for AP management to ensure timely processing of invoices
• A certain level of automation to reduce workload on AP coordinators

Corcentric’s Cor360 Approval Workflow fit the needs of Naumann Hobbs, providing:

• Simple and repeatable process flow
• A single digitized location for all data
• Data integrations between Corcentric and Naumann Hobb’s enterprise system to limit duplicate work

Beyond the technical solution, Corcentric collaborated closely with Naumann Hobbs on all aspects of the project to ensure its success. Their CEO, Michael Vincent, noted that training rolled out thoughtfully and appropriately, with Corcentric’s professional services team spending several days on-site building trust and ensuring the team was comfortable with the solution.

The Results

By automating their approval process with Corcentric’s Cor360 Approval Workflow, Naumann Hobbs has realized tangible results in the form of accuracy, speed, and cost-effectiveness.

Prior to implementing the AP solution, Naumann Hobbs closed their books on day 16. They can now close on day six. The sooner the books are closed, the sooner they have a clear picture of where they stand financially and how to optimize revenue and spend moving forward.

Not only are their payables processes faster, they are also more accurate. Less paper and human intervention means less time spent on locating information or fixing errors, and more time on value-added tasks.

“We have a much more robust system that we believe in, so when we do an internal audit, we have no found issues in AP. In the past there would always have been tidying up to do,” says Vincent.

From a cost perspective, the solution has allowed the business to optimize its resources, reducing headcount costs by 50%, far outweighing the cost of Corcentric’s services.

“That’s real money back to our organization,” says Vincent.

The implementation of Cor360 Approval Workflow has allowed employees in the AP department to be more intentional with their time both inside and outside of work. Vincent cites a specific employee who adapted to the system and has seen a real change in her work-life balance, saying “This is an employee who was working eight-to-seven and now works eight-to-five. She gets so much more done, and she gets to go home earlier. It matters to her. It matters to us.”

Looking ahead, Naumann Hobbs will continue to work with the Corcentric team to maximize the benefits of the Cor360 Approval Workflow solution. The company is now exploring opportunities to expand with other value-added Corcentric solutions beyond accounts payable.