Supporting company growth by accelerating Procurement’s digital transformation

Objectives

• To support UniLaSalle’s growth
• Accelerate the digital transformation of Procurement
• Simplify and integrate existing Procurement processes

The Challenge

Against a background of strong growth, the management of orders and invoices that was handled manually using Excel was no longer adequate for the expanded needs of UniLaSalle. The organization was looking for a technology solution that would enable the Procurement teams increase productivity while simultaneously reducing the amount of paper-based processes used.

“The reliance on manual tools was no longer compatible with the growing number of campuses the school was adding regularly. We were looking for a solution to digitize and streamline the entire purchasing process, serve as an archiving system for orders and invoices, track the progress of spend commitments, and to provide security across the procurement cycle.” — Charlotte FACHE, Purchasing Assistant, UniLaSalle

The Solution

Corcentric was chosen for its user-friendly and intuitive interface, ease of use, and ability to meet UniLaSalle’s expanding business needs:

• Management of accounting complexity
• Advanced budget management
• Management of VAT issues
• Centralization and digitalization of approval processes

Corcentric’s implementation methodology, along with the commitment of the project team, enabled UniLaSalle to deploy the Procurement Solution on time, despite resource changes on both the UniLaSalle and Corcentric sides.

“The challenges during the project did not prevent the teams from helping each other and moving forward. On Corcentric’s side, we witnessed the real power of project management and the value of experienced consultants. On the UniLaSalle side, the project and change management within the organization was successful thanks to the flexibility and collaboration of the project team.” — Charlotte FACHE, Purchasing Assistant, UniLaSalle

The Results

Having deployed the Corcentric Platform in 2020 with 100 users, UniLaSalle quickly began leveraging many business benefits, including:

• Consummate flexibility that facilitated the transition to remote work during the global pandemic
• Full visibility across campus Procurement operations
• Standardization of Procurement practices on all campuses
• Better data capture and integration
• Reliable reporting for business teams
• Easier collaboration between Procurement and Accounting through a fully-centralized Procure-to-Pay process on a single platform
• A high degree of autonomy in solution administration and adaptation as new campuses are integrated

“Users are satisfied with the solution. Purchase requests are easy to place, the interface is well thought out and enjoyable to use. Corcentric has enabled us to align Procurement practices across all campuses on a single platform. We are now able to ensure compliance with Procurement processes across the group.” — Jean BAUDET, Purchasing and Supply Manager, UniLaSalle

Whether it’s laboratory materials, scientific equipment, telecommunications subscriptions, maintenance contracts, marketing purchases, services, fees, transportation costs or anything else, 90% of UniLaSalle’s purchases are managed on the Corcentric Platform, including adjustment orders — the equivalent of 700 to 750 purchase requests per month.

About the company

On its campuses in Beauvais, Amiens, Rouen, and Rennes, UniLaSalle offers five-year post-baccalaureate engineering courses and three-year bachelor’s degrees, as well as master’s degrees, specialized master’s degrees, and master’s of science in the fields of agriculture, agribusiness, nutrition, the environment, geosciences, energy, and digital technology. A veterinary program, planned for September 2022, will expand the curriculum even further through courses based on research work carried out within the institution itself. UniLaSalle is a member of the Conférence des Grandes Écoles, and its engineering courses are accredited by the CTI (the Commission des titres d’ingénieur, the French accreditation body). UniLaSalle has 4050 students, 520 employees, and 22,000 alumni, and is part of the La Salle global education network which includes 72 universities.