Home | How rf IDEAS Streamlined POs and Got Out of Email Purgatory

December 12, 2022

How rf IDEAS Streamlined POs and Got Out of Email Purgatory

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We work with top notch buyers, suppliers, and supply chain managers every day, streamlining their processes, providing full visibility, and boosting supplier performance. We see their wins all the time, and we’re always thrilled when we can share those stories with you.

Meet Keith. He’s the top materials manager at rf IDEAS. They were facing some pretty specific and costly challenges when Keith came across SourceDay at SuiteWorld.

First, a little about rf IDEAS and Keith’s team.

rf IDEAS is the industry leader in Identity Access Management. They target customers looking to protect their data through secure access. Keith’s team has eight people, plus a manager:

  • Two in receiving
  • Two in shipping 
  • Two coordinate production at contract manufacturers (CMs)
  • One works on pre-production items and suppliers
  • One works to ensure that all transactions are completed properly 

Now, the pain.

Before they had SourceDay, Keith’s team was like…

They endured a BIG clerical workload. Once they created a PO, they sent it in a separate email and waited patiently for an acknowledgment. When (let’s be honest—if) they received that acknowledgment, the team then manually updated the PO with the correct info. This step was a particular sticking point because it was often left uncompleted, which led to costly errors.

If a PO was past due, they searched through emails to find the acknowledged date. Once the product was received, Accounts Payable then manually checked to ensure the pricing matched each invoice and reached out for approval of the price variances.

The labor cost associated with maintaining POs for price and delivery was simply too high. Something had to change.

A change will do you good.

Keith wasn’t specifically looking for a solution, until he came across SourceDay at SuiteWorld. He attended a presentation with his supply chain manager and they were immediately intrigued. After a personal presentation, they knew the solution would be great for them. 

Along with the supply chain manager, the business improvement manager, and the VP of operations, Keith pulled the trigger on SourceDay. Here’s what they’ve found.

  • Invoice discrepancies have been reduced significantly.
  • Potential delays or supplier bottlenecks are communicated earlier.
  • “Real” delivery dates for parts are hit more often.
  • Time spent reviewing acknowledgments has dropped from hours to minutes.
  • POs from suppliers who use SourceDay have correct pricing and value dates in NetSuite.

Implementation and customer success are critical.

Keith was selected to manage the SourceDay rollout at rf IDEAS. He found the system intuitive and extremely easy to understand. “SourceDay is a seamless integration with NetSuite,” he said. “Now we can log onto SourceDay and in a matter of minutes, update our POs for price and split-line deliveries, knowing the supplier has bought in to the changes”

As with many new implementations, there was some initial resistance to SourceDay from rf IDEAS’s suppliers. When we asked Keith about his experience with SourceDay’s customer success team, here’s what he had to say: “The customer success team was nothing short of amazing. The SD team was right there to help us with issues or concerns that popped up from our suppliers. Many times, [they called] the supplier directly and walked through the process to ensure they full understood what was required of them.”

SourceDay’s solution has been a hit. Keith is happy to report that enough buyers have bought in to equal about 90% of their total spend. 

“If SourceDay didn’t exist after tomorrow, it would be extremely disappointing, as many of the tasks we do would revert back to manual processes and would create a large opportunity for errors in NetSuite,” Keith said.

Paperwork Freedom

rf IDEAS has joined a host of companies who have adopted SourceDay and given their teams freedom from the paperwork mess. Their data is accurate, their email workload is reduced significantly, and their buyers are getting home in time for dinner more often.

Now Keith’s team is like…

Ready to learn more about how SourceDay can free up resources, improve efficiency, and reduce costs for YOUR buying team? Let’s have a chat. We’ll show you the ropes.

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