TekStream Helps National Instruments Improve Accounts Payable Automation Efficiency by 83%

    ATLANTA, GA, March 21, 2019 /24-7PressRelease/ -- National Instruments Corporation (NI) is an American, multinational company with $1.36 billion in annual revenue and 7,500+ employees in 2018. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI is a producer of automated test equipment and virtual instrumentation software. Common applications include data acquisition, instrument control, and machine vision.

Business Challenge
NI has 45 organizations with 6 worldwide service centers, creating diverse processes that include ad-hoc purchasing procedures within each group. They had a complex invoice approval process that required multiple signatures and also had difficulties knowing where invoices were in the process. In addition to the time lost waiting for approvals, invoices are often in multiple languages and currencies which delayed approval even further. It was a challenge for AP Processors to keep up with the company's growing business demand. As a result, NI was saddled with late payment fees and early discounts were practically unheard of. They decided to engage TekStream and their expertise transforming legacy processes into modern, digital processes that are being adopted by leading companies around the world.

TekStream's Approach
TekStream worked closely with NI to tailor a solution that would fulfill all their business requirements with a low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Inspyrus is a next generation, cloud-based AP processing tool that provides a single, modern user experience that incorporates best-in-class OCR, processing, workflow and reporting capabilities. In addition, the Inspyrus platform was established within a secure cloud infrastructure leveraging Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) to take advantage of the inherent value of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). The environment was then integrated with multiple Cloud and on-premise components with extensive security controls to provide a seamless AP management solution for NI's Oracle eBusiness Suite Financials. The environment and related process controls are consistently audited for SOC II verification.

Solution
Tekstream extensively configured, customized and tested the Inspyrus solution to address each area of concern and enable visibility into their AP processes. The result improved invoice ingestion, circulation and payment automation by 83%. Analytic components were built to establish extensive metrics on each area of the process so that bottlenecks can be quickly identified and addressed. The solution was deployed in a phased, systematic approach with key processing center deployments each quarter. At full deployment, 45 worldwide organizations and 6 regional processing centers are all utilizing a consistent and highly efficient AP solution. Post-implementation, TekStream will provide cost-effective and long-term Managed Services under a SOC II compliant operation to maintain the system environment and provide technical assistance. Inspyrus on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure provided NI with the flexibility and capabilities needed to streamline their AP processes, reduce overall costs, and turn AP into a strategic asset.

Impact
"The workflow in Inspyrus has given us expanded visibility into the status of AP invoice processing," explains Kelley Cummings, Finance Analyst Manager, National Instruments, "Management is leveraging the data to further enhance the AP process and drive efficiency and standardization across the globe. As an authorized approver of spend, I appreciate the ease of use through email notifications and quick access to the accounting and supporting documents to facilitate my review and approval."

About TekStream
TekStream is an Atlanta-based technology solutions company that offers business and digital transformation, managed services, and recruiting expertise to help companies manage their applications, business processes, content, human capital, and machine data as well as take advantage of next-generation cloud-based solutions. TekStream's IT consulting solutions combined with its specialized IT recruiting expertise helps businesses increase efficiencies, streamline costs, and remain competitive in an extremely fast-changing market. For more information about TekStream Solutions, visit www.tekstream.com or email Shichen Zhang at [email protected]

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