SAP Innovation Awards 2024 - 4313 - Western Sugar Cooperative
With 2100+ suppliers, and an ever-increasing invoice and payment volume, Western Sugar Cooperative (Grower Owned) processes were manual and proved to be too time consuming for the staff. The leadership team prioritized better visibility to all invoices in one simple work list, and assurance that the Accounts Payable and Finance team could dramatically improve operational efficiencies. They selected SAP Ariba Central Invoice Management with inbound processing for SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition to automate the processing of incoming supplier invoices. Western Sugar achieved a more automated streamlined invoice management process, reduced costs, improved accuracy, enhanced visibility ensuring compliance, and strengthened supplier relationships. Download the DocumentPUBLIC
Entry Pitch Deck
Western Sugar Cooperative (Grower Owned)
Richard Caluori
Agribusiness
Sweet Success Streamlining the
Invoice Process
Entry Pitch Deck
Western Sugar Cooperative (Grower Owned)
Richard Caluori
Agribusiness
Sweet Success Streamlining the
Invoice Process
COMPANY NAME:
HEADQUARTERS:
INDUSTRY:
WEBSITE:
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES:
Company Information
© 2023 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC 2
Western Sugar Cooperative
Denver, Colorado, USA
Agribusiness
www.westernsugar.com
1,000+
Western Sugar Cooperative, founded in 1901, is made up of over 850 growers and shareholders
who take pride in having a long family history in beet sugar. Some are 4th, or even 5th, generation
growers who were born and raised around sugar beets. The lifestyle of hard work and long days
involved in sugar beet growing has been passed down for the 100+ years Western Sugar has
existed.
We are proud to be made in America by American farmers. Sugar produced by Western Sugar
facilities is found in all 50 states in the United States. We are committed to furthering the well-being
of our growers, employees, customers and the communities we operate in.
Environmental best practices help our farmers achieve the following:
• 37% less water
• 47% less fossil fuel
• 80% less herbicide
• 85% of the farmers in Nebraska and Colorado use conservation tillage, which protects the soil
and microbial health
• Farmers have cut greenhouse gas emissions over 80%, and reduced environment impact of
chemical applications by over 99%
HEADQUARTERS:
INDUSTRY:
WEBSITE:
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES:
Company Information
© 2023 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC 2
Western Sugar Cooperative
Denver, Colorado, USA
Agribusiness
www.westernsugar.com
1,000+
Western Sugar Cooperative, founded in 1901, is made up of over 850 growers and shareholders
who take pride in having a long family history in beet sugar. Some are 4th, or even 5th, generation
growers who were born and raised around sugar beets. The lifestyle of hard work and long days
involved in sugar beet growing has been passed down for the 100+ years Western Sugar has
existed.
We are proud to be made in America by American farmers. Sugar produced by Western Sugar
facilities is found in all 50 states in the United States. We are committed to furthering the well-being
of our growers, employees, customers and the communities we operate in.
Environmental best practices help our farmers achieve the following:
• 37% less water
• 47% less fossil fuel
• 80% less herbicide
• 85% of the farmers in Nebraska and Colorado use conservation tillage, which protects the soil
and microbial health
• Farmers have cut greenhouse gas emissions over 80%, and reduced environment impact of
chemical applications by over 99%
CHALLENGE: SOLUTION: OUTCOME:
Sweet Success Streamlining the Invoice Process
© 2023 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC 3
Faster cycle time and cost savings
based on $1.33 cost per invoice before, $1.00 after,
which will grow over time.
33 hours of processing
time saved per month
2000 invoices processed
efficiently per month
25%
Western Sugar Cooperative (Grower Owned)
332000
With 2100+ suppliers, and an ever increasing invoice
and payment volume, processes were manual and
proved to be too time consuming for the staff.
The processes had no exception or error detecting
“system” requiring more time for issues to be fixed.
With 40% of the invoices paper-based, the approach
was not only inefficient, but also unsustainable.
The leadership team prioritized better visibility to all
invoices in one simple work list, and assurance that
the Accounts Payable and Finance team could
dramatically improve operational efficiencies, so that
they could focus on other strategic priorities.
SAP Ariba Central Invoice Management with inbound
processing for SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition
• View all invoices across all channels
• Automate the processing of incoming supplier invoices
to extract relevant data from scanned or digital invoice
documents using Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
• Transform the use of Artificial intelligence (AI) by
automating manual tasks, improving data extraction
and validation, and enable actionable decision-making.
• Drive repetitive and rule-based tasks using SAP
Intelligent Robotic Process Automation (SAP iRPA)
by designing BOTs and automating.
Western Sugar achieved a streamlined invoice
management process, reduced costs, improved
accuracy, enhanced visibility ensuring compliance,
and strengthened supplier relationships.
• Automating tasks including invoice data entry,
matching, and approval workflows dramatically
reducing the time and effort to process invoices.
• Reduced costs from manual data entry, paper-
based processes, and error corrections.
• Faster invoice turnaround times using SAP Ariba
Central Invoice Management + SAP S/4HANA
Cloud to provide integrated financial processes
and central control.
Sweet Success Streamlining the Invoice Process
© 2023 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC 3
Faster cycle time and cost savings
based on $1.33 cost per invoice before, $1.00 after,
which will grow over time.
33 hours of processing
time saved per month
2000 invoices processed
efficiently per month
25%
Western Sugar Cooperative (Grower Owned)
332000
With 2100+ suppliers, and an ever increasing invoice
and payment volume, processes were manual and
proved to be too time consuming for the staff.
The processes had no exception or error detecting
“system” requiring more time for issues to be fixed.
With 40% of the invoices paper-based, the approach
was not only inefficient, but also unsustainable.
The leadership team prioritized better visibility to all
invoices in one simple work list, and assurance that
the Accounts Payable and Finance team could
dramatically improve operational efficiencies, so that
they could focus on other strategic priorities.
SAP Ariba Central Invoice Management with inbound
processing for SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition
• View all invoices across all channels
• Automate the processing of incoming supplier invoices
to extract relevant data from scanned or digital invoice
documents using Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
• Transform the use of Artificial intelligence (AI) by
automating manual tasks, improving data extraction
and validation, and enable actionable decision-making.
• Drive repetitive and rule-based tasks using SAP
Intelligent Robotic Process Automation (SAP iRPA)
by designing BOTs and automating.
Western Sugar achieved a streamlined invoice
management process, reduced costs, improved
accuracy, enhanced visibility ensuring compliance,
and strengthened supplier relationships.
• Automating tasks including invoice data entry,
matching, and approval workflows dramatically
reducing the time and effort to process invoices.
• Reduced costs from manual data entry, paper-
based processes, and error corrections.
• Faster invoice turnaround times using SAP Ariba
Central Invoice Management + SAP S/4HANA
Cloud to provide integrated financial processes
and central control.
© 2023 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC 4
With the centralization of the accounts
payable on one platform, we are able to
consolidate the payable process at our
different plants. This capability enables the
accounts payable managers at the plants
to track, manage, and pay invoices across
different plants. This is huge!
Richard Caluori
Director of Corporate Controlling
With the centralization of the accounts
payable on one platform, we are able to
consolidate the payable process at our
different plants. This capability enables the
accounts payable managers at the plants
to track, manage, and pay invoices across
different plants. This is huge!
Richard Caluori
Director of Corporate Controlling
GLOBAL CHALLENGES BUSINESS CHALLENGES
Challenges and Objectives 1 of 2
© 2023 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC 5
Western Sugar Cooperative works with 2100+ suppliers in its operation, to deliver
products to local and global businesses utilizing sugar as an ingredient for their
products. These customers range from food and beverage manufacturers, to
confectionery companies, and other industries reliant on sugar as a staple
component.
With suppliers, who are a critical part of the value chain, there are a number
of local and global challenges:
• Compliance with local regulations and requirements related to invoicing and
tax compliance. SAP Ariba Central Invoice Management ensures that invoicing
processes align with these regulations.
• Integration with existing Western Sugar systems ensuring seamless data
flow and synchronization between systems is crucial for efficient invoice
management.
• Managing invoices from a diverse set of suppliers across different
geographical locations can be challenging. SAP Ariba Central Invoice
Management provides efficient supplier onboarding processes to streamline
communication and help resolve any invoicing issues effectively.
• Data security and privacy to ensure that the invoice management processes
comply with local and global data protection regulations, such as the General
Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
• Scalability and performance to address the volume of invoices. SAP Ariba
Central Invoice Management can handle large volumes of invoices efficiently
and provide high-performance capabilities.
Western Sugar Cooperative business challenges related to invoice management
include:
• Managing and organizing large volumes of invoice data, ensuring data integrity,
and implementing robust record-keeping practices in an automated system:
SAP Ariba Central Invoice Management and SAP S/4HANA Cloud.
• Leverage AI to enable historic data (e.g., location, cost center) and recommend
how the information will be coded.
o Addressing BOTs capabilities including extracting relevant data, validating
and matching, and tracking status.
• Ensuring that invoices are accurate, complete, and consistent with the
applicable regulations.
o Collecting all required information such as tax identification numbers,
product descriptions, quantities, prices, and applicable taxes, which are
managed and controlled
• Addressing complex tax regulations requiring compliance and reporting.
• Inaccurate, inconsistent, or paper invoices can lead to delays in payment
processing, which reduces suppliers’ satisfaction and performance.
Challenges and Objectives 1 of 2
© 2023 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC 5
Western Sugar Cooperative works with 2100+ suppliers in its operation, to deliver
products to local and global businesses utilizing sugar as an ingredient for their
products. These customers range from food and beverage manufacturers, to
confectionery companies, and other industries reliant on sugar as a staple
component.
With suppliers, who are a critical part of the value chain, there are a number
of local and global challenges:
• Compliance with local regulations and requirements related to invoicing and
tax compliance. SAP Ariba Central Invoice Management ensures that invoicing
processes align with these regulations.
• Integration with existing Western Sugar systems ensuring seamless data
flow and synchronization between systems is crucial for efficient invoice
management.
• Managing invoices from a diverse set of suppliers across different
geographical locations can be challenging. SAP Ariba Central Invoice
Management provides efficient supplier onboarding processes to streamline
communication and help resolve any invoicing issues effectively.
• Data security and privacy to ensure that the invoice management processes
comply with local and global data protection regulations, such as the General
Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
• Scalability and performance to address the volume of invoices. SAP Ariba
Central Invoice Management can handle large volumes of invoices efficiently
and provide high-performance capabilities.
Western Sugar Cooperative business challenges related to invoice management
include:
• Managing and organizing large volumes of invoice data, ensuring data integrity,
and implementing robust record-keeping practices in an automated system:
SAP Ariba Central Invoice Management and SAP S/4HANA Cloud.
• Leverage AI to enable historic data (e.g., location, cost center) and recommend
how the information will be coded.
o Addressing BOTs capabilities including extracting relevant data, validating
and matching, and tracking status.
• Ensuring that invoices are accurate, complete, and consistent with the
applicable regulations.
o Collecting all required information such as tax identification numbers,
product descriptions, quantities, prices, and applicable taxes, which are
managed and controlled
• Addressing complex tax regulations requiring compliance and reporting.
• Inaccurate, inconsistent, or paper invoices can lead to delays in payment
processing, which reduces suppliers’ satisfaction and performance.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES WHY SAP
Challenges and Objectives 2 of 2
© 2023 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC 6
The Western Sugar project team deliver an innovative, automated
(AI enabled) digital invoice solution based on clear objectives:
1. Manage inbound invoices centrally, natively, and seamlessly.
2. View all invoices across all channels in one simple work list.
3. Reduce payment processing costs both on a per invoice basis
and overall.
4. Reduce exceptions leading to reduced payment errors.
5. Handle increased invoice volume processed efficiently allowing
Accounts Payable and Finance staff to be more strategic.
6. Address change management including training and key
stakeholder contributions throughout the implementation.
7. Timely responses and access to the best subject matter
experts to ensure a successful outcome.
8. Improve Accounts Payable staff morale by achieving less
manual clerical work, which helps with employee retention,
skills development, and satisfaction.
Western Sugar has been working with SAP and 3rd party solutions
for many years.
From experiences the leadership team has worked with a variety of
products across different businesses and continents.
One of the advantages of SAP Ariba Central Invoice Management
with inbound processing for SAP S/4HANA Cloud is the drill down
and up functions, the integrity of the data as a whole is better than
what other 3rd party solutions can offer.
The integration capabilities of SAP Ariba Central Invoice
Management are outstanding, because Western Sugar only has to
work with one supplier, which is SAP, and not with two suppliers
which often results in: “that is not what we can solve, please talk to
the other supplier.”
The public cloud version makes sure Western Sugar keeps a clear
core, which includes clean master data, clean processes, and clean
integrations.
Also, the team co-innovates directly with the SAP product team to
provide insights and suggests related to the current experience and
roadmap.
Challenges and Objectives 2 of 2
© 2023 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC 6
The Western Sugar project team deliver an innovative, automated
(AI enabled) digital invoice solution based on clear objectives:
1. Manage inbound invoices centrally, natively, and seamlessly.
2. View all invoices across all channels in one simple work list.
3. Reduce payment processing costs both on a per invoice basis
and overall.
4. Reduce exceptions leading to reduced payment errors.
5. Handle increased invoice volume processed efficiently allowing
Accounts Payable and Finance staff to be more strategic.
6. Address change management including training and key
stakeholder contributions throughout the implementation.
7. Timely responses and access to the best subject matter
experts to ensure a successful outcome.
8. Improve Accounts Payable staff morale by achieving less
manual clerical work, which helps with employee retention,
skills development, and satisfaction.
Western Sugar has been working with SAP and 3rd party solutions
for many years.
From experiences the leadership team has worked with a variety of
products across different businesses and continents.
One of the advantages of SAP Ariba Central Invoice Management
with inbound processing for SAP S/4HANA Cloud is the drill down
and up functions, the integrity of the data as a whole is better than
what other 3rd party solutions can offer.
The integration capabilities of SAP Ariba Central Invoice
Management are outstanding, because Western Sugar only has to
work with one supplier, which is SAP, and not with two suppliers
which often results in: “that is not what we can solve, please talk to
the other supplier.”
The public cloud version makes sure Western Sugar keeps a clear
core, which includes clean master data, clean processes, and clean
integrations.
Also, the team co-innovates directly with the SAP product team to
provide insights and suggests related to the current experience and
roadmap.