Aggregate Industries, a member of the Holcim Group, is a UK-based company headquartered in Leicestershire, renowned for providing sustainable construction materials, including aggregates, asphalt, cement, and ready-mixed concrete.
This case study explores the challenges faced by Aggregate Industries before adopting Causeway's Tradex e-invoicing solution almost 15 years ago and highlights how Causeway Tradex has significantly improved efficiency, accuracy, and compliance, ushering in a new era of streamlined operations.
Aggregate Industries, a member of the Holcim Group, is a UK-based company headquartered in Leicestershire, renowned for providing sustainable construction materials, including aggregates, asphalt, cement, and ready-mixed concrete.
This case study explores the challenges faced by Aggregate Industries before adopting the Causeway Tradex platform almost 15 years ago and highlights how Causeway Tradex has significantly improved efficiency, accuracy, and compliance, ushering in a new era of streamlined operations.
The Challenge
Before embracing Causeway Tradex, Aggregate Industries UK (AIUK) grappled with a multitude of challenges. Sally Giles, the Procure to Pay Manager at Aggregate Industries, shared:
“Our journey to improve the Procure to Pay function began 15 years ago, addressing document processing inefficiencies, paper overload, and invoice accuracy. At the time, the invoicing process was overwhelming.”
Sally and her team were handling a staggering volume of 15,000 to 20,000 invoices monthly, equivalent to 20 post office sacks filled with paper invoices arriving daily.
The daunting issue of invoices frequently lacking valid purchase order (PO) numbers necessitated time-consuming efforts to contact suppliers for the missing information. It was evident that a solution was needed to alleviate the physical paper burden and ensure that invoices arrived ready for processing with the correct PO numbers.
The Solution
In their quest for a solution, AIUK turned to Causeway Tradex, an intuitive platform they believed offered the necessary functionality. The transition was smooth, and the outstanding customer service provided by Causeway was a significant advantage, as noted by Sally:
"From the beginning, Causeway addressed any immediate challenges we had, and since working with them, they have also adapted to our evolving needs over the years."
One standout feature of Causeway Tradex was the PO Validation, preventing suppliers from submitting invoices without a valid PO number. The collaboration with Causeway brought about transformative results. The most evident outcome was the substantial reduction in paper invoices, saving time and resources once spent on handling physical documents.
"PO Validation was a game-changing asset for us. Its introduction significantly reduced the number of queries and rejected invoices, leading to an 8% reduction in queries – which is 1500 documents per month."
The implementation of the PO Validation feature not only curtailed queries but also heightened cash forecasting accuracy. Having a clear picture of invoices within the system has also transformed the way Sally’s team works.
“Providing an accurate cash forecast to our finance team is critical to our business, and ensuring early visibility of our invoices received against the correct PO is a way of ensuring this can be done. Having visibility with Causeway Tradex is essential for my team."
Moreover, enhanced tax validation checks now ensure robust HMRC audit compliance, and any changes to supplier details are meticulously tracked to maintain accuracy and compliance.
"Causeway consistently provides exceptional support, and their platform continues to evolve alongside our business. We now receive 96%+ of our invoices electronically via Causeway Tradex”.
Sally Giles, Pay Manager - AIUK
The Outcome
AIUK has been working with Causeway for over 15 years and is continually impressed by the level of support they receive. Sally believes that Causeway Tradex has played a pivotal role in ensuring supplier compliance.
Speaking about suppliers' experience with Causeway Tradex, Sally shared:
"Our suppliers find Causeway Tradex to be highly accessible, and onboarding new suppliers is a straightforward process. If any issues arise while uploading invoices, our suppliers can directly contact the Causeway support team, which alleviates the burden on my team and proves immensely helpful."
AIUK ‘s partnership with Causeway Tradex exemplifies the adaptability and effectiveness of a collaborative, long-standing relationship that caters to a business's evolving needs.
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