As organizations evolve and process automation takes center stage, many finance teams are looking at how to effectively manage and automate invoice data. With tools specialized in helping optimize and take the manual work out of these processes for SAP customers, invoice data management has become easier and touchless as ever.
Large organizations like Nvidia and Toro that run operations in SAP, are turning to OpenText Vendor Invoice Management (VIM) for end-to-end automation of their invoice process. These implementations have helped enhance performance by removing the need for manual processing by 325%, and achieving faster cycle times by 112 hours, all while ensuring adherence to over 145 global compliance regulations.
But how?
In this article, we will deep dive into an invoice data management case study and discover how these two organizations have used SAP VIM by OpenText for supplier invoice process automation:
Toro: Invoice Processing Automation for 85%+ Touchless Process
Toro is a leading global provider of innovative solutions for outdoor environments. Founded in 1914, the company has now expanded to 125+ countries. It has over 6,800 worldwide employees and an approximate annual revenue of $4.5B.
In 2021, Toro undertook an important endeavor to digitize its invoice processing operations. With 100 years of growth and geographical expansions, the company has experienced several modernizations throughout its history. Despite these advancements, the team still grappled with the labor-intensive nature and lengthy duration of its vendor invoicing processes. The lack of automation in their financial workflows hindered Toro’s scalability and prevented effective performance measurement.
Seeking assistance in its modernization processes, Toro connected with Auritas. The first step is drafting an action plan to address the company’s pain points in the P2P space. Starting with a comprehensive assessment of the current invoicing process, the project focused on enabling Toro to scale its invoicing operations with ease. By implementing standard global practices, the experts invested in developing and tracking performance metrics to track progress.
In addition to process changes, to ensure end-to-end invoicing automation, the company chose to implement the market-leading invoicing solution: SAP Vendor Invoice Management by OpenText.
To adopt the tool, Auritas’ experts implemented SAP validation, rejection, exception handling, workflow, approval, and posting, with minimal SAP customizations in Toro’s environment. It also integrated EDI and auto-ingest emailed invoices, automating and simplifying the process. Finally, it built an integration with a future-state supplier portal.
To ensure a successful implementation, the project was divided into five phases:
- Digitalize – Focused on growing EDI invoice usage, automating email processes, and reducing paper to drive early digitization.
- Standardize – Streamlined operations by standardizing processes, updating policies, and eliminating unnecessary touch points.
- Accelerate – Increased speed and efficiency through PO-driven workflows, line-item match acceleration, exception path automation, and analytics.
- Operate – Established a Shared Services Center (SSC), tracked performance, benchmarked results, and drove vendor adoption.
- Optimize – Delivered ongoing value through actionable improvements, supplier portal integration, and a continuous improvement model.
Another important aspect of the solution was focusing on leading change through business processes, not just technology, and building a cross-functional change coalition to embed the cultural change.
In just over 12 months, the project drove a comprehensive list of benefits for Toro, which also plans to continue investing in growing and improving their processes with Auritas.
- Over 700 thousand invoices processed – EDI 55% and email and paper 45%
- The touchless process went from 0-20% to 85+% globally.
- Cycle time was reduced from 18 to 4.5 days.
- Relationships with suppliers were greatly improved.
Toro’s journey highlights how a phased, business-led approach can turn a century-old, highly manual invoicing process into an 85%+ touchless global operation with faster cycle times and stronger supplier relationships.
Nvidia: Transforming Invoice Processing Automation for Global Standardization and Efficiency
NVIDIA Corporation, one of the world’s largest companies, is known for its cutting-edge mobile technologies and integrated circuits. With a revenue of over $130 billion, the company operates in over 38 countries and oversees 135+ subsidiaries.
In 2019, NVIDIA attempted to modernize its invoice processing system, but faced setbacks, including production failures, operational risks, compliance challenges, and business continuity threats. These challenges prompted NVIDIA to seek a more effective solution. Partnering with SAP, OpenText, and Auritas, the company aimed to optimize its invoice processing automation and transform its entire procure-to-pay (P2P) process.
Auritas’ team worked closely with NVIDIA to develop an effective action plan for invoice processing automation with OpenText Vendor Invoice Management (VIM) for SAP. The solution began with a global template for invoice management, initially focusing on indirect spend before expanding to direct spend. By targeting best-in-class operational metrics, the team sought to align NVIDIA’s procure-to-pay system, decommissioning legacy systems that were no longer in use while ensuring that retired data remained accessible.
The transformation also involved several innovative steps to modernize and digitize financial processes. This included vendor master cleanup, AI-powered optimization of top vendors, and the implementation of Fiori apps to streamline processes. The initiative was carried out in two phases:
- Phase 1 focused on creating a global blueprint and obtaining buy-in from stakeholders across the organization.
- Phase 2 added more advanced features, such as AI optimization and PO matching, to enhance the scalability and efficiency of the accounts payable (AP) solution.
A change management strategy was also integrated into the plan to ensure that more than 20,000 employees adopted the new system. This holistic approach not only resolved the operational and compliance risks but also laid the foundation for sustainable growth and uninterrupted business continuity.
The partnership between NVIDIA and Auritas successfully addressed scalability issues with NVIDIA’s previous AP solution, enabling the company to achieve best-in-class operational metrics. The transformation of NVIDIA’s invoice processing automation system led to significant results:
- Achieved 51% touchless global automation within three months and established a unified ECC platform for 49 entities.
- Addressed 145 global requirements and implemented scalable automation with standardized workflows.
- Enabled an intuitive, mobile-enabled FIORI user experience and ensured global standardization of the indirect and direct invoice process.
- Improved compliance, security, and visibility with a single system of document control, meeting local regulations.
NVIDIA’s experience underscores the power of a unified global template, AI-enhanced optimization, and enterprise-wide change management, resulting in a resilient, standardized, and highly automated invoice ecosystem that supports growth across 49 entities.
Conclusion
The transformation seen at Toro and NVIDIA demonstrates the profound impact that OpenText Vendor Invoice Management (VIM) can have on finance operations. By embracing strategic automation, standardization, and data-driven process design, both organizations were able to overcome long-standing challenges in scalability, visibility, and compliance while dramatically improving efficiency.
Across both case studies, the value of SAP VIM implemented with the right expertise is clear: accelerated processing, reduced manual intervention, improved accuracy and compliance, and the ability to scale with confidence. As organizations continue to pursue digital transformation in finance, these results reinforce the role of intelligent invoice management as a critical enabler of operational excellence and long-term business success.
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