From order to invoice

Cooperation "Die Privathoteliers.de" - Purchasing advantages through volume bundling in a shared system

jb-x business solutions GmbH started in 2006 with the idea of a supplier-independent eProcurement system with transfer of data to downstream ERP systems, no installation on the customer side and easy to use. In this context, the eProcurement system should enable order entry before subsequent processing of the goods delivery and invoice verification is booked in the ERP system. The use of a web-based ordering system supported the simple integration of many orderers with almost no training effort. The automated system-supported comparison of purchase order data with goods receipt and invoice (P2P -Procure-to-Pay processing) should reduce price or quantity variances.

With the increasing use of smart cell phones and tablet PCs, mobile data entry options for orders, goods receipts, inventories or invoice approvals followed in order to meet the in-house mobility of hotel employees or employees of care businesses. Due to the customer structure and the affinity to food processing companies, recipe and menu planning were subsequently implemented as additional modules and with the implementation of the LMIV regulation, allergens, nutritional values and additives were also integrated into the platform.

From the point of view of an eProcurement system, topics adjacent to purchasing should then also be mapped in the solution in order to support a reduction of systems and avoid the complexity of numerous interfaces.

The consideration of price lists as contractual agreements then led to the extension with the "contract management" module. The monitoring of supplier agreements was thus implemented, but at the same time became usable for any kind of contracts, such as utility, leasing or rental agreements. Following the approach of digitalization, a comprehensive invoice management module and OCR recognition for invoices were also implemented within the jb-x eBusiness Suite. The extensions of the modules and functionalities, many of which were created together with customers in customer projects, proved to be important building blocks to be able to represent all important processes from procurement to invoice control within one solution.

Even before the special pandemic years, clear trends were already apparent. As a result of ever fewer personnel resources in the hotel and care sector, the need for more effective systems and the demand for systems that can run stably with little training effort and little system support grew. Browser and catalog-based systems for purchasing and invoice management offer ideal conditions for mapping the outlined requirements with fewer resources needed for IT, procurement and accounts payable! Ease of use, location and device independence promote extensive usability for virtually all procurement operations.

If cash register sales or occupancy days are also included in the analysis, meaningful reports can be created on the cost of sales ratios in the hotel industry or the number of food service days ( FSD) in the care sector. In many companies, these key figures are used to assess profitability and to control the catering units without the need to prepare time-consuming, recipe-specific individual costs.

The cooperation of private hoteliers has been using the jb-x eBusiness Suite as a purchasing and invoice management portal since 2009. The association of private hoteliers in Bavaria, among others Schloss Elmau (Elmau), Bachmair Weissach (Kreuth at the Tegernsee), Sonnenalp (Ofterschwang), Staudacherhof (Garmisch) or businesses of Geisel Hotels, Platzl Hotel, Infinity or Brenner (all in Munich) have been working with the solution within the cooperation for many years. (see www.die-privathoteliers.de)

Initially used for order processing, the jb-x eBusiness suite also covers enterprise resource planning, invoice management and contract management for more and more companies.

In the system, uniform prices of jointly negotiated supplier catalogs are used to achieve better prices on the customer side through volume bundling. For more information, please contact www.jb-x.de.

Jb-x business solutions GmbH offers development, conception, implementation and operation of B2B web projects. The main focus is on purchasing and sales portals based on the jb-x eBusiness Suite and their integration into the software landscape of corporations, cooperations and purchasing companies.

Services for the operation of a portal. Supervision, further development, support, hosting and content management complement the portfolio as a software provider and offer the possibility of fully operating a purchasing or sales portal with a partner.