Cobra Electronics Case Study:
Improving AR exception processes
]
Brian Shannon
Principal Process Strategist
Dolphin Enterprise Solutions
[ CHAVONE JACOBS
ASUG INSTALLATION MEMBER
MEMBER SINCE: 2003
[ ALLAN FISHER
ASUG INSTALLATION MEMBER
MEMBER SINCE: 2008
[ COREY PEARSON
ASUG INSTALLATION MEMBER
MEMBER SINCE: 2008
[ Today’s Topic
Cobra Electronics Corporation, in continuously improving their
business processes and ensuing results, sought to reduce DSO (Days
Sales Outstanding) further by addressing a common problem: delays
in the Deduction Management process.
Today we will examine:
 Business Challenges with Data & Image Management
 Cobra’s Accounts Receivable Solution
 Flexibility of the Solution to other Process Areas
 Making the Business Case
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
2
[ Learning Points
 Supporting documents help to prove/disprove exceptions
when dealing with customer deductions or short pays
 Quickly pulling this relevant ‘audit’ detail for a customer can
save considerable time in the account management process
 This same logic is available for other business processes as
well, including Accounts Payable, HR, Travel & Entertainment,
etc.
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
3
[ Return on Investment
 Reducing Days Sales Outstanding, the measure of effective
Accounts Receivable management, is critical given the
increased emphasis on cash flow today.
 Reducing a customer’s claim to a deduction by proving, for
instance, that the shipment was made in full and signed for by
their employee, is often the evidence necessary.
 Being able to ‘audit’ the customer account for these exceptions
and quickly provide feedback to the customer can help to
reduce DSO.
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
4
[ Best Practices
 Imaging Order & Delivery documents provides timely access to
facilitate a response to customer deductions or queries.
 Save time by collecting all documents related to a document
flow at once rather than individually.
 Batch printing of documents can readily meet the needs of any
audit request quickly.
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
5
[ Cobra Electronics Corporation
Cobra Electronics Corporation is a leading designer of mobile
communications products in the United States, Canada, Europe and
around the world. After 50 years of innovation, the company
continues to grow by boldly entering into new product categories.
Today the company's products include:
 Mobile navigation devices
 Two-way radios
 Radar/laser detectors
 Citizens band radios
 Marine electronics
 Power inverters
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
6
[ Dolphin Enterprise Solutions
A few of our Customers…
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Today’s Topic
Cobra Electronics Corporation, in continuously improving their
business processes and ensuing results, sought to reduce DSO (Days
Sales Outstanding) further by addressing a common problem: delays
in the Deduction Management process.
Today we will examine:
 Business Challenges with Data & Image Management
 Cobra’s Accounts Receivable Solution
 Flexibility of the Solution to other Process Areas
 Making the Business Case
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
8
[Order-to-Cash:
Common Process Challenges
• Complex Sales Orders
• Lack of visibility to documents, transactions
• Too much paper
• Dispute Management is disjointed, paper-based
• Fractured payment application process
• Increased customer inquiries & exceptions
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Order-to-Cash: Common Process Challenges
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Today’s Topic
Cobra Electronics Corporation, in continuously improving their
business processes and ensuing results, sought to reduce DSO (Days
Sales Outstanding) further by addressing a common problem: delays
in the Deduction Management process.
Today we will examine:
 Business Challenges with Data & Image Management
 Cobra’s Accounts Receivable Solution
 Flexibility of the Solution to other Process Areas
 Making the Business Case
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
11
[Cobra & Accounts Receivable – Process Objectives
• Improve Organization’s AR Days Sales Outstanding (DSO)
• Minimize paper’s impact – sales orders, delivery documents, invoices,
remittance detail, deductions
• Efficient routing & transparency of documents/exceptions throughout
organization
• Optimize & conform payments/exceptions to internal/external
standards
• Permit easy, self-service auditing of customer account detail and other
critical SOX documents
Contain costs, optimize cash flow, & mitigate risk
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Order Fulfillment Document Management Solutions
Process Aspect
Pain Point
Solution
Ability to capture shipping
documents
Paper-based, different
logistics systems
Archive SAP Delivery
Documents or Import and
Link from external systems
Proof of delivery required
for dispute resolution
No signed document to
support resolution
Must have scanned, signed
document
Immediate Access to
fulfillment documents
Request access to
document through another
individual/dep’t, delays with
paper routing
Must be linked to proper
SAP transaction and
viewable instantly on-line
Batch print capability for
many documents
Single printing of
documents is ineffective
Batch Output and Merge
capabilities for Customer
Service/Credit
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
process flow for both automated and
[High-level
manual linking of Delivery Documents
Create Delivery Document in
SAP
Manual Step
Outbound Shipping Document is
created normally with a copy
archived and linked to SAP
Delivery Document
SAP Open Barcode Table is updated
with BC value
Customer or Agent Signs
Document
Automated
Step
Print BOL with Barcode
If external programs are used for
formatting, store copy file share
(PDF)
Document is scanned
Dolphin Archives the PDF and links
it to the SAP Delivery Document
Barcode is automatically read and
POD is archived and linked to SAP
Delivery document
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Displaying Outbound Delivery Notes
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Capturing Proof of Deliveries
• Important to get
a signed copy of
BOL for internal
records
• Barcode
(Delivery #) will
be used to match
document to the
delivery in SAP
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Displaying Proof of Deliveries
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Accessing Multiple Documents – Sales Order
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Accessing Multiple Documents – Sales Order
Mall-Mart
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Accessing Multiple Documents – Doc Flow!
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Accessing Multiple Documents – Proof of Delivery
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Accessing Multiple Documents – Doc Flow!
Again!
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Accessing Multiple Documents - Billing
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[But we need more documents from other orders!
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Dolphin Document Navigator and Batch Output
Solution
• Available for a variety of
business process document
management scenarios
• Meets archived document
mass output needs
• Supports batch printing,
downloading, faxing or emailing
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Dolphin Document Navigator – Technical View
• Server-side component performs:
• Content download
• Transformation
• Merging & printing / e-mailing of the documents
• Seamlessly installs on top of popular web servers, including those
shipped with leading ArchiveLink content servers
• Includes sample ABAP program (FI invoices or SD orders) which
communicates with the APS server component via HTTP
• External Programs (e.g. Get Paid) can call the server component
directly via HTTP by passing SAP Doc IDs or via a BAPI to search
via business information (e.g. sold to party)
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Dolphin Document Navigator - Retrieval
Flexible Search
Criteria
Can Search for
Documents:
• across Orders
• across Customers
• across Sales
Organizations
• and more…
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Dolphin Document Navigator – Hit List
Can Select Multiple
Documents and Perform Batch
Output/Printing/Emailing
This will retrieve documents in
background and merge them
into one PDF file
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Dolphin Document Navigator - Output
Output Destination
Screen Appears
Can Print, Fax,
Download, or Email.
Can enter multiple
addresses and long
text messages
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Dolphin Document Navigator – Recipient View
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Dolphin Document Navigator – View as PDF
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Dolphin Document Navigator – View as PDF
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Dolphin Document Navigator – Hit List
Can Select Multiple
Documents and have them
sent to Desktop for viewing
prior to distributing
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Dolphin Document Navigator – Preview
Can Select Email, Fax,
or Print from Desktop
using Desktop Tools
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Dolphin Document Navigator – Email with Client
Tools
Can use Local
Email Address
Book
Can use all editing
features of Mail Client
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Batch Retrieval via Portal
A search on the SD
Order Number can
return all the
supporting documents
from the SD Doc Flow
Can be used for and
with Customer Self
Service Applications
Clicking on a specific
document brings up the
image in the browser
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Today’s Topic
Cobra Electronics Corporation, in continuously improving their
business processes and ensuing results, sought to reduce DSO (Days
Sales Outstanding) further by addressing a common problem: delays
in the Deduction Management process.
Today we will examine:
 Business Challenges with Data & Image Management
 Cobra’s Accounts Receivable Solution
 Flexibility of the Solution to other Process Areas
 Making the Business Case
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
37
[Dolphin Document Navigator and Batch Output
Solution
• Available for a variety of
business process document
management scenarios
• Can manage documents in
multiple SAP instances
• Can manage documents in
SAP & Legacy systems
• Can manage documents
without a specific
transaction in SAP
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Dolphin Document Navigator – Non-SAP SOX
Docs
Configurable
departments &
Document Types to
store Credit, Treasury
or related documents
(FX contracts,
settlements, etc.)
Securely stores PDF, XLS, email or other types of
documents with Create/Change audit tracking
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Today’s Topic
Cobra Electronics Corporation, in continuously improving their
business processes and ensuing results, sought to reduce DSO (Days
Sales Outstanding) further by addressing a common problem: delays
in the Deduction Management process.
Today we will examine:
 Business Challenges with Data & Image Management
 Cobra’s Accounts Receivable Solution
 Flexibility of the Solution to other Process Areas
 Making the Business Case
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
40
[Business Case: Why Optimize in an Economic
Downturn?
• Reduce costs associated with manual, non-standard
processes & exceptions
• Support corporate finance need to unlock cash flows
• Provide enhanced customer experience
• Support external regulator and the internal auditor in
quest for better controls and compliance
Adaptive technology & process optimization deliver
game‐changing results.
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Cobra Results
• From 3 days to minutes…
• 360 degree perspective from desktop
• Reduced DSO
• Customer Satisfaction improved
• Project completed in 37 days, very little IT resources
required
• Treasury documents with no related SAP transaction
can now be stored in CS
• Secure document retention a win for CFO team
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Order-to-Cash: Dolphin Solution Opportunities
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Constrained Organizations: Embrace Optimization
• Engage ‘support’ constituents: Sales & Marketing,
Finance
• Grasp reality: take off ‘As-Is’ rose-colored glasses
• Understand your metrics
• Enlist a strong, senior project sponsor/executive
• Accept change: demonstrate a willingness to
standardize the process & fit to “best practice”
• Automate, Automate, Automate
• Prove the worth: calculate and boldly publish benefits
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[Dolphin Competitive Advantage
• Smart, Flexible, High-Performance Solutions
• SAP centric
• Customer focused
• Dolphin gets you to your solution - faster
• Fast ROI and low TCO
• A team of experts
• SAP Certified/SAP Partner
• A leader in the SAP Market
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[
]
Thank you for participating.
Contact:
Jim Lancaster
jim.lancaster@dolphin-corp.com
Phone: 636.561.0727
Brian Shannon
Brian.shannon@dolphin-corp.com
Phone: 734.904.3832
www.dolphin-corp.com
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
46