The Client
OWNDAYS is a fast-growing Japanese eyewear retailer. A well-loved brand, it has over 350 stores in 11 countries worldwide, with more than 30 located in Singapore.
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OWNDAYS’ Group Financial Controller, Cherie Sim, is using its Singapore Finance operations as a testbed to try out Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solutions, with the vision of applying them across other subsidiaries worldwide.
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Following the successful project in Singapore, she has started introducing RPA to subsidiaries in Thailand and Taiwan.
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The Challenge
OWNDAYS Singapore had to devote one full-time headcount for entering transaction data into SAP. The employee's main responsibility was to perform data entry 8 hours a day.
Not only was this an inefficient use of resources, but human error was common. OWNDAYS' Regional Finance Manager, Gu Yin, estimates that her Accounts Assistant took 1-2 hours every day investigating and correcting these errors.
Common errors include the following:
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Transposition error e.g. 470 turning into 740
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Errors in deciding GL codes based on transaction types
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Typo error resulting in the wrong date, amount, merchant ID, etc.
The Solution
CFB Bots developed an unattended UiPath software bot that automates OWNDAYS’ receipt processing entirely.
The RPA bot performs all the steps done by the staff member without human intervention – at a much greater speed and without error.
The bot is scheduled such that it automatically performs the data entry job every day before the workday even starts. When the Accounts Assistant starts work at 9 am, all the data have been entered and are ready for reconciliation work to start.
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Stability is a key consideration for us.
We chose UiPath because it is a very well-known vendor with many case studies demonstrating the stability of its RPA solutions.
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– Cherie Sim,
Group Financial Controller, OWNDAYS
It’s much smoother now. It’s very accurate, it’s scheduled, it won’t delay any of my work.
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– Gu Yin,
Regional Finance Manager, OWNDAYS
To achieve this, CFB Bots worked closely with OWNDAYS to thoroughly examine its process and break it down into minute, detailed steps that can be smoothly executed by a software bot.
When there was a gap in the process that was not robot-friendly, CFB Bots also proposed an alternative way that succeeded in achieving the desired results.
CFB Bots helped to think of every single step and process – they prompted us and gave us very good guidance.
So, for us, it’s very important to find a suitable vendor that can hold our hand along the way.
– Cherie Sim,
Group Financial Controller, OWNDAYS
The Results
More accurate, timely data for better decision making
OWNDAYS Singapore no longer has to devote 8 hours daily to entering transaction data into SAP and wait for data entry to be completed before proceeding with reconciliation work. Instead, they can now access accurate transaction data – fast – and base decisions on data with much less time lag.
Improved productivity
Eliminating manual data entry altogether frees up the staff member for other responsibilities, so the organisation can now do more with less. In fact, when the employee performing the data entry task coincidentally went on maternity leave, OWNDAYS did not have to hire a replacement.
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Automation also eliminates human errors, so the data entered into SAP is accurate the first time. OWNDAYS’ team no longer spend unnecessary hours looking into errors and rectifying them.
Capacity to build capabilities
Improved productivity frees up staff members for upskilling. OWNDAYS plans to train employees to contribute in higher-value tasks such as financial analysis and to leverage their automation experience to accelerate the pace of automation within the company.
