A AAAA Better Decisions, Faster S Solution ...solution that could help streamline the process while...
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A Better Decisions, Faster S E S T U D Y Oxford University Press South Africa has implemented QlikView with information management solution specialists, Decision Inc. The solution has improved their royalty payments process, significantly reducing the paper, time and effort required to manage royalties. About the client he client he client he client Oxford University Press South Africa (OUPSA) is one of the leading educational publishers in South Africa, producing a wide range of quality curriculum-compliant educational material. Oxford has more than 2,700 locally-published books in 11 languages, written by close to 1,000 South African authors. They also sell educational books published by other Oxford branches around the world. Problem Problem Problem Problem OUPSA uses QlikView in many areas of the business. The challenge faced by OUPSA in this instance was the process of checking the royalties of their extensive author base. Their original methodology was time consuming, complex and susceptible to error. The company needed a technology solution that could help streamline the process while allowing for improved accuracy and ease of use, and deeper consolidation of data. The OUPSA royalty statements are sent to authors annually. Each year, the process of checking the statements using the old system required manual checking of printed statements to determine that the number of sales equated correctly to the calculated royalty amounts that had to be paid. Vast piles of paper would be carefully sifted through, ticked off and submitted to finance. At this point, finance would then check their paperwork to ensure that everything was correct and authorise payments. The process was slow, complex and time consuming - the old system needed to change. Solution Solution Solution Solution Says Andrew Espin, General Manager for Decision Inc.’s Cape branch “We recognised that accuracy and accessibility were key to the client. The final design needed to ensure that progress on checking author statements was easy to track and that management had visibility of the process.” Decision Inc. worked closely with OUPSA to establish precisely what parameters needed to be adhered to and devised a solution that recognised the limitations and demands of the royalty system. Espin continues “Utilising leading BI tool QlikView, we pulled the royalty statements into a QlikView model that ran through OUPSA’s existing enterprise resource planning software (ERP), SAP. We designed a system where the publishers could go into the QlikView model, click on their name, select their author and instantly check to see the values on their royalty statements” Results Results Results Results In addition to swift and easy access to author royalties, the system highlights statements that that still require publisher verification. A tap of a button allows the publisher to instantly let the finance department know that a particular statement has been checked and can be processed. The solution has eliminated the need for giant piles of printed paper statements and has instead consolidated all information into one area where finance and publishing can see progress, royalties, statements and values. Solution Overview Solution Overview Solution Overview Solution Overview Client: Client: Client: Client: Solution: Solution: Solution: Solution: Industry: ndustry: ndustry: ndustry: Publishing Location: Location: Location: Location: South Africa "It's been a great time saver. The way this process was done previously didn't give the finance department a robust way to monitor the progress of the royalty checking by the publishing department. Now they can see exactly how the process is moving and manage queries efficiently". - Leanne Luger Leanne Luger Leanne Luger Leanne Luger, Operations Director for OUPSA Oxford University Press South Africa’s royalty checking goes paperless with Decision Inc. and QlikView C A S E S T U D Y www.decisioninc.co.za
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Oxford University Press South Africa has implemented QlikView with information management solution specialists, Decision Inc. The solution has improved their royalty payments process, significantly reducing the paper, time and effort required to manage royalties.
AAAAbbbboooouuuutttt tttthe clienthe clienthe clienthe client Oxford University Press South Africa (OUPSA) is one of the leading educational publishers in South Africa, producing a wide range of quality curriculum-compliant educational material. Oxford has more than 2,700 locally-published books in 11 languages, written by close to 1,000 South African authors. They also sell educational books published by other Oxford branches around the world.
ProblemProblemProblemProblem OUPSA uses QlikView in many areas of the business. The challenge faced by OUPSA in this instance was the process of checking the royalties of their extensive author base. Their original methodology was time consuming, complex and susceptible to error. The company needed a technology solution that could help streamline the process while allowing for improved accuracy and ease of use, and deeper consolidation of data.
The OUPSA royalty statements are sent to authors annually. Each year, the process of checking the statements using the old system required manual checking of printed statements to determine that the number of sales equated correctly to the calculated royalty amounts that had to be paid.
Vast piles of paper would be carefully sifted through, ticked off and submitted to finance. At this point, finance would then check their paperwork to ensure that everything was correct and authorise payments. The process was slow, complex and time consuming - the old system needed to change.
SolutionSolutionSolutionSolution Says Andrew Espin, General Manager for Decision Inc.’s Cape branch “We recognised that accuracy and accessibility were key to the client. The final design needed to ensure that progress on checking author statements was easy to track and that management had visibility of the process.”
Decision Inc. worked closely with OUPSA to establish precisely what parameters needed to be adhered to and devised a solution that recognised the limitations and demands of the royalty system.
Espin continues “Utilising leading BI tool QlikView, we pulled the royalty statements into a QlikView model that ran through OUPSA’s existing enterprise resource planning software (ERP), SAP. We designed a system where the publishers could go into the QlikView model, click on their name, select their author and instantly check to see the values on their royalty statements”
ResultsResultsResultsResults In addition to swift and easy access to author royalties, the system highlights statements that that still require publisher verification. A tap of a button allows the publisher to instantly let the finance department know that a particular statement has been checked and can be processed. The solution has eliminated the need for giant piles of printed paper statements and has instead consolidated all information into one area where finance and publishing can see progress, royalties, statements and values.
Solution OverviewSolution OverviewSolution OverviewSolution Overview
Client:Client:Client:Client:
Solution: Solution: Solution: Solution:
IIIIndustry:ndustry:ndustry:ndustry: Publishing
Location:Location:Location:Location: South Africa
"It's been a great time saver. The way this process was
done previously didn't give the finance department a
robust way to monitor the progress of the royalty
checking by the publishing department. Now they can
see exactly how the process is moving and manage
queries efficiently".
- Leanne LugerLeanne LugerLeanne LugerLeanne Luger, Operations Director for OUPSA
Oxford University Press South Africa’s royalty checking
goes paperless with Decision Inc. and QlikView
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www.decisioninc.co.za
The QlikView solution has handed OUPSA a far more reliable and accurate tool that reduces time spent on printing and assessments for all departments. While publishers and finance still need to check items, they no longer need to print out thousands of statements and run the risk of waste and error.
The system has also introduced a reconciliation feature that alerts both publisher and the finance department of any variance should something change at any time during the process. If a publisher, for example, has verified a number for an author and something changes, the reloaded statement will show the amount that the publisher verified is incorrect against the royalty statement and allows for finance to instantly make the relevant changes or contact the publisher for confirmation.
Change management was a critical component of successful roll out. Initially, users were shown how to use the system and, based on further training iterations, modifications were introduced based on user feedback so as to create an even richer end result.
In a further phase of the implementation, the solution was adapted to make data management simpler by bringing relevant information into one place so that users could instantly see what they needed when planning the royalty statement run each year. The final solution pulled the sales data for the book and the royalty statement information into one central area, as well as showing other relevant author meta data.
For OUPSA, the implementation by Decision Inc. has allowed them far richer access to information, and data is seamlessly consolidated into one space for improved collaboration, verification and processing. It has helped the publishers ensure that all authors are correctly verified and amounts accurately assessed.
For the finance department it has provided an additional layer of security and given them greater control over confirming the accuracy of the statements. To make life easier, Decision Inc. also introduced data visualisation to the front page of the system so publishers can see how far they are through the process, what percentage of remains and lets them know when they hit 100%.
The implementation has ticked all of the boxes for OUPSA. Finance appreciates the extensive monitoring capabilities while publishers are enjoying the functionality consolidating ISBN and author information. Queries can be raised within the system and sent to all necessary departments and individuals, thereby ensuring that any discrepancies are easily and quickly resolved.
Leanne Luger, Operations Director for OUPSA concludes "It's been a great time saver. The way this process was done previously didn't give the finance department a robust way to monitor the progress of the royalty checking by the publishing department. Now they can see exactly how the process is moving and manage queries efficiently".
A disjointed, paper-heavy process has been transformed into one that hands greater control to the client and has no stacks of paper cluttering office space and impacting on productivity. Royalty statements are run out of SAP, data is instantly accessible, by authorised staff, at the click of a button and information is consolidated into one central, secure repository.
The royalties model from Decision Inc. has changed the way that OUPSA manages annual royalty process and both client and provider are impressed how seamlessly it has integrated.
www.decisioninc.co.za
