Posted on 05/13/18 by Jodi Reimer
Recently we worked with a client using Winshuttle for a number of process improvements within SAP. But a hiccup that consistently plagued them was the Contract Approval Process. Their existing solution created a lack of clear visibility into the process, and the turnaround on Contract Approval Requests through the company’s Legal Triage Group (consisting of various lawyers and administrators) was excessive. Additionally, the developers of their solution, which was based in part on SharePoint 2010, are no longer with the company, making any modifications or simple troubleshooting difficult. It was clear that a better process needed to be implemented to automate the solution using workflows.
Through Process BI, form/workflow, and predefined status steps, the following benefits of the automation occurred:
VISIBILITY: Administrators were able to view the current requests and track accordingly.
AUDITING & REPORTING: Each request is retained in a historical view, and can easily be retrieved, anytime.
WORKFLOW: The current system was reconstructed to include new parties, approvers, and enhanced functionality:
-Query functionality – This provides an option for the user to ask a question to anyone in the organization without missing a step: No longer having to hunt people down, wait for a phone call or email, etc… All the information is stored in the request itself.
-Send Back – This feature empowers the current approver to route the request back to the previous step for additional information.
-Expedite – Enables high ranking lawyers (General Counsel) to create a request and complete with their approval
-Change Tracking – Ability to track document changes and easily recall previous versions. Documents are stored in a separate Document Library with a new document for each version with a predefined naming convention. The user can easily see what the latest document is, or the earliest based on the date.
CONTENT: Easily manage content within the solution with soft coded content, meaning they can easily manage and update content within their solution anytime.
The goal for the improvement with this Contract Approval Request Form was to ensure the various solutions in production worked cohesively in their ecosystem. As an every day example, if you are an iPhone user, you enjoy the benefits of using multiple different applications created by Apple all through your phone and under one ID. In much the same way, the automation of the Contract Approval Request Form brought continuity of having all the other Winshuttle solutions they use – PO Requests, Needs Assessment Form, Vendor Create/Change Form – under one roof, paving the path for scalability and future advancements.
Share on: