Digitalization of Delivery and Inspection Reports | ARXivar

Challenge

Every company that manages external supplies is well aware of the complexity involved in verifying and formally accepting deliveries. The Delivery and Inspection Report is the document that certifies the condition of the goods or services received, involves multiple company stakeholders, and, if not managed rigorously, can become a bottleneck that slows down the procure-to-pay cycle, from goods receipt to authorization of the supplier’s invoice payment.

The customer company, which has been operating in the high-end faucets industry for decades, managed this process manually and in a fragmented way. Reports were completed on paper or in unstructured files, circulated by email between different departments, and often lost in the maze of inboxes. There was no defined approval process: every rejection, request for additional information, and delegation was handled informally. The result was a complete lack of visibility into the status of open reports, with frequent payment delays and difficulties in reconstructing the history of decisions made.

The solution

With the Purchasing Department involved first, followed by the other departments involved in the process, a solution based on ARXivar Document & Workflow Platform was designed and implemented to digitalize the entire report workflow, from issuance to closure, integrating the document management system with the company’s existing ERP system (Embyon).

The process starts automatically: as soon as the document is generated in the ERP system, a PDF file is created and ARXivar imports it together with the purchase order and any attachments, initiating the workflow. The requester receives a notification and completes the report in PDF format, ensuring that all mandatory fields are filled in and that all required documents are attached before proceeding.

The approval workflow is multi-level and fully configurable: from the requester to their manager, from Accounts Payable to the Purchasing Department, and finally to management for final approval. Each step allows the document to be rejected with explanatory notes, sending it back to the previous step for the necessary corrections. Delegations are managed directly within the system, eliminating the need for informal communications.

At the customer’s explicit request, the process also integrates automations that “stamp” the document, leaving a visual record of the approval process.

At any time, it is possible to monitor the progress of the various cases through a dedicated view and fields indicating the current status.

Results

The adoption of the solution transformed a disorganized process into a structured, traceable, and measurable workflow. Report processing times were significantly reduced: what previously required days of waiting between departments can now be completed within a few hours, directly impacting the speed of the procure-to-pay cycle.

Each report now includes a complete history: who approved or rejected it, when, and for what reasons. This transparency has eliminated internal disputes, simplified accounting checks, and provided the company with a solid documentary basis for managing warranties and disputes with suppliers.

Finally, the elimination of paper and informal communications has freed up valuable time for the departments involved, allowing them to focus on higher-value activities, with the assurance that no report will be lost or overlooked in the workflow.