| OVERVIEW
ProcureAgent™ offers benefits to an organization including
visibility and control over indirect spend, streamlined order processing,
vendor management, asset management, and workflow approval automation.
The key benefit of ProcureAgent™ over competitive solutions
is the intelligent and simplified implementation and maintenance
of the solution. As a hosted solution, ProcureAgent™ requires
minimal resources from a customer’s information technology
staff.
1) Gain improved visibility and controls over
indirect spending, thus meeting aggressive cost reduction goals
ProcureAgent™ sets the foundation for future expansion to
eControlAgent™, which posts all indirect spending proposals
against appropriated budgets for each sub organization. This allows
both requestors and approvers to make decisions examining the impact
of spending on the budget prior to making commitments.
2) Sophisticated, yet easy to use means of submitting
requisitions and payment requests
A. END USER
For the end user, ProcureAgent™ removes much of
the burden associated with filling out requisitions. ProcureAgent™:
a) interprets the approval requirements and routes the requisitions,
securing the necessary approval and sending orders to the appropriate
vendors,
b) manages a preferred vendor list for each category of services
and products, enabling end users to choose from the preferred
vendor list or propose a new vendor,
c) informs the end user regarding the status of requisitions,
including internal approval status, vendor action status, and
carrier’s delivery status.
B. APPROVERS
For each approver, ProcureAgent™ collates all requests
ready for them to approve, reject, postpone a decision, or delegate
the decision. ProcureAgent™ then carries the request forward
to next handler for processing.
C. VENDORS
For integrated vendors ProcureAgent™ helps them to,
a) provide a current catalog to the customer,
b) provide users real time information on both availability of
products and order fulfillment status,
c) provide real time delivery status from carriers,
d) electronically invoice the customer, enabling ProcureAgent™
to route the invoice for authorization of payment,
e) to compare customer POs against incoming invoices to prevent
customer from making duplicate payments,
f) manage warranty claims by readily accessing the procurement
history of the defective product,
For vendors subscribing to InvoiceAgent™, ProcureAgent™
helps them to,
a) electronically invoice the customer by enabling ProcureAgent™
to route the invoice to gain authorization for payment,
b) attach their own invoice to the electronic invoice,
c) compare the customer’s PO against their invoice to prevent
them from double invoicing,
d) view new customer orders that need to be filled.
D. ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
For a customer’s Accounts payable, ProcureAgent™ provides
user interfaces to:
a) export authorized payment requests for payment processing,
b) compare a customer’s POs against vendor invoices to prevent
double payment,
c) load orphan vendor invoices without any clues to be posted
for adoption within.
3) Incorporate process improvements that will
reduce overall transaction costs.
This proposal, when implemented, reduces the workloads of requestors,
approver, vendors, accounts payables, accounting, and auditing.
It also sets the foundation to implement greater accountability
of all sub organizations.
4) Hosted solution that is easy to setup, configure
and maintain.
ProcureAgent™ is a hosted solution which requires little
to no assistant from a customer’s information technology department
for implementation and maintenance. The system allows for setup
and launch of the system within 30-60 days of project initiation.
ProcureAgent™ does not require costly and disruptive integration
with a customer’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions.
DomiNet provides the content and pricing updates without requiring
manual batch file updates from a customer’s vendors by using
XML technology to major distributors for various product categories
(including information technology and office supplies). Users profiles,
approval routes, and vendor additions and changes are supported
by DomiNet’s novel “propose and adopt” methodology
which greatly reduces the cost of managing and maintaining the ProcureAgent™
system.
SYSTEM FEATURES
ON-LINE WEBSITE
DomiNet will create a dedicated procurement site for customers which
offers:
a) Secure log-in, with passwords configured to expire at intervals
set by the customer;
b) A product search engine, which allows users to search and request
products from the corporate standards catalog, an IT catalog, an
office supply catalog, or request non-catalog products by category;
c) The capability of adding other catalogs based on UNSPSC standards;
d) An action request menu, which organizes and displays items waiting
for the user’s action, such as approving requisitions, and
approving invoice payment;
e) The ability to track the status of a requisition real-time.
Catalog Maintenance for IT Products
DomiNet currently maintains an industry standard catalog for IT
products. The catalogs are directly linked to major distributors
e.g.:
Ingram Micro Inc.
TechData
Kingston
DomiNet updates this catalog content on a weekly basis, acquires
real time availability of specific products, and tracks the order
fulfillment status of customer orders.
Catalog Maintenance of Office Products
DomiNet maintains an office supply catalog with a full range of
products from United Stationers Inc. on a quarterly basis.
The distributor, United Stationers Inc. delivers products directly
to customers through its extensive distribution network: 38 regional
distribution centers handling general line office products, 25 distribution
centers dedicated to serving the janitorial and sanitation industry,
six distribution centers that serve computer supply resellers, two
distribution centers that serve the Canadian marketplace. This allows
United to reach nearly every reseller or consumer in the U.S. within
24 hours.
Creating Corporate Standard
ProcureAgent™ provides tools to help your organization create
and modify a customized corporate standards catalog, including both
online catalog and non-catalog products. This tool allows users
to introduce a new category, structure the hierarchy of categories,
rename categories, and select products from the general catalog
and insert them into the standard catalog. These tools can be used
either by a customer’s vendors, or by the customer’s
authorized employees.
Contract Pricing
ProcureAgent™ captures the vendor’s cost for IT and
Office Supply products and gives vendors, such as Computize, a flexible
tool for applying contract pricing agreements. Vendors can determine
pricing rules in terms of categories and manufacturer.
Routing Requisitions
ProcureAgent™ routes requisitions based on routing rules set
specifically for the customer. Rules can be customized in terms
of category of product and services, the position of the requestor,
the realm, requisition amount, fund source, etc. Realm may be any
segment, e.g. cost center, product line or the entire organization.
For example, a requisition may be routed to the financial position
holder for a specific cost center whenever a member of that cost
center submits a requisition.
ProcureAgent™ supports routing rules that route requisitions
to one approver, or through multiple approval levels. The first
approver determines the route to the next approver, etc.
Approver Delegation
ProcureAgent™ supports both automatic and manual delegation
of approval authority. Automatic delegation may be set for the duration
of an approver’s vacation, or by categories of services and
products in the requisition, such as IT product requests, or air
conditioner service requests.
Direct Ordering
ProcureAgent™ handles the direct order using either the routing
rules or by providing options to the user. For example, a customer
may set a rule such that orders for office supply products are direct
orders that do not require the intervention of procurement personnel.
ProcureAgent™ will route the requisition directly to the vendor
for order fulfillment.
Terms of Payment
ProcureAgent™ supports the use of credit cards, individualized
procurement cards, merchant or corporate ghost cards, net term,
and open orders. We can provide users with a full range of payment
options, or limit their options based on rules set by the customer.
ProcureAgent™ is capable of supporting any type of payment
the vendor accepts, can route any statements or invoices for approval,
and can determine those that are ready to be paid. It can also handle
partial payment of statements and invoices.
Receiving
ProcureAgent™ supports delivery to central receiving, as well
as desk-top receiving and assumed receiving, either based on specified
rules or user’s option.
DOMINET PROVIDES A UNIQUE PATENT-PENDING PROCESS
FOR HANDLING NON-CATALOG ITEMS.
Requisitioning by Category
ProcureAgent™ provides a patent-pending novel process
for handling non-catalog items which allows users to request a category
as if it were a product. The requestor first chooses a category
of products and services from among those that her position allows
her to select. (A customer can set category access by position.
For example, an engineer engaged in R&D may be able to request
legal services, but not real estate services.)
Let’s say the user chooses the legal services category, she
can then:
a) enter an estimated cost for the service if she can guess the
amount,
b) attach one or more files in Word, Excel, PDF, Flash, Shockwave,
text, or any other format from her computer to specify the goods
and/or services required, attach quotes, or a statement of work
and any other appropriate documents for the supplier.
c) choose a vendor, (e.g. law firm), from among those that the customer
recommends, or enter an unlisted vendor for approval.
Routing, Receiving and Delegating
ProcureAgent™ then handles the routing, receiving,
and delegating process for non-catalog items in the same way that
it handles cataloged items.
For example, whether or not the approval routing for a non-catalog
request includes a procurement buyer can be determined by the user,
approver or a routing rule. The rule adopted can be configured to
depend on the category of the non-catalog item requested.
Purchase Orders
ProcureAgent™ is capable of processing customer requisitions
with or without a customer-issued PO number. ProcureAgent™,
however, issues its own tracking ID number in order to tie requisitions
to vendor invoices. It also uses the tracking ID to find out who
should approve Payment Requests.
Post-Delivery Requisitions
When a user has received products or services ordered verbally or
manually, without submitting a requisition through the ProcureAgent™
system, he can request payment by submitting a Post-Delivery Requisition
(PDR). The PDR menu takes the requester through these steps:
a) Define what category of products and services he has acquired,
and
b) Enter the vendor ID and vendor invoice number to pay
The PDR is then routed to the approver and then payables based
on the routing rules set.
Electronic Invoicing
Vendors will provide electronic invoicing to ProcureAgent™
by either tightly integrating with DomiNet or by subscribing to
our hosted InvoiceAgent™ system.
a) Vendors tightly integrated, such as Computize, adopt the product
description and product ID that ProcureAgent™ uses, including
the corporate standard items that the customer chooses. When these
vendors invoice the customer, ProcureAgent™ compares each
item invoiced against the items that the customer ordered to verify
POs.
b) Vendors who are not tightly integrated with DomiNet can still
send electronic invoices to ProcureAgent™ by subscribing to
InvoiceAgent™. When the customer approves a PO to a subscribing
vendor, InvoiceAgent™ sends an e-mail notification to the
vendor, inviting them to the InvoiceAgent™ site. When the
vendor visits the InvoiceAgent™ site, they can view all unfilled
POs that the customer has issued to them, and load all or a potion
of the PO items to an invoice, entering an invoice number. Vendors
can also attach any type of document to the invoice electronically.
This electronic package is then routed to the customer for payment.
When a vendor, either tightly integrated or subscribing to InvoiceAgent™,
sends an invoice to the customer, ProcureAgent™ triggers an
e-mail to the invoice approver at the customer inviting her to invoke
the approval review process. ProcureAgent™, then routes the
approved invoices based on routing rules applicable for the invoice.
c) Vendors who are not integrated with DomiNet and who choose not
to subscribe to InvoiceAgent™ cannot send invoices electronically.
However, these non-subscribing vendors will receive email notification
when the customer issues them an order through the ProcureAgent™
system, and they can send their invoices to the customer manually.
When the customer’s payables department receives these manual
invoices, they will see the customer’s PO number or the ProcureAgent™
issued tracking ID number that was emailed to the vendor, they will
find the PO, and manually trigger routing of the PO for payment
authorization through ProcureAgent™.
ProcureAgent™ is capable of handling any kind of payment
as long as the vendor accepts that form of payment. It can route
any statements or invoices for approval and determine those that
are ready to be paid. It handles partial payment of statements and
invoices. ProcureAgent™ then exports invoices to the customer’s
payment system.
1. Technology
- Integration with existing (QAD, PeopleSoft)
and future systems (Oracle, SAP, PeopleSoft)
DomiNet will engage in any integration need that our customer
has on a fee for service basis.
- Report generation capabilities
ProcureAgent™ provides standard forms mainly for querying
and providing information for making decisions. These forms can
be configured to include and exclude certain columns of data.
- Web-based ASP solution
All the solutions describe in this proposal are Web-based ASP
solutions.
- Utilizes industry standards
All solutions described in this proposal are based on industry
standards. The solution also includes features for customize descriptions
and structure. For example, when ac customer creates its own corporate
standard product catalog, it may override the industry standard
descriptions with its own set of description.
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