AUTOMATION

Global cloud platform, Esker, is helping digitise the industry

Esker has been working in the food and beverage manufacturing industry for the past 15 years and in that time has diversified its market offerings. Adam McCleery talks to Esker’s managing director ANZ.

Esker’s SAP ensures food safety and compliance with industry standards.

The Esker company is a global cloud platform built to unlock strategic value for finance and customer service professionals and strengthen collaboration between companies by automating the cash conversion cycle.

Esker entered the market primarily to automate the processing of customer orders into their ERP, which improves forecast accuracy, and most frequently SAP, which ensures food safety, compliance with industry standards, and simplifying the recall process.

However, in the past few years Esker also started to provide end-toend digitisation of the Order to Cash cycle in its Accounts Receivable.

Esker managing director ANZ, Christophe DuMonet, told Food and Beverage Industry News that the company’s focus has always been to help digitise the industry.

“Esker has also been working with food and beverage companies to drive their digital transformation in Procure to Pay with one of the most advanced Accounts Payable solutions for SAP and other ERPs,” said DuMonet.

“As a solution provider, Esker is assisting companies reduce operational costs and increase cashflow while improving both customer and supplier relationships through a portfolio of process digitisation and automation solutions.”

A key focus of Esker’s goal is to deliver improved productivity for its clients while improving job satisfaction for finance and customer service functions across all industries and specifically in the food and beverage space.

“Esker operates in over 50 countries, directly via its own subsidiaries and via partners. Esker is well placed to assist global food and beverage companies roll out solutions to drive digital transformation in all regions,” said DuMonet.

The services provided by the company are also flexible.

“Esker solutions can easily be localised to the local business requirements – hence avoiding the famous ‘one-size-fits-all’ when this approach clearly does not work in working with customers and suppliers,” said DuMonet.

The use of AI has continued to increase in the sector and Esker is at the forefront of this adaptation.

“AI-driven solutions provide insights into supply chains, customer behaviours, issues and challenges,” said DuMonet.

“As such, AI is already helping companies reduce operational costs and increase cashflows.

“This means that resources can be redirected into areas such as product development, innovation, customer service, customer satisfaction and of course employee skills development.”

And AI is applicable to manufactures of all sizes,

DuMonet continued.

“Niche companies need to access the same solutions as the larger MNCs in order to achieve operational cost reduction, increase cash flows and greater consumer insights,” he said.

“Larger companies, due to their size and market presence, are typically challenged by the standardisation of process without eliminating agility in processes and people.

“In this industry, trends can change quite fast and can also be local hence the need to remain consumer centric while benefiting from digitisation and automation.”

According to DuMonet, future growth can’t be achieved without a harmonious and mutually beneficial business ecosystem.

Esker provides a suite of services to help any manufacturer, large or small, adapt to the increasing digitalisation of the industry. F