Eliminating Spreadsheet Chaos: 95 % Fewer Errors for a Microfluidic Manufacturer
Industry: Manufacturing
Service: Procure‑to‑Pay Automation
Client Background
The client, an established division with 19 years of microfluidic design and commercialization expertise designs and manufactures a wide portfolio of products using proprietary in‑house technology. To keep R&D and production running smoothly, every department raises frequent purchase requests for materials, tooling, and lab supplies.
Challenges
- Manual, spreadsheet‑driven purchasing: Requests were logged in Excel and re‑keyed into QuickBooks, creating duplicate work.
- Error‑prone data entry: Manual typing introduced frequent coding and unit‑price errors.
- Slow approvals & limited oversight: The COO had to review every requisition, delaying orders and obscuring real‑time budget visibility for department heads.
Our Solution
APS deployed an end‑to‑end purchasing platform tightly integrated with Sage, replacing spreadsheets and email threads:
- Self‑service requisitions with dropdown catalogs and automatic GL coding.
- Multi‑level approvals that route to the right manager – no COO bottleneck.
- Real‑time budget dashboards so managers see committed vs. available funds before approving.
- Hands‑on onboarding by the APS team to map workflows, migrate data, and train users.
Integration choices included Sage Intacct/100; APS configured the connector selected by the finance team.
Results Achieved
In the first two months of taking up the project, our client realized measurable gains across speed, accuracy, and control:
- 95 % reduction in data‑entry errors, thanks to catalog items and direct Sage sync.
- 70 % faster approval cycle -average PO sign‑off fell from 2.3 days to 16 hours.
- 100 % electronic audit trail for every requisition, change, and receipt.
- Zero COO touchpoints on routine orders; department managers now own approvals.
- 35 % improvement in budget adherence, driven by real‑time spend visibility.
As a result, the company gained:
- Higher employee morale, requesters track order status instantly instead of chasing emails.
- Freed executive bandwidth – the COO focuses on strategic initiatives, not PO paperwork.
- Accurate, up‑to‑the‑minute financials for smoother month‑end closes.
- A culture of accountability and data‑driven purchasing across all departments.
APS has turned purchasing from a manual headache into a streamlined, insight‑rich process, positioning this microfluidic innovator for faster growth and flawless operational execution.