NVD Beveiligingsgroep

NVD Beveiligingsgroep provides security in the broadest sense of the word. From a reception desk crew to complete security systems, the company provides all facets of security. This approach places it among the top four market players in the Netherlands. Yet NVD always finds the perfect balance between the continuity of a large organization and the flexibility of a small company. With success, because customers have trusted NVD’s constructive, customized security solutions for over a century. The goal: to contribute to the safety of relations. That’s why NVD’s employees guarantee reliable, high-quality services in the field of security and safety.

The need

One NVD employee was spending 40 hours each week on accounts payable management. The entire purchase invoice processing process was manual – from scanning invoices to completing an entry in AFAS. NVD felt this had to be done smarter and faster. Therefore, it started looking for a suitable solution for digital processing of incoming invoices.

The solution

The search started with ERP vendor AFAS. They indicated that several partners offered a link to the ERP package. NVD then sat down with two parties, including Whitevision. NVD employees then visited customers of both providers to see how they worked with the packages in practice. The choice fell quickly on Whitevision: the solution offered everything NVD was looking for, and the way it communicated appealed to the security company.

The benefits of Whitevision

Significant time savings: lots less FTE for purchase invoice processing.
Streamlined automated purchase invoice processing and self-learning OCR software.
Perfect interfacing with ERP system AFAS.
Cloud solution: always work with the latest version and no more management costs.
Ability to process other documents in addition to purchase invoices.

“Whitevision solved our problem: we now work a lot more pleasantly, quickly and easily,” says Frank Meijer, coordinator of NVD’s Finance Department. “Almost all invoices come in via the digital route. These are sent directly from our mailbox to Whitevision. A link with AFAS allows the invoice data to be retrieved. The result is that we process our purchase invoices much easier and smoother than before.” This saves NVD considerable time: “Previously, one employee had to devote 40 hours a week to accounts payable management. We have now divided this work across the department. There are 2 people working in Whitevision – in a very efficient way. A task that used to take 28 hours now only takes 8 hours!” That it is more efficient to work with Whitevision is due to the streamlined automated purchase invoice processing process. Frank: “When setting up our environment, our Whitevision consultant created a folder in the accounts payable mailbox. Here we drag and drop purchase invoices, which are then entered into Whitevision as separate documents. The pdf and the corresponding email are sent along and saved as attachments. At that point, we can start booking the invoices.”

“The self-learning OCR software has high recognition and is trainable”

Whitevision helps with that, too: “When an invoice appears on the screen, Whitevision’s smart OCR software has already recognized and entered most of the data. The software has first checked that the creditor information matches the data in our system. Things like invoice, bank account and VAT number are usually already in the correct fields. And when the OCR software doesn’t recognize something right away, you can train the system. For example, we have created specific cost centers that certain unit managers have to approve. You only have to indicate something like that once to the system – the next few times it knows exactly what to do!” An entry is shot through to AFAS along with all attachments – a process that runs flawlessly. “Whitevision-AFAS is the golden combination for us,” says Frank. “The link is very well organized behind the scenes. Therefore, we have nothing to worry about.”

“Whitevision-AFAS is the golden combination for us.”

The same goes for Whitevision’s solution. “Last year we switched to Whitevision’s online version and it works very pleasantly. Because it is a cloud solution, we get updates automatically, so we are always working with the latest version.” The online version also provides additional time savings: “It saves us even more valuable hours because we no longer have to do any management ourselves. For years we worked with our own server, which took a lot more time and meant that we didn’t always keep up with the latest updates. Now it’s all automatic. Very nice!” Frank is very pleased with the cooperation with Whitevision. “During the initial implementation, our Whitevision consultant came over for 5 days. He thought very well with us about the right process design. When we switched from onpremise to online, a Whitevision consultant took care of this within 1 day at our location.” After going live, NVD still needed support from time to time. That also went fine: “Through the customer portal we sent in our questions, which were dealt with quickly and well. Within a day everything was always taken care of.”

“Whitevision takes a very customer-centric approach.”

What Frank really likes about Whitevision is its customer-oriented approach: “Every company has its own requirements and way of working. Whitevision delivers a standard solution, but looks very carefully at how it can be adapted to the customer in question.” Frank would therefore absolutely recommend other companies to work with Whitevision: “If you are looking for a package that allows you to increase efficiency and save time, I absolutely recommend Whitevision. Think about how you want to (re)organize your processes in advance. Then the Whitevision consultant can give you excellent advice on the best approach and set-up. We have experienced that ourselves.” NVD, meanwhile, is busy working on the next step: “We are looking internally at whether we can link other facets to Whitevision. From the beginning, we indicated that we wanted Whitevision to process not only purchase invoices, but also other types of documents. Because that way you make paper processing even more efficient. The fact that Whitevision offers this possibility was an important reason for us to join forces with the company. A decision we are satisfied with to this day!”