Glenkeir Whiskies

Glenkeir Whiskies Ltd is the owner of The Whisky Shop, the largest chain of whisky stores in the UK, boasting an expansive network of over 22 branches across the nation. Within these stores, customers will find knowledgeable staff who will be able to offer a selection of unique, different, and interesting whiskies.
During their peak time Glenkeir grapple with a paper-heavy purchasing process. The business processes approximately 300 invoices per month. Joe outlined the manual steps:

“Our purchasing process was long, arduous and involved lots of paper. We would have multiple pieces of paper linked to the same purchase and the accounts team would manually check the invoice line by line against the goods received.”

The purchasing process began with paper purchase orders, followed by manual acknowledgment from clients, leading to goods received notes. The accounts team manually verified each invoice line against the goods received note. Manual data entry into their accounting package ensued, accompanied by physical document handling through printing, scanning, and manual processing, causing notable delays and inefficiencies.

Country:

United Kingdom

Industry:

Retail / Wholesale

Department:

Accounting

Deployment:

Cloud

Integration:

SAGE 200

The digital leap

With the implementation of DocuWare, Glenkeir witnessed a substantial transformation in its purchasing workflow. Purchase orders transitioned to a digital format, stored in a shared file. Goods received notes are now stored centrally and accessible to the accounts team. DocuWare automates the processing of emailed invoices, matching them with goods received notes using key metrics, eradicating the need for manual line-by-line checks. The approval process is streamlined seamlessly into the electronic system, eliminating physical document handling. Furthermore, DocuWare seamlessly integrates with SAGE 200, allowing the direct import of processed invoices without scanning.

Joe emphasised the concrete advantages and cost savings achieved through the adoption of DocuWare. “This new, streamlined process has led to significant time savings, reducing manual document handling and verification efforts. Not to mention the elimination of paper-based processes resulting in substantial cost reductions related to paper and printing.”

The digital system brought about heightened accuracy in document matching and data verification. The fact that colleagues can remote access the documents, addresses the needs of the post-COVID working environment.

The learning curve

Joe and the team are enjoying using DocuWare following the initial learning curve: "Users have gradually became more comfortable using DocuWare. Simultaneously, the system has itself evolved, learning from user behaviours and improving over time."

Users have grown more accustomed to the system. Ongoing learning, coupled with support from the DocuWare team, has fostered continuous enhancements and strengthened user buy-in.

What does the future hold for Glenkeir?

Despite being in the early stages, there is a clear recognition of the potential for DocuWare to extend beyond purchasing, with an eye on benefiting other departments too. Glenkeir envisions continuous improvement, with plans to explore additional features and functionalities aimed at enhancing various processes throughout the organisation.

Joe said: “We recognise DocuWare's potential to benefit other departments, and we’ve looked at how it might help in recruitment. Once we get comfortable, we want to explore additional features, enhancing various processes and unlock further operational efficiencies.”

Glenkeir’s integration of DocuWare has undeniably transformed its purchasing process, leading to significant time and cost savings. The company's commitment to continuous improvement positions them to explore further opportunities for leveraging DocuWare across diverse departments, demonstrating a forward-looking approach to optimising their operational efficiency and embracing innovative solutions.