Vengroff, Williams & Associates Announces Expansion in the Manufacturing Sector

Vengroff, Williams & Associates, Inc. (VWA), the global domain leader for Order to Cash Business Process Outsourcing, today announced a significant expansion of the company’s client base in the manufacturing sector with both the acquisition of new customers and a significant increase in the scope of work from existing clients. By focusing on best-of-breed research, administration, analysis and settlement functionalities to resolve and pre-empt deductions issues, VWA provides highly-automated technology solutions for improving operational efficiencies and most importantly, increasing cash flow and driving profitability.

Today, deductions exist practically in all industries and geographies with varying degrees of severity. Deductions are no longer a problem for consumable goods only. It can happen to any B2B company due to many reasons, such as shipping errors, pricing, trade allowance, and shortages. The problem is more severe for companies which depend on distribution channels – distributors, partners, and retailers. Such companies extend channel incentives in the form of trade promotions or programs, which are often settled through deductions.

According to a study by the National of Credit Management, the numbers are staggering. Companies in the U.S. are inundated with an excess of $10 billion in deductions annually. Deductions are growing at 20% per year, which could be 10-15% faster than the sales growth rate of most companies. On average, 14% of them are invalid and as much as 5% is written off. They drain time and resources from marketing, sales, credit, collections, accounts receivables, customer service and distribution personnel as they need to research and resolve deductions. Overall, a sizable percentage of lost profits can be attributable to deductions.

Manufacturers, such as VWA’s client, Dial Corporation, who sell into retail channels, are well-aware of the challenges involved in doing business with retailers. As a result of the fierce competition for shelf space, companies have been forced into many costly concessions, resulting in negative impacts to the bottom line. A prime example of the pains that manufacturers feel is the phenomenon of deductions and the resulting chargebacks driven by customers’ not paying full invoice amounts. This results in millions of dollars of revenue leakages to companies and requires a new approach to ensure that this highly preventable phenomenon is properly addressed.

“In today’s tough economy, manufacturers are constantly seeking ways in which to increase cash flow and show profitability,” said Robert Sherman, President of VWA. “Many companies realize that by taking control of their deductions, they can definitely contribute to their bottom line. For as long as an invalid deduction stays unsettled, the company is in effect –  providing a zero-interest loan to the customer. Managing such risks imposed by deduction is especially critical during a downturn in the economy. VWA has deployed industry best practices, managing the entire deduction process from start to finish, yielding significant financial rewards to our clients’ bottom line — increased working capital.”

Deduction management functions are the critical linchpins of cash flow management. Effective control of deductions is an attainable goal. Time and resources spent
resolving deductions could otherwise be spent on more value-added activities. VWA efficiently addresses revenue leakage with its proprietary technology platform, WebCollect O2CPRO, affording clients a competitive advantage in having a solution which can effectively manage the entire process as a whole, from deduction assignment to settlement, by merging existing operational data elements from disparate systems, customers and vendors into a centralized platform designed to reduce costs, improve collections, achieve faster resolution and achieve incisive analysis of root causes.

VWA’s roster of brand-name clients in the manufacturing sector, although varied in their business models — share a common initiative to improve economic efficiencies, increase cash flow performance and optimize working capital. Based on VWA’s technology, as well the company’s data-driven understanding of deductions trends and root causes, manufacturers are able to either establish or supplement business process improvements internally, as well as throughout their supply chains.

Among the solutions provided by VWA for deduction management services include:

• Data Merge: Combines existing operational data from disparate systems, vendors, customers and distributors into a centralized uniform platform.
• Factor Files: Customizes the accounts receivables (AR) treatment plan at the portfolio, customer and transaction level to more effectively utilize human resources and support reporting needs. Easy-to-use business logic allows real time change without IT support.
• End-to-end Accountability: Reduces resolution time by enforcing cross-departmental accountability.
• Data Mining: Goes beyond standard AR reporting providing actionable data to resolve deductions now and quantify root cause issues. Cross-relational reporting allows customers to reexamine their customer’s performance from new perspectives to strengthen negotiating power.
• Metrics: Ability to monitor each employee for workload and productivity allows managers to identify weak links and bottlenecks before they become problems.
• Auditing and Controls: Audit trails are available on all user and administrative activities in support of SOX and SAS-70 requirements.
• Auto Cash – allows customers to email remittances directly to VWA in almost any format then convert the information into a file that works in DMS. Journal entries are created and then reworked to clients’ ERP systems and cash is applied automatically. Millions of manual processes have been removed. Cash is automatically posted to client and to DMS and payments are made automatically.
• Auto Credit –Converts debit notes to credit notes. Removes thousands of manual transactions and errors. Also acts as early warning to potential problems.
• Document Process – debit notes. Instead of working on a deduction, now can address root cause (debit note). Early notification of problems, before they hit customers’ accounts results in improved customer relations. Early delivery of credits. Improved sales forecasting and credit exposure – cannot get this information from ERP systems. Match debits to credits automatically – speed up payment cycle.
• POD & Post-Claims Automation – Helps businesses significantly improve financial performance of their accounts receivable by automating the process of gathering POD & Claims documentation. This solution features a robust web aggregation engine that can transparently aggregate from multiple websites and collect information required for deductions research; minimizing the need for manual intervention.
• Reporting Tool – VWA has created a Web facing executive dashboard. Now can create multiple reports for different people – users, analysts & executives. Can now create an executive dashboard with summary detail. This can be customized by each client. Automated system generated reports with reliable statistics.

VWA is the global domain provider of order to cash business process outsourcing for optimizing working capital. We provide a full range of solutions and technologies which allow clients to achieve substantial financial and operational benefits that enable operational efficiency which significantly influences the outcome of their businesses. With extensive industry expertise in Order to Cash outsourcing, VWA provides a broad and evolving spectrum of service offerings including O2C, starting with credit, revenue cycle management, Deduction Management, Dispute Management, 3rd party collections, Subrogation, Credit Risk Mitigation Services and A/R technology solutions.