Crystal Reports Automation: Crystal Reports Scheduling Software to Run Reports Automatically
The Kern Group was established in Switzerland in 1947, and has become a market leader in the manufacture and distribution of mailroom equipment. Kern Ltd., its UK subsidiary, required a Crystal Reports Automation solution that would monitor and report on real-time changes to key company data and also schedule crystal reports to run automatically and be delivered by email.
Primary Applications Used: Access Dimensions, Crystal Reports
“Our business operates in a commercial environment where customer service is paramount. Members of the management team need to receive time critical information efficiently and rapidly.”
Sandra Richardson, Finance Manager, Kern Ltd.
Schedule Crystal Reports to run automatically and automating critical employee activities
Company Details
The Kern Group was established in Switzerland in 1947, and has become a market leader in the manufacture and distribution of mailroom equipment. Kern Ltd is the UK arm of the group, has grown and diversified to supply technology across the mailroom and packaging markets.
The Challenge
- Receive business critical information in real-time
- Improve customer service levels
- Crystal Reports Automation
- Alert senior managers when delays occur
The Solution
- Implement Codeless Platforms’ BPA Platform and its Crystal Reports scheduling capabilities
- Predict renewal revenue and cash flows
- Automate Crystal Reports scheduling, production and delivery via email
The Results
- Automated Crystal Reports
- Senior managers alerted when delays occur
- Invoicing is more efficient
- Extend the use of BPA Platform
To read how Kern Ltd. overcame its challenges please download the case study.
“It became apparent that Codeless Platforms’ intelligent automation capabilities could save us time and money.”
Sandra Richardson, Finance Manager, Kern Ltd.
Saving time and money through business process automation
Like many companies involved in the provision and servicing of technological products, Kern Ltd. has to work to tight deadlines. As a result, the productivity of both onsite and offsite employees can be affected by the availability of ‘time critical’ information. This was the main issue that stimulated Kern’s interest in the intelligent automation capabilities of Codeless Platforms’ BPA Platform.
“Our business operates in a commercial environment where customer service is paramount. Members of the management team need to receive time critical information efficiently and rapidly,” said Sandra Richardson, Finance Manager, Kern Ltd. “It became apparent that Codeless Platforms’ intelligent automation capabilities could save us time and money. Not just over the issue of report generation and distribution, but across wider areas of the business.”
Customer management and finance
The customer services department is at the very heart of many organisations and is often responsible for providing critical information influencing decisions across the business. Kern takes great care to review and manage its customer service and has begun automating many of the processes which will have a significant impact on the business. One such area is that of ‘contract due date’ monitoring.
“The BPA Platform proactively monitors key data within our SME applications and sends details of contracts which are 90, 60 or 30 days away from renewal,” said Richardson. “The benefits of this one automated task alone have been remarkable, as our service managers no longer have to spend time on administration, but can devote more time to their work with customers. In addition, renewal revenue and cash flows can be predicted and processed more quickly.”
Kern Ltd.’s finance department, like that of many similar companies, runs a number of daily reports which influence the decisions of senior management staff. These reports are often crucial to the business, and the production and distribution of documents involves commitment from a number of people. When she was introduced to the
intelligent automation capabilities, Richardson saw the potential to increase productivity and reduce costs .
“Our finance department runs stock reports and monthly reconciliations manually, therefore we have to allow for potential processing errors. Using the easy ‘drag and drop’ interface in Codeless Platforms’ BPA Platform, we could see how easy it was to automate this process. The benefits were immediate, as reports are now generated and distributed automatically, in real-time. Our reconciliation times have reduced noticeably as a result.”
“BPA Platform proactively monitors key data within our SME applications and sends details of contracts which are 90, 60 or 30 days away from renewal.”
Sandra Richardson, Finance Manager, Kern Ltd.
Keeping senior managers informed
Kern Ltd. also utilised the Data Integration & Synchronisation capability to monitor and report on key data generated within its service application SME. Traditionally, this monitoring of key client data was handled manually by senior managers. As a result, outstanding jobs within the service manager application could lead to delayed invoicing, which was something the business was concerned about
“The impact of an action in one department can be significant for others. Business processes cross many departments and functions, and a delay in one area can affect activity in another. Where the service manager application relied on manual operation, say to close down a job which had been completed, financial processing could be delayed further down the line,” explained Richardson.
“Through automation, senior managers have information relating to job completion delivered to them dynamically each day. As a result invoicing is more efficient, and there are fewer queries.”
Future plans for business process automation
It is always the case that organisations using Codeless Platforms’ BPA Platform continue to automate business processes over and above their initial requirement.
“Our next project will be to buy the ‘plug-in’ SMS Action, which will allow us to send information to our remote workers. We anticipate that SMS Action will also prove very useful in conjunction with Codeless Platforms’ new events technology, as engineers will be able to sign off projects and request new jobs via SMS,” said Richardson.
“Architecturally, Codeless Platforms’ BPA Platform is designed with the user in mind. Its ‘plug-in’ technology means that we can procure different pieces of functionality as and when we have an actual business requirement. This provides us with the flexibility to create new or adapt business processes quickly when management see further opportunities for operational excellence.”
“Architecturally, BPA Platform is designed with the user in mind. Its ‘plug-in’ technology means that we can procure different pieces of functionality when we have an actual requirement.”
Sandra Richardson, Finance Manager, Kern Ltd.
