Mayekawa Wins SAP Concur Innovation Award

Japanese manufacturer Mayekawa Mfg Co Ltd won an award at the recently concluded SAP Concur Innovation Awards.

SAP Concur Fusion highlights the latest product innovations, AI-driven advancements that are shaping the future of expense and travel management, and the customers and partners redefining their businesses with SAP Concur solutions.

Each year, SAP celebrates outstanding achievements through the SAP Concur Innovation Awards, recognizing organisations that have transformed their travel and expense processes.

Mayekawa was among the companies that have streamlined workflows, eliminated inefficiencies, and gained sharper visibility into their spending.

Mayekawa’s Award-winning Program

According to SAP, Mayekawa undertook an effort to ensure staff could pursue high-value work and not be burdened by tedious processes as the company approached its 100-years anniversary.

“The in-house expense system was difficult to automate and accounting staff from the head office to the factory floor had to spend a huge amount of time checking each submitted expense before settlement,” according to SAP.

Inspired by SAP Concur’s concept of “the expense reports that writes itself,” Mayekawa wanted to realise an approval-less expense management process, abolishing manual and Excel-based work, minimise handling of cash and drive compliance with e-invoicing legislation.

Through the implementation of SAP Concur solutions, Mayekawa has achieved its goals, reducing the Finance team’s annual workload by more than 12,000 hours. Tasks that previously required 100 employees nationwide can now be handled by a six-member Concur support team, and improved visibility has enhanced compliance.

These improvements made Mayekawa a worthy recipient of the SAP Concur Innovation Award.

What This Means for Mastering SAP Insiders

Significant efficiency gains can be achieved by automating expense management. Mayekawa’s experience demonstrates the substantial time and resource savings possible with SAP Concur. By moving away from a difficult-to-automate in-house system and manual processes, they reduced their Finance team’s annual workload and drastically decreased the number of employees needed for expense management. This highlights the potential for SAP users to free up their staff for more strategic, high-value activities by implementing a comprehensive expense management solution like SAP Concur.

SAP Concur enables a shift towards “touchless” or approval-light expense processes. Mayekawa was inspired by the concept of “the expense report that writes itself” and aimed for an approval-less expense management process. While eliminating approvals might not be feasible for all organisations, Mayekawa’s success in minimising manual intervention and Excel-based work showcases SAP Concur’s capabilities in streamlining workflows and potentially reducing the need for extensive manual checks.

Improved visibility and compliance. Beyond efficiency, Mayekawa gained sharper visibility into their spending and enhanced compliance through their SAP Concur implementation. This is a crucial takeaway for SAP users, as better visibility allows for more informed decision-making and improved control over expenses. SAP Concur can also help organisations adhere to regulations like e-invoicing legislation, reducing the risk of non-compliance.