What is BPO Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) It is partnering with a third party company to perform most back office data entry functions of your organization.
McGraw-Hill Education, Inc. Where We Came From In March of 2013, McGraw-Hill Education split from The McGraw-Hill Companies, and was sold to Apollo Holdings, Inc. Prior to the split, the Accounts Payable team consisted of approximately 50 full time employees globally. MHC had been partnering with various BPOs since 2003 with initially only the invoice data entry functions transitioning to them. The first contract between MHC and our current BPO was signed in 2012. From a relationship standpoint one of the biggest changes to the new MHE contract in 2013, was the shift to a more positive form of Corporate reporting. We focus now on the accomplishments and not the failures. At that time Accounts Payable was the problem child of the Global Financial Services team of MHE. The complaints and the noise from the various Business Units as well as our suppliers were sent directly to our CFO and senior management.
What we have Achieved In the 3 years since the split, we have reduced our full time employee count to 6.5 individuals, most of whom have some supervisory relationship with our BPO team members.. We have increased the responsibilities and functions of our BPO significantly, encompassing all aspects of A/P. Launched or are in the process of launching various tools and projects in our efforts to accomplish our primary goals of automating and improve how we operate and to make A/P free. Tango Card AMEX BIP SAP Ariba (UK Rollout) APEX Supplier Management Portal MSP/VMS
Timeline of Initiative
3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 Problem Invoice Resolution Group YOY PIRG Invoice volume 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 PIRG Value in $ MM 6.116.95 6.26 6.07 4.98 5.13 4.40 4.78 3.43 2.89 3.08 3.23 4.09 3.39 4.12 4.16 2.85 3.47 2.72 2.39 3.07 2.20 1.77 1.53 1.82 1.49 1.92 1.34 1.39 0.91 0.97 0.99 Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Average Volumes % Drop Average Value in Millions 2013 1067 0% 3.38 2014 1430-34% 4.41 2015 477 55% 1.99 2016 337 68% 2.47 5
Volumes YOY Invoice Volumes Vendor Setup Volumes 14000 12000 3000 2500 2573 2360 2251 2144 2157 2146 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2000 1500 1000 500 0 1483 819 259 1052 973 492 1503 698 609 1662 1159 1063 1101 1087 884 748 799 525 424 499 483 250 1234 913 599 572 1083 659 1650 1149 566 Year Average Volumes % drop 2013 9586 0% 2014 9256 3% 2015 8031 16% 2016 7022 27% Year Average Volumes % drop 2013 2183 0% 2014 1108 49% 2015 695 68% 2016 432 80% 6
Volume Shift to lower cost payment methods 100,000 90,000 80,000 70,000 60,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 - Check ($3.35 ) vs EFT ($.23) per transaction BIP - 28 1,127 768 EFT 27,612 31,616 30,564 16,676 Checks 63,803 59,089 48,456 21,934 (YTD) Reduce number of overall payments via P-Card and Tango transactions AP Supplier Portal requires vendors to setup EFT payment method and allow check only on an exception basis. All existing vendors will be re-registered via portal and shift check vendors to EFT.
2017 and beyond First Pass Yield POT - YOY 90% 88% 86% 84% 82% 80% 78% 76% 85% 82% 87% 86% 85% 84% 86% 82% 88% 85% 84% 84% 84% 80% 79% 89% 83% 87% 82% 80% 88% 84% 80% 86% 83% 85% 82% 81% 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 59% 43% 77% 64% 61% 61% 56% 56% 57% 31% 89% 56% 72% 79% 20% 70% 65% 54% 77% 68% 75% 69% 63% 52% 60% 67% 50% 65% 53% 38% 74% Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 0% Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec It may be difficult to know what impact our current projects will have, but we are extremely confident that 2017 will be a turning point on these metrics with the decrease of transactions and our EDI and automation initiatives. 8
VAT Recovery 2017 and beyond (continued) - - Payroll tax compliance - Cash Forecasting - AP Debt Recovery EDI expansion AMEX BIP program expansion Discounted Payment Term project launch
Key Points to a successful BPO partnership Eliminate the them vs us mentality - create one unified team to achieve the overall accomplishment of the department goals and objectives. We conduct weekly conference calls with status updates, or to discuss issues that arise or upcoming initiatives. A/P management makes a trip to India BPO office at least once a year for site visit and recognition presentations. Communicate it is essential to keep the lines of communication open between on and off shore personnel. Train the team for success without proper and complete training no one can truly succeed.
Key Points to a successful - BPO partnership (continued) Encourage participation by including the team in the decisions or process changes, it helps to build confidence and a sense of accomplishment and pride. Reward/Acknowledge excellence We have initiated several recognition based programs for the team Quarterly recognitions, each manager selects a top performer, and he/she receives Cheer Points which a point based purchase program, which MHE pays for. 6 top performers are randomly selected to make a trip to the MHE New Jersey office to visit and work side by side with their respective MHE teams. MHE hosts outings for BPO team to do something fun together. Lastly, a simple Thank you for your hard work goes a long way.