Zolpan Selects Esker for Customer Invoice Automation

Esker, the leader in document process automation solutions, today announced that Zolpan, subsidiary of the Materis Group, the world leader in building construction specialty paints and materials, has selected Esker for the automation of customer invoices (over 60,000 monthly documents). The Esker solution, deployed in two phases, enables Zolpan, its subsidiaries and its 122 stores in France to progressively move to electronic invoicing.

Until now, Zolpan primarily invoiced its customers at the end of each month. Two days were required in each subsidiary to manage printing, folding, stuffing into envelopes and applying postage. Document archiving was conducted internally in PDF format and did not always conform to regulatory requirements for electronic archiving.

In the context of sustainable development, Zolpan was looking for a document process automation solution for its customer invoices and selected Esker to:

• Speed up the process of sending customer invoices
• Reduce invoice management costs
• Reduce the use of paper in the framework of its corporate social responsibility initiative
• Absorb peak volumes and workloads
• Ensure reliable and legal electronic archiving
• Increase productivity and simplify internal organization

Implemented in two phases, the Esker Accounts Receivable solution was initially deployed for intra-group invoice delivery amounting to nearly 9,000 pages per month.

As part of phase two, Zolpan plans to encourage its subsidiaries and its 14,000 customers to migrate to electronic invoicing – to ultimately handle over 60,000 monthly invoices.

To foster the switch to electronic invoicing and contribute to sustainable development, Zolpan will offer two options. Customers who have opted for electronic invoicing will have direct access, from a web portal, to their current and archived invoices. For customers who continue to receive paper invoices, Zolpan will outsource the sending to Esker production facilities where the mail will be printed, folded, inserted, stamped and handed off to the postal service. Zolpan will no longer have to internally manage peaks in volumes and workloads related to customer invoices. Customers will be able to change their preferred delivery method directly in the web portal.

"Thanks to the simple implementation and daily use of Esker solutions, we are able to progressively move from paper invoicing to electronic invoicing, while respecting customer choice. By the end of the year, we will outsource all of our customer invoices with Esker, which will allow us to remove the use of paper and its associated costs, and to follow the corporate social responsibility objective put in place within the group,” said Laurent Reynard, Director of Information Systems, Zolpan.

About Zolpan

For the past 50 years, Zolpan has developed and manufactured paint as well as protective and decorative material for buildings. Zolpan’s 1,200 employees, across a network of 122 stores throughout France, provide their expertise and skills to professionals in the industry. Zolpan is a subsidiary of the Materis Group, the world leader in building construction specialty paints and materials.

Zolpan delivers the best products and services to make its customers more efficient. Zolpan leverages the strength of a unified group, the reactivity of local stores, showrooms, technical sales support and the conviviality of its technical and sales collaborators. Zolpan also addresses individuals looking for technical advice and professional-quality products.

Zolpan takes into account sustainable development and the environmental in all aspects of its business: products and services; industrial sites and stores; training; security and recruitment.

About Esker

Esker is the worldwide leader in document process automation solutions. Addressing all types of business processes from accounts payable and accounts receivable to sales order processing and procurement, Esker cloud computing solutions enable companies to automate the reception, processing and sending of any business document with one platform. Esker helps over 80,000 companies across the world to reduce the use of paper and eliminate manual processes while improving their productivity, efficiency and environmental impact.

With 33 million euros in sales revenue in 2010, Esker operates in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific with global headquarters in Lyon, France and U.S. headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin. Esker is listed on the NYSE Alternext in Paris (Code ISIN FR0000035818). For more information, visit www.esker.com. Follow Esker on Twitter at twitter.com/eskerinc and join the conversation on the Esker blog at www.quitpaper.com.

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