• With a lean team of only 6 staff, the procurement team processes close to 2000 purchase orders monthly with little turnaround time
• Each purchase order has to be compiled with supporting documents that may arrive via mail, email, fax at different times
• Each purchase order requires several signatories before the hard copies are mailed to suppliers

• Together with Genoko, FUJIFILM Business Innovation proposed TeleForm, a Document Imaging solution
• TeleForm is integrated with the existing FUJIFILM Business Innovation AP3C 6500 MFD, saving the cost to buy new scanner
• The setup phase included the design and creation of templates according to the types of purchase orders received from STI suppliers, a critical step for TeleForm to identify each purchase order being scanned and compiled

ASTI Holdings Limited, listed on the Singapore Exchange, is a company uniquely positioned to serve the needs of the semiconductor industry. Under the umbrella of the ASTI Group of companies, ASTI provides an integrated range of services comprising Backend Equipment Solutions & Technologies (“BEST”) and Distribution & Services. The BEST business is mainly engaged in the provision of solutions and technologies in the backend arena, while the Distribution & Services business is engaged mainly in the distribution of electronic components and products as well as the provision of semiconductor applications in consumer electronics, computer peripherals and communication solutions.

Globally, ASTI Group has 4 research and development centres, 15 factories and 45 sales offices that span from Southeast Asia, Greater China, India, Korea, the United States of America and the United Kingdom. The Semiconductor Equipment division, comprising of Semiconductor Technologies & Instruments Pte Ltd (“STI”), offers a comprehensive range of equipment for semiconductor assembly and test.

The procurement team within STI processes suppliers' quotations and purchase orders across the globe. With a lean team of only 6 personnel, the procurement team processes close to 2000 purchase orders on a monthly basis. The timely submission of purchase orders for parts is the lifeblood of a manufacturing company and is extremely critical. The delay in a single component can produce catastrophic effects on the delivery of the full equipment.

The types of documents processed include suppliers' quotations and purchase orders. In addition to the short turnaround time to process the purchase orders, there was further complexity because each purchase order has to be compiled with the supporting documents such as product specifications and drawings.

These supporting documents sometimes arrive via mail, email, fax and at different times, making it time-consuming for staff to keep track of all the supporting documents related to each specific purchase order.

Each purchase order also requires several signatories from the various approving parties within STI before the hard copies are finally mailed out to the suppliers.

With the bulk of the time spent keeping track of the supporting documents for each purchase order, sorting the documents and mailing out the hardcopy to suppliers, the management team in STI recognised the opportunity to improve the error-prone and time-consuming process, so that the procurement team can focus on their core function – that is to evaluate the suppliers who can provide the best value-adding solutions and services for the company.

STI approached FUJIFILM Business Innovation Singapore about their document imaging requirements. As an existing user of FUJIFILM Business Innovation Multi-Function Devices (MFD) in the company, the discussion also included exploring how the current investment in the MFD can be further optimised with the document imaging solution required.

Genoko, a technology partner of FUJIFILM Business Innovation, teamed up with the FUJIFILM Business Innovation consultants to provide the consultancy services and requirements scoping for STI. The team started with an on-site assessment to understand the current steps and workflow taken by the procurement staff in processing the purchase orders.

With a clear understanding of the challenges as well as current and future requirements, FUJIFILM Business Innovation and Genoko proposed TeleForm, a Document Imaging solution to STI.

After extensive evaluation, the document imaging solution – TeleForm, was selected. The evaluator from ASTI decided on Teleform because the solution can be tightly integrated with the existing FUJIFILM Business Innovation AP3C 6500 multi-function device, hence, allowing STI to save money to buy another scanner. The procurement staff can also operate the entire imaging and archiving processes from the FUJIFILM Business Innovation multi-function device user interface, making the learning curve a breeze.

The setup phase of the solution included designing and creating the various templates according to the different types of purchase orders received from STI suppliers. This is a critical step as the solution can then identify each purchase order that is being scanned and compile all its supporting documents via optical character recognition, eliminating all manual sorting steps. The documents are then stored and filed according to index fields in a common network repository.

Another improvement experienced by the STI team is that all purchase orders are now scanned and emailed to suppliers before 11a.m. daily, reducing the turnaround time by one hundred percent.

Additional benefits enjoyed by the STI procurement team include releasing precious office storage space and the ease of search and retrieval of documents by the management team. In the past, all purchase orders and their supporting documents (that could range from 8 to 30 pages thick) were kept in the office for up to six months for purpose of verification of information. With the digitisation of documents, all hardcopy documents are now sent to the warehouse for storage within a month, and the staff can easily search and retrieve the electronic information they require.

With the successful implementation of Teleform for the procurement department, STI further extended the solution to three other departments that included Marketing, Warehouse Inventory and Quality Control. Finance department is next in line to enjoy the benefits of the solution.