Vodacom, South Africa`s leading cellular company with over 60% of the local market, has been confronted with a major logistical hurdle: How does it co-ordinate the millions of thousands of printed documents it sends out every month with its database?
To resolve the problem, Vodacom turned to JetForm, the Canadian-developed electronic forms and workflow tool, distributed in South Africa by Global Technology Business Intelligence (GBI).
Working off an Oracle database, Vodacom has been using a number of different applications to extract and process the data needed to send out customer statements, invoices, cheque requisitions and the myriad other documents vital to the successful running of the business.
With the continued expansion of Vodacom`s market share, and the development of other sister companies, it soon became clear however, that a one-stop solution was necessary to prevent the administration from falling over.
"It was then that we decided on JetForm," says Mynhardt de Bruin, financial manager at Vodacom. "JetForm was the first application with an Oracle-approved print solution, and along with its proven international record, it was the product of choice.
"JetForm enables us to extract all the data from our Oracle Financials, and then all merging and printing is done automatically," De Bruin says. The volumes involved are exceptional: not only does JetForm handle Vodacom`s output, but also that of sister companies Vodacom Equipment Company (where it is used for electronic cheque printing), Vodacom Group and the Vodacom Sports Entertainment Company.
The main advantages to Vodacom are saved time and, consequently, increased productivity. "JetForm obviates the need for pre-printed forms, by merging data out of Oracle Financials with a pre-designed form," explains De Bruin. "It also gives us the flexibility to modify forms in-house for quick, low-cost changes should we so desire."
However, another huge cost saving has been realised in the printing.
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