This is our story of co-creating a solution with a leading U.S. insurance company
As we know…
A digitally capable Procure-to-Pay (P2P) function offers companies the advantages of choosing the right suppliers, negotiating the best contracts and minimizing spend on categories with maximum efficiencies.
The challenge for the insurance company was…
The company’s P2P function had manual and fragmented processes. This was causing delays in vendor payments and increasing maverick spends. Loosely defined Service-level Agreements (SLA) and the absence of a centralized governance structure were further hurdles in formulating and driving future strategy. The insurer partnered with WNS to embark on a digital transformation journey, and leveraged analytics to enforce compliance and improve its end-to-end P2P function.
Here’s what we co-created as a solution…
WNS leveraged its domain expertise to first consolidate and standardize the client’s P2P operations across 80 countries. Legacy and standalone systems were integrated into a single Enterprise Resource Planning system with consolidated reporting and delivery.
In collaboration with the client, WNS automated and digitized key areas in the insurance company’s P2P process.
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The Accounts Payable process was completely digitized across 80 countries
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E-invoicing was introduced in 17 countries to enable vendors to process their own invoices
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Self-service vendor portals were introduced in the U.S. allowing vendors to upload the relevant compliance forms without any hassles
The insurance company leveraged WNS’ analytics expertise to:
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Work on business hygiene, including trimming the vendors’ list by identifying duplication, and inaccurate or incomplete information; and preventing duplicate payments
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Measure the performance of a variety of metrics, including the category-level spend, identifying the bottlenecks and fixing the sub-optimal parts of the operations
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Implementing a ‘No Purchase Order, No Payout’ policy
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Establishing a global governance model
This led to significant improvements in SLAs and turnaround time in the areas of invoice exceptions, payments and supplier performance. The centralized and standardized operations increased productivity and eliminated cost redundancies.
Our learnings and outcomes from the process of co-creation are…
That digital transformation helped create significant business benefits across all areas of the insurer’s P2P function.
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Productivity benefits of ~USD 1 Million
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30 percent reduction in the Purchase Request to Purchase Order (PO) cycle time
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Cost savings of USD 2.46 Million due to elimination of duplicate invoices
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Closing of open POs worth USD 27 Million resulting in reduced accruals and increased cash flow
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Electronic payments increased to 94 percent from 66 percent
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98 percent PO penetration across the globe based on analyzing and consolidating spend under management worth ~USD 2.2 Billion
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‘On-time’ payment of invoices in the U.S. increased to 75 percent
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FAQs
1. What challenges did the insurance company face in its Procure-to-Pay process?
The insurance company struggled with manual, fragmented P2P processes that caused payment delays, maverick spending, weak SLA governance, and limited visibility into spend and supplier performance, making global standardization and compliance difficult across regions.
2. How did automation and analytics improve the Procure-to-Pay function?
Automation digitized Accounts Payable, enabled e-invoicing, and standardized workflows, while analytics improved spend visibility, prevented duplicate payments, enforced compliance, and strengthened supplier performance management, resulting in faster processing and better decision-making.
3. What role did co-creation play in the Procure-to-Pay transformation?
Co-creation ensured WNS and the insurer jointly designed a scalable, globally consistent P2P model that aligned technology, governance, and business outcomes across regions, while addressing local operational nuances and regulatory requirements.
4. What measurable business outcomes were achieved through the P2P transformation?
The transformation reduced cycle times, eliminated duplicate invoices, improved on-time payments, increased electronic payments, strengthened governance, and delivered multi-million-dollar cost and productivity benefits, while significantly improving cash flow and supplier relationships.
5. Why did the insurance company choose WNS for Procure-to-Pay transformation?
The insurance company chose WNS for its deep insurance domain expertise, proven Procure-to-Pay transformation capabilities, and ability to co-create scalable, analytics-driven solutions across complex global operations.
6. How does WNS differentiate its Procure-to-Pay services from other providers?
WNS differentiates its Procure-to-Pay services through a co-creation-led approach, strong governance frameworks, embedded analytics, and end-to-end automation that delivers measurable business outcomes.