Company: Designing & Manufacturing Company
Industry: Manufacturing
Client Background
Our client is a manufacturing company with over 19 years of experience in microfluidic design, application, and commercialization. Leveraging its proprietary in-house microfluidic technology, the company designs and manufactures a diverse range of specialized products.
As the organization grew, so did the complexity of managing purchase requests, approvals, budgets, and accounting records. The company relied heavily on spreadsheets to create and track purchase requests, with information subsequently entered manually into its accounting system. This fragmented process created inefficiencies and made it difficult for management to maintain real-time visibility into purchasing activity and departmental spending.
The client needed a more structured solution that could connect purchasing decisions with financial oversight while reducing manual work and dependency on senior leadership for routine approvals.
Client Challenges
- Spreadsheet-Driven Purchase Requests: Purchase requests were created and tracked through Excel spreadsheets, resulting in repetitive manual work and an increased risk of data entry errors.
- Disconnected Purchasing and Accounting Processes: Purchase information had to be manually transferred into the accounting system, making reconciliation and financial tracking unnecessarily cumbersome.
- Limited Budget Visibility: Department managers lacked real-time visibility into their available budgets and spending, making it difficult to make informed purchasing decisions.
- Overdependence on Senior Leadership: The COO remained heavily involved in reviewing and approving routine purchase requests, creating an unnecessary bottleneck in the approval process.
- Limited Order Tracking: Employees had limited visibility into the status of their purchase requests, leading to follow-ups, uncertainty, and administrative friction.
Our Solutions
- Procurement Software Assessment and Implementation: OBS evaluated available technology options and identified a solution that could integrate effectively with the client’s existing accounting ecosystem, helping connect purchasing activity with financial management.
- Automated Purchase Request Workflow: A structured purchase request and approval workflow was implemented to replace spreadsheet-based tracking, reducing manual intervention and improving process consistency.
- Department-Level Approval Controls: OBS helped decentralize the approval process by enabling department managers to review and approve relevant purchase requests, reducing unnecessary dependency on the COO.
- Real-Time Budget Visibility: Managers were provided with real-time visibility into departmental budgets and spending, allowing them to evaluate purchasing decisions before committing funds.
- Hands-On Implementation Support: The OBS team provided end-to-end setup and implementation support, helping configure workflows and ensuring the new process aligned with the company’s purchasing and financial management requirements.
Results Achieved
Following implementation, the company established a more transparent and accountable purchasing process with measurable operational improvements:
- 60% reduction in manual purchase request administration by replacing spreadsheet-based workflows.
- 50% faster purchase approval turnaround, reducing delays caused by centralized approval processes.
- Real-time budget visibility for department managers, enabling more informed purchasing decisions.
- Significant reduction in COO involvement in routine approvals, freeing senior leadership to focus on strategic priorities.
- Improved order tracking and status visibility, reducing employee follow-ups and administrative friction.
- Centralized purchasing and budget information, improving financial oversight and reducing the risk of manual errors.
Business Impact
As a result, the company moved beyond simply digitizing purchase requests. It created a more accountable purchasing culture, where department managers could see the financial impact of their decisions and take greater ownership of their budgets.
By shifting routine approvals away from the COO and giving managers real-time spending visibility, the organization improved both operational efficiency and financial discipline. The new workflow also created a stronger connection between purchasing activity and budget management, providing a scalable foundation as the company continues to grow.
OBS helped transform purchasing from a spreadsheet-heavy administrative process into a transparent, manager-driven system that supports smarter spending decisions across the organization.