Accenture and Digital Ventures a fintech subsidiary of Siam Commercial Bank, have co-developed and launched a blockchain solution aimed at simplifying the way companies buy and sell goods, make and receive payments, and obtain financing.
The solution is described as a fully integrated procure-to-pay solution on the Corda open-source platform from enterprise blockchain software firm R3.
The digital solution was created with SCG, abusiness conglomerate in the ASEAN region, using design thinking, agile methodology and DevOps principles, along with microservices and cloud technologies. Digital Ventures’ Blockchain Solution for Procure-to-Pay, also known as “B2P,” is already in production use, handling transactions with selected SCG suppliers.
“The most exciting part of the blockchain solution is that the outcome is so tangible: the efficiency improvement, the cost reduction and the convenience that all stakeholders have experienced with this platform,”
said Divyesh Vithlani, who heads Accenture’s Financial Services practice in the ASEAN region.
Results from the work at SCG have shown that the new platform has improved the efficiency and transparency for all parties across the procurement supply chain process. The solution helped minimize the potential for human errors and created a seamless integration of purchase orders and invoices between organizations, without the need for reconciliations and adjustments.
The platform claims to significantly reduce invoice financing time and prevent fraud, resulting in lower cost of financing and longer credit terms.
It is also aimed at reducing the need for physical billing, which can eliminate millions of physical invoices per year and makes SCG’s network of suppliers ready to be integrated with Thailand’s e-tax invoice program, freeing up time to perform other value-added activities.
said Orapong Thien-Ngern, Digital Ventures’ chief executive officer.
“Given that most supply chains involve a large number of suppliers, the complexity of integrating and reconciling all the different systems from each of the companies can be a costly, daunting and time-consuming task. Blockchain enables parties to securely share all the information without the need for extensive integration between their various technology systems.”
Accenture and Digital Ventures completed the platform design and implementation in only five months, collaborating with R3 to overcome a series of technical challenges, including integrating multiple systems for purchase orders, goods receipts, invoices and payments.
Featured image credit: Photo by Braden Jarvis on Unsplash