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Rentokil Initial automate CapEx approval processes with eCapEx

Rentokil Initial automate CapEx approval processes across Europe, APAC, Latin America and the USA with cloud-based CapEx software.

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Challenge

Rentokil Initial is one of the largest business services companies in the world, employing 58,600 employees across 91 countries.

Rentokil specialise in pest control with Initial experts in commercial hygiene services. Their mission is to protect people from the dangers of pest-borne disease and the risks of poor hygiene.

Historically, the business operated a decentralised model with each country managing local processes for capital expenditure approval, mainly on paper forms. At the divisional level, there was a desire for greater visibility, a smarter approval process and for forecasts to be tracked.

Solution

In addressing the business need for more visibility into its CapEx process, Rentokil Initial sought a tool that would incorporate workflow, business logic and reporting.

For two months, they reviewed competitive products with their IT partner, Cognizant, and decided to implement a pilot program with a cloud-based solution to determine if it would satisfy the needs of their business users.

In late February, ePC was invited to implement a solution based on the Process Director platform by BP Logix. This was presented to Initial’s finance team with a demanding go-live scheduled for April.

Upon completion of the pilot and being satisfied with its results, the company then deployed the product throughout its European Initial Textiles and Hygiene division on time in April.

As an IT support group, we offer our business colleagues choices. The decision to select Process Director/Cloud Edition was made by the Divisional CFO, as the prototype of the CapEx process worked to his satisfaction. From an IT perspective, we were also genuinely pleased with the pilot

Chris Broe, Group CIO, Rentokil Initial

The capital expenditure request software, which is hosted in the cloud, can be accessed from any location and presents users with bespoke portlets, showing their assigned tasks and knowledge views.

rentokil-initial-capital-expenditure-request

Figure 1: Capital expenditure request form

Capital expenditure request form

Users can initiate CapEx requests (See Figure 1), which contain the detailed budget, approved request and monthly cash flow data integrated into the form. It applies logic rules to assist the users in completing the forms correctly, to ensure nothing is missing by the time the forms reach approval.

Some of the key features of the CapEx request form include:

  • Automatic multi-lingual translation of eForms
  • All figures are automatically shown in local currency and GB
  • Business unit and asset category current position report including
    • Yearly budget amounts
    • Approved CapEx amounts with remaining totals by month
    • Monthly cash flow forecast for all approved CapEx
    • Monthly budget and cash flow budget available
  • User selection for the business unit, category, currency etc.
  • Entry of request amount and expected cashflow, over multiple years
  • Inter-dependant CapEx request linking for larger projects
  • Rich-text request descriptions with spell check
  • Attachments of any format (XLS, JPG, DOC etc.)
  • Comment log, for any participant to add time-stamped notes to a request
  • Predicted authorisation path dependant on the unit, asset category, amount etc.
  • Integrated sanity checks and rules for entered data

Once submitted, the capital expenditure request is routed through the relevant workflow, based upon asset category, business unit, budgets and authorisation limits, often requiring approval from as many as six or more people.

eMail notifications are sent, containing hyperlinks directly to the requests. If an approver is away from their desk, they can send a one word approve/reject reply (with comments) directly from their mobile phone.

CapEx system features

Some of the key features of the CapEx system include:

  • User and group configurable web portal access to data, reports and processes
  • Admin portals with greater visibility and system alert screens
  • User/Business Unit membership with hierarchy for permissions
  • End-user management of back-end database through Excel file integration
  • Automate CapEx approval processes with the routing of completed eForms through dynamic authorisation paths
  • Full audit trail with user ID’s and timestamps for all user actions
  • Automatic handling of time zones with localised display
  • Rejection and clarification workflow paths
  • eMail notifications and timed reminders
  • PDF rendition of request forms attached to eMail notifications and for archival
  • Automatic processing of eMail responses based on keyword extraction
  • Microsoft Excel-based reporting via dynamic data merges

The entire CapEx approval system is designed to be multi-lingual, with request forms and interfaces automatically translating into the user’s local language.

Flexible access to the user, unit, budget, limit, and authorisation path data was also required. To meet the requirement, ePC implemented an Excel import feature to allow end-user management of the backend data using tools the finance team were already familiar with.

Result

The CapEx approval system has generated significant cost savings from centralised control, standardised process, enhanced financial transparency and ensured compliance.

Modern workflow technology is going to be extremely important to our business as we strive to standardise and streamline processes across the globe. This has been a very impressive first attempt but the really interesting part now is; what else can we do with this capability?

Chris Broe, Group CIO, Rentokil Initial

Due to the clear benefits the system has delivered to the business, it has subsequently been rolled out across all European, APAC, Latin America and US operations.

I have been really impressed by the speed with which this capability has been developed and how flexible it has been to meet our requirements

Hilton Hess, Finance Director, Initial

Are you looking to automate CapEx approval processes?

eCapEx helps capital-intensive industries such as hospitality and manufacturing automate the full CapEx lifecycle – including budgeting, prioritisation, approvals, and post-investment reviews.

You can schedule a demo or call 03300 100 000 to discuss your requirements.