Elari is used for Junis' decentralised procurement process

Stichting Kinderopvang Junis offers various forms of childcare. With more than 1,200 employees spread across 90+ locations, your processes need to be in good order. Purchasing advisor Kim took this on thoroughly for Junis. Elari provides solid support for the organisation's procurement process, among other things.

Junis used to have no insight into or control over costs

"Before Junis worked with Elari, we had no control over the purchasing process in advance. We only got insight afterwards, when we received the invoice," says Kim. "That means you're dealing with orders that were placed while cluster managers may not support them. Or orders that are delivered to a different address instead of the location. That's not how it should be, of course. By automating the purchasing process, we make sure these things no longer happen."

"Junis chose Elari for four reasons"

"We were looking for accounting software and software for the Purchase to Pay process. We wanted tooling that not only offers a good foundation, but delivers more. It was a logical choice to see whether Elari suited us, because we already work with the smart payment cards. That unique combination of Purchase to Pay with payment cards is what won us over," Kim explains.

"In the end, Junis chose Elari for four reasons. The biggest reason is that we wanted to manage all processes in one place. And then, of course, take the step towards automation. Invoice processing, contract management and procurement all connect seamlessly in Elari, and that's exactly what we need. You have everything together and can easily find things again. Everything also always reaches the right person through automated workflows. Who created something? Who approved it? Which order does this invoice belong to? It's all in Elari."

"The entire purchasing process is visible in one environment. From the contract with a supplier to purchase orders and the related purchase invoices, really from A to Z: everything is in Elari."

Kim, Purchasing advisor at Junis

"The integration between Elari and Visma.net Financials was another reason. Because both products are from Visma, it's easier to switch quickly and get things done. We wanted as little separate tooling as possible, and we actually see the accounting software and Elari as one integrated solution."

"We also wanted more overarching insight into the purchasing process from the service bureau, so we no longer had to rely on invoices. And we wanted more security around who can order what and who approves those orders. Because Elari provides all of this, it was a clear choice for Junis."

Short lines of communication during and after the Elari implementation

"Working with Emmanuel and Noureddine from Elari, and with Visma Software, was very pleasant. We implemented Elari together with Visma.net in close consultation with cluster managers and coordinators. That's quite a challenge with so many employees spread across different locations. The support from Elari and Visma Software was excellent."

"For Elari, for example, we received simple templates so we could get the setup right in one go, instead of having to figure everything out ourselves. And when we do have questions, Elari always thinks along with us. Those short lines of communication are very pleasant." Thanks to Junis's efforts, the integration between Elari and Visma.net has become genuinely stronger.

Procurement software is ideal for cluster managers and coordinators

"Instead of having to process and approve invoices manually every day, most of it now happens automatically for cluster managers and coordinators," Kim continues. "They are the ones who notice the benefits of Elari's procurement software most. Support is mainly very strong from the top down and among employees who are a bit more digitally skilled than others. Fortunately, employees who need some time to get used to the new way of working with OCI integrations also see the benefits of procurement software once you explain the whole purchasing process to them. We create approval at the front end, and that works really well."

How does ordering with Elari work for a childcare location?

The Elari app on a tablet

"Junis uses one tablet per group with the Elari app installed and the browser set up for Elari with SSO. This way, all employees working in that group can order with one tablet," says Kim. "Employee A can fill the digital shopping cart on Monday, for example. Employee B can then place the order, regardless of whether employee A is present on another day. That way, orders still arrive on time."

Continuously improving the purchasing process with Elari

In short: Elari works for everyone, at the service bureau as well as for cluster managers, coordinators and the employees who care for the children. "And with the analytics in Elari, I can see where all the money goes," says Kim. "That makes me very happy. I'm in Elari every day and I enjoy optimising. It's great that I have much more insight than before. I'm solely responsible for the entire purchasing process at Junis, so you need a workable process. Ultimately, I want to use analyses to approach suppliers so we can work with even more OCI integrations."

The result? Time savings and insight!

"It's hard to say what we've achieved with Elari so far," Kim admits. "Of course we notice savings on processing costs, but I can't put a figure on it. We may have lower processing costs per purchase invoice, but Junis has also grown enormously recently. So it's not a fair comparison. What I can say with certainty is that the new way of working has saved an enormous amount of time. The cluster managers and coordinators in particular really notice that. And I have more insight, which is great!"