Middin is a large healthcare organization with locations throughout South Holland. At as many as 180 locations, they support people with disabilities or acquired brain injuries. A total of about 3,000 employees work at all these care locations. With dozens of purchase orders per day, this can result in a fairly complex procurement process. Fortunately, Middin has been using Elari since 2017 to streamline their spending processes.
Elari as a reason to apply
Daniël van Someren, a procurement advisor, just missed out on being part of the Elari implementation. The fact that Middin was already using Elari was actually a reason for him to join the company. Daniël explains: “When I compare the processes at my previous employers with what it’s like to work with Elari Procurement at Middin, I really like it here.”
Two advisors manage the entire procurement process
Middin has only two procurement advisors, and Daniël is one of them. “My colleague and I handle only procurement projects. For example, I process changes in Elari when a care facility relocates. All operational procurement takes place at the care facilities themselves. That’s possible with Elari, especially thanks to the OCI integrations.”
“With Elari, we keep the process manageable for 180 locations and 3,000 employees. Otherwise, we could never have managed that with just two procurement advisors. Dozens of orders go through every day, because our policy is to procure as much as possible through Elari.”
“If Middin had a traditional procurement process, we’d have to hire 5 additional FTEs for this.”
Daniël van Someren, Procurement Advisor at Middin
Invoice processing keeps getting better
Daniël continues: “At Middin, we mainly work with PDF invoices and sometimes with XML invoices. With XML, an automatic 3-way match takes place. It’s great that this reduces the workload involved in the invoice processing. That’s why I proactively reach out to suppliers to ask if they can provide us with XML invoices and if they have an OCI integration available. Colleagues in accounts payable report that Elari’s invoice matching is getting better and better.” For example, thanks to Autosuggest, an AI-driven feature that makes posting suggestions based on historical data.
Middin continuously improves with the analysis features in Elari
Not only is it admirable that Daniël proactively engages with suppliers, but he also uses the analysis features in Elari to identify opportunities for improvement. “For analyzing our processes, for example, I use the product group overview and the Kraljic matrix. Based on that, I can generate reports for management. The analyses also highlight opportunities we can capitalize on, such as optimizing our supplier base.”
Elari Purchase to Pay is user-friendly and intuitive
Daniël explains: “Elari Purchase to Pay is very user-friendly. We don’t need to provide new employees with training or anything like that to work with Elari. They almost always figure it out on their own. That’s because the software is designed to be intuitive and user-friendly. We never get complaints that the software is too complicated. Employees always have the opportunity to ask questions, but the number of questions we receive is limited. Everything is self-explanatory.”
“If we do get questions that I don’t know the answer to, I contact Elari’s support department,” Daniël continues. “I usually speak with them once a month, and that interaction is always pleasant. I’d like the email responses to be a bit faster, but if I’m really in a hurry, I just call. Then it’s usually taken care of quickly. We can also rely on the Knowledge base with all its articles.”
When asked to describe the biggest advantage of Elari, Daniël says: “Elari takes the hassle completely out of all operational purchase orders.”
“Elari helps take the hassle completely out of all operational purchase orders.”
Daniël van Someren, Procurement Advisor at Middin
Middin stays up to date on Elari developments
Marja Noordermeer, a financial associate at Middin, explains: “Once a month, there’s a release webinar that explains what new features Elari has added. I always try to attend those. It’s great that we stay informed that way. I also occasionally attend a themed webinar, where the Customer Success department delves deeply into a specific topic. For example, I found the one on artificial intelligence very interesting.” It’s especially nice that all these webinars are always available in the Knowledge base, so you can watch them again at your leisure.
Discover Elari Purchase to Pay
Middin saves a lot of time and manual work with Elari, because they use it to manage their procurement, invoice processing, and contract management processes. Daniël emphasizes: “Locations can simply place orders with suppliers without all sorts of complicated steps, and that’s really great.” That’s what it’s all about in the end: ensuring the core process runs smoothly. Especially in a sector as critical as healthcare.
Curious about what Elari can do for you? Learn more about Elari Purchase to Pay.
Did you know that Middin also uses smart debit cards?
For incidental expenses, such as groceries, Middin’s healthcare workers can use a smart debit card. You can read how it works on the Elari Cards page. Or read more in Middin’s success story about smart debit cards.
