Business Process Automation at Rhenus Warehousing Solutions Polska

Przemysław Sołdacki | AMODIT: I will start with the same leading question. Which processes did we implement? In your own words, what have we achieved together?

Krystyna Markowska | Rhenus Warehousing Solutions Polska: We have implemented quite a few. Our journey with AMODIT began with contract workflow. We then added purchase requisitions and orders, followed by invoice workflow. That implementation was broader because it included budgeting and connected orders with invoice workflow. When I joined Rhenus, I participated in implementing business trips and incoming, outgoing, and bulk correspondence. As the previous speaker described, we connected correspondence with the e-Nadawca electronic dispatch service from the start.

Another project is underway now. In about a week, our IT department will launch a new vendor verification process that we developed internally.

Przemysław Sołdacki | AMODIT: How much do you build yourselves, and how much support do we provide?

Krystyna Markowska | Rhenus Warehousing Solutions Polska: We developed the earlier processes, through correspondence and business trips, with support from your consultants and implementation specialists. After your specialists trained us in process design and AMODIT scripting, we built the vendor verification process ourselves.

Przemysław Sołdacki | AMODIT: Rhenus is a very large international company. What challenges arise in an organization of this complexity?

Krystyna Markowska | Rhenus Warehousing Solutions Polska: One is our multi-branch structure. We work across several companies and many branches, each with its own operating specifics. We have to adapt to every branch, so there is a lot going on.

Przemysław Sołdacki | AMODIT: So operating across multiple companies and multiple branches are two distinct challenges?

Krystyna Markowska | Rhenus Warehousing Solutions Polska: Yes. We also frequently copy processes to new companies and adapt them to each business.

Przemysław Sołdacki | AMODIT: Which processes do you plan to implement next?

Krystyna Markowska | Rhenus Warehousing Solutions Polska: We are already preparing for KSeF, Poland’s National e-Invoicing System, because we do not want to leave it until the last minute. We are also adjusting our contract process to include electronic signatures. In the longer term, we plan to implement e-Delivery.

I am also looking forward to replacing “skanuj.to” in our invoice workflow with the AI option. Our own team expects to develop simpler registers, including requests for a corporate credit card, car, or phone. We also want to improve onboarding so a request for the right access and equipment reaches all responsible people at the same time and everything is ready when a new employee starts.

Przemysław Sołdacki | AMODIT: Which other capabilities that we provide, or could provide, would be useful to you?

Krystyna Markowska | Rhenus Warehousing Solutions Polska: We have recently been considering a sourcing process. This is our newest topic. From what we have seen, we have not implemented such a process before, but our plans and ambitions are extensive. We want to connect it with contract workflow and vendor verification, provide direct access to the vendors we work with, and select specific bids there. We are open to solutions, and a meeting is already scheduled.

Przemysław Sołdacki | AMODIT: We have implemented processes of this kind, but they depend heavily on the specific company and look different in every organization. You mentioned copying processes between companies. Are the improvements we are planning important for moving processes?

Krystyna Markowska | Rhenus Warehousing Solutions Polska: Definitely. I think we will be able to handle some topics ourselves. We are already prepared to do that, and if we have enough time and resources, we will also manage the copying of this data.

Przemysław Sołdacki | AMODIT: Which other development areas discussed today would be useful? In addition to AI, we are working on easier process creation and an improved interface.

Krystyna Markowska | Rhenus Warehousing Solutions Polska: The interface, definitely. Some people in this room are eagerly waiting for those improvements. It is already better.

Przemysław Sołdacki | AMODIT: Which parts of the interface need the most improvement?

Krystyna Markowska | Rhenus Warehousing Solutions Polska: People are asking for colors, and our CEO is looking forward to a mobile app so he can approve documents easily while traveling.

Przemysław Sołdacki | AMODIT: We listen to customers who have an excellent sense of aesthetics. Our team also includes user experience specialists who design each new interface. I encourage you to share specific ideas with us. We can send a specialist to conduct an interview. Everything now created for the new AMODIT interface is first designed as a clickable mockup.

We have the right technology, so interested customers review and test ideas before we decide to move them into production. This kind of collaboration is valuable.

Krystyna Markowska | Rhenus Warehousing Solutions Polska: That sounds great. We are definitely interested in improvements to process building. Complex processes currently take a lot of time to create. Sometimes we write 100 lines of code to produce a short result, so improvements here would be very useful.

Przemysław Sołdacki | AMODIT: Please share a specific use case with us. If something can be built with a rule, we can sometimes add a ready-made function that reduces 100 lines to one or two. We are happy to add capabilities that address recurring needs. This conference is also a forum for exchanging information between us and our customers, so we encourage these conversations. Janusz is happy to listen to feedback, and we also have a more structured approach: a specialist conducts an interview using our methodology, presents ideas, and gathers feedback. You mentioned onboarding and offboarding, including system access and issuing laptops.

Krystyna Markowska | Rhenus Warehousing Solutions Polska: This process does not work well for us today because the right people do not always receive information on time. We want a process that covers GDPR forms, security requirements, the processes and systems a person should access, required training, and equipment. Everything should be ready on time. We also expect cost savings from releasing licenses promptly. Timely information about a person joining or leaving lets us order or cancel a license when needed.

Przemysław Sołdacki | AMODIT: So this includes license assignment management. Rhenus is a large international company with a global headquarters. How much freedom do you have to create local solutions? I understand that local operations have specific needs and do not use one solution across the entire group.

Krystyna Markowska | Rhenus Warehousing Solutions Polska: Group requirements meant that we could not implement everything we wanted, but we still accomplished a lot. We have an interface with SAP, so accounting entries go directly into SAP. Data also flows in the other direction: Master Data supplies vendor, bank account, and posting information. Cases close automatically once posted and disappear from the task list. That has streamlined our work.

Przemysław Sołdacki | AMODIT: So you have the freedom to build local solutions?

Krystyna Markowska | Rhenus Warehousing Solutions Polska: Yes, especially for the smaller processes we need. Group solutions are also not fully adapted to Polish requirements such as KSeF, so they will simply receive the accounting data.

Przemysław Sołdacki | AMODIT: With AMODIT now implemented and running, which business benefit is already most noticeable?

Krystyna Markowska | Rhenus Warehousing Solutions Polska: Employees and the people who manage the system save time. We have less paperwork and fewer paper documents. As the previous speaker mentioned, we order less toner and paper. I especially value the flexibility because large, well-known systems generally do not provide it to the same extent. I have more than a decade of implementation experience, and flexibility matters most to me. Accounting and controlling teams also value the extensive reporting. In invoice workflow, the system reads invoice data and detects duplicates that a person previously had to check. In newer processes, we particularly value connections to external services, including the Ministry of Finance, Statistics Poland, and VIES. Our employees no longer have to check them manually.

Przemysław Sołdacki | AMODIT: We will leave it there so we do not delay the break. Thank you very much.

Krystyna Markowska | Rhenus Warehousing Solutions Polska: Thank you.