Groningen Seaports is the commercial operator and manager of the ports of Delfzijl and Eemshaven. Since June 14, 2013, Groningen Seaports has been a government-owned public limited company (NV) governed by private law. From its office building in Delfzijl, approximately 90 permanent employees work daily to maintain 2,779 hectares of port and industrial land.
Groningen Seaports is the commercial operator and manager of the ports of Delfzijl and Eemshaven. Since June 14, 2013, Groningen Seaports has been a government-owned public limited company (N.V.) governed by private law. From the office building in Delfzijl, approximately 90 permanent employees work daily to maintain 2,779 hectares of port and industrial land.
Groningen Seaports acquires new companies to conduct business in Delfzijl or Eemshaven, develops projects based on market needs and opportunities, and ensures the safe and efficient handling of shipping traffic.
Groningen Seaports has a small IT team consisting of three employees, along with an Information Management team also consisting of three employees. Four years ago, the decision was made to overhaul the IT landscape strategy; wherever possible, the transition to the cloud was made, and IT (management) tasks were outsourced as much as possible.
As a result, the internal IT role has changed significantly. In addition to the remaining management tasks, IT now serves as a strategic partner and project leader for the organization. Security is the biggest challenge, as malicious technology continues to evolve.
The desire to automate processes in the finance department had been around for some time. Derk Matroos, IT Project Manager, explains: “Our invoice processing was quite old-fashioned. We received about 80% of our invoices by email. But it was still a paper-based process, so all those invoices were printed out—which was unsustainable and cumbersome.
“We first started with a new cloud-based ERP system, MS Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations. Our plan was to use the invoice processing feature it offered to automate our processes, but things turned out differently. The user-friendliness wasn’t up to par. For the Finance department, which works with the software every day, it was still manageable, but for a budget manager who opens the software only once a week, there were too many steps and it was too complicated. Since I’m a budget manager myself, I was well-positioned to discuss this and offer advice.”
The biggest challenge for Groningen Seaports, however, didn’t arise until the pandemic began and everyone was forced to work from home. Matroos: “At that point, we were still using a paper-based process for which we’d created a custom workflow. Every week, a colleague would go to the office to scan the invoices and forward them via email to the first budget manager. That person would approve them via email and forward them to the next budget manager. It wasn’t an ideal situation—it was error-prone and extremely time-consuming.”
Consequently, Finance quickly tasked us with finding a new solution. “Our IT and Finance departments have recently come under the same manager. This has fostered a good relationship between the departments and close collaboration. As a project leader, contract manager, and budget holder, I was able to play a role in this. Together with the Finance department, we compiled a list of all the must-haves and nice-to-haves. From this perspective, we were able to get started and request demos from various vendors.”
Groningen Seaports evaluated various solutions and providers. Ultimately, they chose Easy Invoice in the cloud, including the proven Dyn365 plug-in from Fresh Dynamics. “The decision to go with the cloud was clear. Four years ago, we had already committed to migrating to the cloud as much as possible. In addition, we had several requirements, such as:
Derk continues: “And we had a few more wishes like that. Once all those requirements are met, it comes down to the people—after all, you’re doing business with people. Ultimately, the feeling we had about 4CEE was the deciding factor for us.
We were very satisfied with the communication throughout the process. The implementation had a tight deadline, so this was a huge challenge for both parties. In that situation, you need a partner who clearly communicates the current status. 4CEE was very clear about what they could offer and what they needed from us.”
The director emailed immediately after the rollout: “What a user-friendly system—I’m very happy with it!”
Derk Matroos, IT Project Manager
Gert-Jan Flikkema, Financial and Application Administrator, is closely involved in the integration between the two systems as part of his role. “4CEE was one of the few companies with experience in MS Dynamics 365 F&O.” 4CEE carries out this integration together with its partner Fresh Dynamics, with whom it has been collaborating for many years and who developed a plug-in for this purpose. This plug-in enables Easy Invoice to send invoice data to D365&SCM and post this data as an expense or purchase invoice.
“Three parties were involved in setting up the integration,” Gert-Jan continues. “So communication is the biggest challenge. But once you have everyone on the same page, it goes very smoothly. The exchange of data between the systems works perfectly. A partial synchronization runs every ten minutes. In addition, a full synchronization runs every night. This ensures we have all the information immediately at our fingertips.”
Matroos: “Our interaction with 4CEE went smoothly. It’s easy to reach the right people. The consultants from 4CEE and Fresh Dynamics have both functional and technical expertise. They actively contribute ideas to the process and have extensive knowledge about it.
As far as I’m concerned, that’s also a concrete added value of 4CEE. I’d never seen anything like it before. Usually, when a change is requested, a consultant first has to hear what the request is, then prepare a briefing for a technician, and only then is the change made. That involves too many steps, too much back-and-forth, and it simply takes too long.
For us, the requirements analysis was also a very important plus—the fact that you walk through the entire process together with the consultant beforehand. How does the process work now? What does the authorization scheme look like? Everything is mapped out and documented in advance, and that forms the basis on which the solution is designed.”
"I have nothing but praise. It’s user-friendly, and the system performs well, so my advice is for everyone to start using Easy Invoice."
Looking back, Derk has a few more tips for anyone embarking on a similar process: “Invest plenty of time in the preliminary phase. Make sure you have a clear picture of exactly what you want. Above all, make sure you test thoroughly during the implementation process—this is often underestimated, and it’s during this phase that you’ll uncover issues you’d rather not encounter once you go live.
Finally, communication is key. Keep everyone informed in a timely manner and organize face-to-face meetings. A confirmation email is fine, but sometimes you just need to get together in person to align everyone’s expectations as quickly as possible.”