SANTA BARBARA, CALIF., Feb. 14, 2011 – Yardi announced that multifamily property manager ECI Group has gained significant advantage across its portfolio after adopting Yardi Procure to Pay™, which integrates automated procurement of operations supplies with full-service electronic invoice processing.
ECI recently sought to improve competitiveness by lowering costs and increasing automation across the organization. One aspect of this initiative involved replacing the labor-intensive, paper-heavy manual procurement process. After a thorough review of available options, the company concluded that leveraging its Yardi Voyager™ property management and accounting system to automate the process — from initiating purchase orders to securing approvals and paying vendors — would advance that goal.
Yardi Procure to Pay integrates online supply catalogs from SiteStuff™ with Yardi PAYscan™, which converts paper invoices into electronic transactions in Yardi Voyager. The invoices are routed through an automated online approval cycle.
“We are working on operating more efficiently with Procure to Pay. Its automation lets us spend more time on core property management tasks instead of manually ordering supplies and routing approvals,” said David Hirsch, chairman of ECI Group. “We spend less time purchasing supplies, and buying at pre-negotiated rates gives us the best possible prices. Another key advantage of the system is that orders must go through an approval process. When we were on paper purchase orders, people could order products and then get approval — in other words, ask for forgiveness instead of permission.”
“We are pleased to see ECI benefit from the value of leveraging Voyager’s workflows and automation for procurement efficiency and enhanced visibility of the process,” said Terri Dowen, Yardi senior vice president of sales.
About ECI Group
ECI, based in Marietta, Ga., is one of the most highly regarded privately owned real estate organizations in the southeastern United States. Its fully integrated development, construction, and management group has gathered national recognition for innovation and knowledge in the multifamily industry. ECI hosted a number of 40th anniversary celebrations in 2010 to honor its employees and their family members. For more information, visit www.ecigroups.com.
About Yardi
Yardi Systems has been committed to the design, development and support of real estate investment management and property management software for nearly 30 years. With its Yardi Multifamily Suite™, Yardi Commercial Suite™ and Yardi Investment Suite™, the Yardi Voyager™ system is the most comprehensive single real estate management platform on the market today. Yardi serves clients around the world from offices in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. More information about Yardi products and services is available at www.yardi.com.
Trade Media Contact: Joel Nelson 805.699-2040, ext. 1255