Applied Industrial Technologies is a premier industrial distributor with over 100 years of leadership in providing advanced motion, power, control, and automation solutions for critical industrial infrastructure.
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INDUSTRY
Wholesale Trade
EMPLOYEES
5,000+
APPZEN PRODUCTS
Autonomous AP, SAP ECC Integration
THE PROBLEM
Legacy OCR limitations created AP bottlenecks and processing delays
Before AppZen, Applied Industrial Technologies manually processed over 500,000 invoices annually, 97% of them PO-backed. Limitations in their legacy OCR solution forced their AP staff of 12.5 full-time employees to waste valuable working hours extracting and validating header-level details their OCR missed. Their AP inbox was flooded with non-invoice documents, requiring 2 FTEs to review and parse through emails, causing even more delays in processing time. Even with staff working around the clock, it took them, on average, five days to get an invoice into the SAP system.
Once in SAP, their challenges compounded daily. They faced the daunting task of individually matching hundreds of line-level items between POs that weren’t captured by their OCR. Foreign currencies and manual tax coding further increased processing times, putting them at constant risk of errors. With employee time squandered on tedious reviews, they decided to invest in a solution that would lighten the workload. Adam Lotycz, Director of Financial Planning and Analysis at Applied, said, “We didn’t just want an OCR solution; we really wanted that AI strategy.” This would give their AP team time to focus on vendor relationships and root cause analysis.
THE SOLUTION
Autonomous AP streamlined workflows with seamless SAP integration
Using AppZen Autonomous AP and its SAP-certified add-on for SAP ECC, they seamlessly connected to Applied Industrial Technologies’ ECC environment to reimagine their entire AP landscape. They saw immediate ROI as AppZen’s AI managed the heavy lifting. In the first month alone, they reached a 40% touchless rate, and invoices entered their ERP system in less than 10 minutes.
“That initial 40% really helped our team and allowed them to shift their focus toward working with suppliers on disputed items and reconciling statements.”
Adam Lotycz, Director of Financial Planning and Analysis, Applied Industrial Technologies
With AppZen matching header-level and individual line-level PO details with precision, a significant burden was lifted on their downstream VIM workflow solution. Accounts Payable manager Lynae Brunstetter shared, “Now the team [doesn’t] have to correct the same mistake more than once. They’re doing other tasks that are more value-added instead of repetitious.” What once required extensive manual intervention now flowed smoothly through automated processes.
THE RESULT
Transformed AP processes with 87% automation and 50% productivity gains
The transformation of Applied Industrial Technologies’ AP operations was remarkable. Invoices moved through their system in less than two days, with 87% requiring no human intervention. Despite a 25% increase in invoice volume, they needed only 8.5 of their original 12.5 FTEs to complete the work—a testament to the 50% productivity gains achieved through automation.
These achievements weren’t just statistics—they represented a fundamental shift in how Applied Industrial Technologies managed their accounts payable operations. Their AP team evolved from data processors to strategic partners, focusing on vendor relationships and complex problem-solving rather than routine data entry and validation.
“Where advanced AI meets performance needs, it opens up new possibilities for workplace creativity.”
Lynae Brunstetter, Accounts Payable Manager, Applied Industrial Technologies
Their journey from manual processing to AI-driven automation became a blueprint for organizations looking to transform their AP operations. It demonstrated that companies could achieve significant efficiency gains with the right technology partner while improving accuracy and freeing their teams to focus on higher-value activities.
