Ingredion Brasil reduces costs and streamlines the formalization of documents via a digital platform

Innovation is in the company’s DNA, but innovation is not only an idea – it has to be developed and deployed. A new technology that changes its processes needs to motivate all parties involved – managers, peers, and employees – to abandon a modus operandi and try the new. To do this, innovators require a few ingredients: willingness to change and resilience. This is how Silvia Boccia, the attorney in charge of the Contracts, Corporate Affairs, Intellectual Property and Real Estate areas in Brazil, identified the need to change the paper-based formalization processes to the digital medium.

“The bottlenecks in the formalization of documents were the trigger for the search for a solution that could streamline and provide more dynamism to the company’s business. The process of implementing a digital platform for digital and electronic signing of documents brought savings in the process and speed in hiring,” explained Boccia.

From then on, an analysis of the market solutions was carried out, followed by an internal pilot over a one-month period, involving a few areas and their managers. “We opted for QualiSign. We evaluated the solutions based on criteria of agility, practicality, and legal security, but the decisive factors were customer service, support, and, of course, legal security, which are key points for a service provider,” she added.

Since its deployment two years ago, the new process has been monitored in its evolution, with the verification of tangible data as follows.

Agility from 3 weeks to 48 hours

“When considering all stages of the life cycle of a contract, we see that the term of the cycle can vary a lot, as we have very simple and very complex instruments. If we focus only on the formalization period, that is, the signing of the contract, we can achieve a reduction from three weeks to 48 hours. Today, 100% of contracts are already in digital media. This time reduction provided a number of advantages for both Ingredion and the other parties,” explained Boccia.
The most widely used documents for digital and electronic signing are service-level agreements, contracts with customers, addenda, and non-disclosure agreements (NDA), in addition to corporate documents such as meeting minutes, amendments to Articles of Incorporation, and others.

Cost reduction and ROI

For the cost assessment and ROI calculation, detail reports were drafted on the costs of paper-based process, such as notarization, mail or mailing lists, couriers, physical file size, paper, envelopes, printers, and the working hours of operational resources. Regarding the digital platform costs, the following were considered: annual renewal of digital certificates and the cost of each contract included in the platform. In this way, comparing expenses, Ingredion achieved a cost reduction of 85%, justifying the return on investment very quickly.

Operational productivity gain

In addition to agility and cost reduction, other advantages are also perceived by the people who manage the contracts. The monitoring and control of documents, for example, knowing who is pending to sign, where the contract is, everything can be seen in real time on the portal’s dashboard. Suppliers have reduced their costs and gained agility, as their contracts are formalized in a shorter time and can start delivering faster. “Considering the savings in hours we had to resort to s operational, we obtained a 37.5% gain in productivity. This time was allocated to other business activities. It is also important to remember that the managers saved the time they spent signing and initialing the pile of paper,” said Silvia.

Sustainability – One of the pillars of Ingredion

The benefits do not stop there. The green economy is crucial too, as there are volumes of paper that have not been used. The contracts have an average of 25 sheets, in two copies. When considering an average of 100 documents per month, we reach an average consumption of 5,000 A4 sheets per month and 60,000 sheets per year. This accounts for a saving of six trees per year. Paper production generates electricity and water costs. This volume of paper saved 1,500 kWh and 15,000 liters of water, in addition to avoiding CO2 emissions.

Intangible benefits

The intangible benefits are also many. The digital medium provides a real-time view of the situation of the formalization of documents, resulting in the real perception that we have more control. Mobility is another intangible aspect, as we can be anywhere on the planet and are able to sign a document with security and legal validity.

Corporate relations

“The previous process with papers led to situations of greater tension due to urgency, and we needed to request the signatures of employees as well as other parties. We required control over where the documents are and what is pending, with documents with 50 sheets to initial and sign. All this generated stress and pressure for everyone involved, in addition to causing discomfort in the relationship with the areas on a daily basis. With the digital platform, these issues were largely mitigated, because the collection is now impersonal and directly carried out via the platform,” analyzed Boccia.

Innovation with boldness

“Innovation is more than seeing an opportunity. It consists of putting into practice actions to achieve a goal to make daily life lighter and more agile for all those involved in the process. It is important to demonstrate to the most resistant employees that technology adds value and is a great ally of the Legal Department and other areas of the company,” concluded Boccia.