A global technology and scientific instrumentation company operating across Europe needed to modernise its internal approval and compliance processes to meet J-SOX audit requirements. Using 360 Forms, the organisation replaced inefficient, manual methods with automated, trackable workflows — significantly reducing processing time, increasing transparency, and improving audit readiness.
Client Profile
This multinational company delivers advanced technologies and laboratory instrumentation across various European markets. Like many large organisations, it faces stringent regulatory requirements and internal controls — including compliance with J-SOX — which demand clear audit trails and robust approval mechanisms.
The Challenge
The organisation performs annual audits to ensure compliance with J-SOX and other internal governance standards. Prior to 360 Forms, key business processes relied on outdated and inefficient methods:
- Excel and Word forms circulated by email
- Physical paperwork posted for signatures
- Manual tracking via spreadsheets
- Time-consuming email follow-ups and approval chasing
These methods made it difficult to trace the status of authorisations, introduced delays, and increased the risk of compliance gaps.
The Solution: Digitising Compliance with 360 Forms
The organisation adopted 360 Forms to digitise and streamline its Trade, Risk, and Export Control processes — critical to ensuring proper due diligence and compliance before engaging with external partners. The solution now manages multiple interrelated workflows, including:
Due Diligence
Checks on prospective customers, suppliers, distributors, and service providers — assessing integrity, business history, and risk.
Sanctioned Entity Screening
Verification against sanctions lists and persons of interest to ensure lawful trade practices.
Transaction Approval
Detailed workflows to assess transactions based on parties involved, end use, export control checks, and red flags.
Credit Approvals
Assessment and authorisation of credit limits for customers.
Stock Management
Approvals for stock corrections, limits, transfers, and write-offs.
Contract Review
Collaboration workflows for reviewing contract details, collecting feedback, and required signature levels.
Each form includes built-in routing logic, multiple levels of approval, and automatic generation of audit trails.
What Was Replaced
360 Forms replaced a fragmented and manual system that included:
- Email-based approval processes
- Spreadsheets and Word documents
- Posted paper forms for physical signatures
- Manual follow-ups for authorisation tracking
Results & Impact
- Faster Compliance Automated workflows have significantly reduced the time required to complete approvals and due diligence checks.
- Enhanced Visibility Stakeholders can see the status of each request in real time, reducing uncertainty and bottlenecks.
- Stronger Audit Trail Every change is captured in a secure audit log, supporting annual J-SOX audits and internal reviews.
- Centralised Information Data is now collected in structured, web-based forms that are reviewed and signed off by the appropriate managers and approvers.
- Agile Form Development Depending on complexity, new forms and workflows can be deployed in hours — including integration with external systems, PDF generation, and Excel reporting.
Key Takeaways for IT and Compliance Leaders
Automating compliance workflows can deliver faster turnaround and greater transparency without sacrificing rigour.
360 Forms supports multi-stage authorisations with full auditability — essential for organisations bound by regulatory frameworks like J-SOX.
Rapid form development and system integration allow teams to adapt processes quickly as compliance needs evolve.
Visit 360 Forms to find out more.
