Internship: Improving the End to End PO to Invoice Process for Service Sales

Job Title

Internship: Improving the End to End PO to Invoice Process for Service Sales

Job Description

Assignment type: Internship

Start date: As soon as possible

Assignment duration: 5-6 months

Location: Veghel

Education level: Bachelor / Master

Desired study: Industrial Engineering, Business Administration or related

Language: Dutch / English

Description of assignment

The Service Sales organization is responsible for managing the operational and administrative flow from Purchase Order (PO) to final invoice for one of Vanderlande’s largest customers. Currently, several bottlenecks in this PO‑to‑Invoice chain lead to delays, rework, and missed opportunities to invoice on time. Examples include incomplete or late feedback loops from SAM and Change Management, missing or inconsistent updates in TopDesk tickets, unclear communication about required activities, and final acceptances that are not always captured correctly.

These issues cause Finance to trigger us reactively, rather than us steering the process proactively. Last year alone, €6.6M remained open due to incomplete administrative follow‑up.

The research question:
How can the PO‑to‑Invoice process within the Service Sales organization be optimized to ensure timely updates, reduce outstanding work, and enable proactive invoicing?

Department description

The Service Sales team operates within the Distribution Domain and supports one of Vanderlande’s largest global customers. The department collaborates closely with Service account managers (SAM), Change Management, Finance, and technical service teams. Activities include managing service requests, handling commercial follow‑up, processing PO‑related tasks, maintaining TopDesk records, and ensuring correct and timely invoicing.

The intern works in an energetic, international, multidisciplinary environment, interacting with multiple stakeholders. The assignment involves direct engagement with process experts and operational teams to map processes, identify gaps, and drive improvement ideas. 

Tasks/responsibilities

• Map the current PO‑to‑Invoice process across departments (SAM, Change Management, Finance, Operations, Service Sales).
• Analyze bottlenecks such as late feedback loops, missing ticket updates, incomplete acceptances, and unclear task ownership.
• Quantify the impact (e.g., €6.6M open work).
• Propose actionable process improvements and possible automation opportunities.
• Validate solutions with stakeholders (SAM, Finance, Change Management).
• Deliver a clear improvement roadmap and implementation advice.

 Your profile

• Strong analytical and process‑mapping skills (Lean/Value Stream Mapping is a plus).
• Comfortable interviewing stakeholders and challenging assumptions.
• Affinity with process improvement, automation, or change management.
• Experience with Excel, process tools (e.g., Visio, Miro), or ticketing systems is an advantage.
• Proactive, curious, and hands‑on mindset.enrolment to a Dutch Education System & resident of The Netherlands

Contact

Do you recognize yourself in this challenging profile? Are you looking for an internship in our organization? Please fill out the application form and upload your resume and cover letter. For more information, contact us by e-mail: internship@vanderlande.com.