How a secure, end-to-end approach helped reduce manual effort, enhance control, and protect payments
About Superior Silica Sands
Superior Silica Sands is a Texas-based mining company of high-quality sand products serving the construction, sports, industrial and energy sectors. Located just south of San Antonio, the company produces over 1 million tons per year of specialty products for its construction, sports, and industrial customers along with an additional 2 million tons per year of high quality frac sand. Known for its strong reliability and ability to produce specialty products for construction companies, golf courses, and glass manufacturers – Superior Silica Sands is recognized for its customer-centric approach and ongoing investments in operational efficiency and quality.
The Challenge
As Superior Silica Sands expanded its operations, CFO Stefan Hochegger identified an opportunity to improve how vendor information was collected and verified. Onboarding had been managed through a combination of software tools and manual steps which, while effective, required considerable time and coordination from the Accounts Payable and Purchasing teams. Collecting and managing documents like W-9s, insurance certificates, and banking details often involved back-and-forth emails and manual storage, adding unnecessary complexity to the process.
At the same time, CFO Stefan Hochegger—who oversees the Finance, Purchasing and IT teams—was mindful of the evolving cyber risk landscape, with threats like Business Email Compromise and AI deep fakes becoming more sophisticated.
While the business had already taken steps to modernise its treasury function and payments had shifted from checks to digital payments, there was an opportunity to further strengthen digital controls around payments and streamline the end-to-end process.
“We had assumed there was some level of validation happening between our payment instructions and what the bank had on file. Learning that wasn’t the case really highlighted the need for an extra layer of control.”
— Stefan Hochegger, CFO, Superior Silica Sands
Why Eftsure
Eftsure provided Superior Silica Sands with an end-to-end solution to automate and secure their vendor payment processes. Using Eftsure’s secure digital form, vendors now submit key documentation—such as banking details, W-9s, and insurance certificates—through a single, structured workflow. The process is intuitive for vendors, and all documentation is automatically stored in one central location, improving accessibility for the finance team.
As part of the implementation, Superior also used the opportunity to clean up the existing vendor master records, allowing the team to fast-track those suppliers through a quick self-verification path. This gave the team a more accurate foundation to work from, improving data integrity and reducing administrative overhead.
Weekly payment files are uploaded to Eftsure for real-time verification, giving the team added confidence before releasing payments. When vendors update their bank details, changes are verified through Eftsure—eliminating the need for manual confirmation and helping the team respond more efficiently.
The implementation was seamless, with the Accounts Payable and Purchasing teams quickly adopting the new workflow and embedding it into their day-to-day operations.
“Our purchasing manager immediately saw the benefits of Eftsure and fully adopted the system. It’s intuitive and has made our processes much more efficient.”
— Stefan Hochegger, CFO, Superior Silica Sands
Results
Since implementing Eftsure, Superior Silica Sands has established a more consistent and controlled end-to-end process for vendor onboarding and payments. The workflow is now streamlined from initial vendor setup through to payment execution, allowing the Superior Silica Sands team to operate more efficiently while maintaining strong compliance and security standards. The finance team now works with improved visibility and confidence, helping them stay proactive and focused on value-adding activities.
