L.I.T.TOOLKIT
by Merrill Douglas
Hassle-Free Electronic Invoicing: Now That’s Hot
W hether your company brings in products from suppliers or ships them to customers, at some point an invoice changes hands. And if your company’s invoices change hands literally–stuffed into envelopes, dropped in the mail, and removed at the other end–many technology firms stand ready to relieve your paper-han- dling burden. Companies that want to import electronic invoices directly into their enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems can utilize relatively simple technical solutions, says Shan Haq, director of product management at Transcepta, an electronic invoicing provider in Aliso Viejo, Calif. The hard part is persuading more than a few vendors to send digital bills. “If a company aims to receive 90 percent of its inbound invoices elec- tronically, it must penetrate its supplier list,” says Haq. Convincing any but the largest suppliers to get on board with electronic invoicing, though, can be a major challenge. “Small companies often don’t see
the benefit of investing in electronic invoicing solutions. Nor do they have the resources to do so,” notes Haq. Getting those small vendors to join the game is a major thrust behind Transcepta’s Electronic Invoicing Community, a network of buyers and sellers that use Transcepta as a hub for billing transactions. Although it mar- kets this trading network to both buyers and sellers, to gain the critical mass nec- essary to benefit both communities, Transcepta places special emphasis on the supply side. Its strategy: make the technology simple and attractive for vendors to install and use. TAKE IT EASY “My experience with IT is that noth- ing is ever easy. But Transcepta proved an exception,” says Kathy Kalmbach, owner of four Johnstone Supply heat- ing, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVACR) wholesale out- lets in California’s Central Valley. Kalmbach’s stores in Fresno, Salinas, Merced, and Visalia, are part of Johnstone Supply, a 300-store cooper-
HVACR wholesaler heats up efficiency with a cool electronic invoicing system.
July 2007 • Inbound Logistics 179
Powered by FlippingBook