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Streamlining Invoicing and Improving Cash Flow at Superior Energy Services with IoT
Technology Category
- Sensors - Gas Sensors
- Sensors - Utility Meters
Applicable Industries
- Equipment & Machinery
- Oil & Gas
Applicable Functions
- Procurement
- Sales & Marketing
Use Cases
- Personnel Tracking & Monitoring
- Time Sensitive Networking
Services
- System Integration
The Challenge
Superior Energy Services, a Houston-based company serving the drilling, completion, and production-related needs of oil and gas companies worldwide, faced a significant challenge in improving its working capital by reducing days sales outstanding (DSO). The company had grown by acquiring hundreds of smaller firms, each operating autonomously with their own unique ERP systems. This resulted in a decentralized IT infrastructure with over 100 different product and service lines. The lack of a unified system led to inefficiencies, particularly in invoicing. Individual units within Superior were invoicing the same customers independently, which was both inefficient and time-consuming. This fragmented approach also increased the overall number of days it took for Superior to collect payment for its services, negatively impacting the DSO key performance indicator (KPI). The challenge was to streamline this process without imposing a centralized system or specific mandates on the individual units.
About The Customer
Superior Energy Services is a Houston, Texas-based company that serves the drilling, completion, and production-related needs of oil and gas companies worldwide. The company has a diversified portfolio of specialized oilfield services and equipment used throughout the economic lifecycle of oil and gas wells. Energy producers around the world rely on Superior Energy Services for the services, tools, equipment, and exceptionally trained personnel needed to develop and produce oil and gas products. The company has grown by acquiring hundreds of smaller firms, each operating autonomously with their own unique ERP systems, resulting in a decentralized IT infrastructure with over 100 different product and service lines.
The Solution
Superior Energy Services opted for a solution that encouraged the different back offices to standardize certain procurement and invoicing processes. The company adopted the Actian Business Xchange (BX) platform, a fully managed, cloud-based data exchange service for both buyers and suppliers. The platform allows different groups within Superior to exchange and translate invoices, purchase orders, shipping notices, and other documents with its customers without regard for specific document formats or requirements. A business unit within Superior can send an invoice to Actian BX, which validates, converts, and delivers that invoice in a format that is compatible with the customer’s invoicing system. The B2B integration service available through Actian BX is flexible enough to support any ERP system in use within Superior, as well as any ERP system a customer is using to ingest and process invoices. Actian itself provides an onboarding service that quickly sets up new organizations within Superior as well as any customers that agree to receive Superior invoices through Actian BX.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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