Global Pharma Company Streamlines Freight Invoice Processing with GoInvoice

• Functional Applications - Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)
• Networks & Connectivity - NFC

• Pharmaceuticals
• Transportation

• Logistics & Transportation
• Quality Assurance

• Last Mile Delivery
• Transportation Simulation

The global pharmaceutical company, established in 1977, faced significant challenges in its freight invoice verification process. With hundreds of shipments every month, the company operated on a global long-term price agreement with its freight forwarders. However, errors in the invoice verification process were affecting the productivity and efficiency of its logistics and accounts teams. The logistics team had to manually check every invoice and forward it to the account and finance department for approval. This labor-intensive process involved a large team and kept them from focusing on more critical tasks. Over 4% of the invoices received were duplicates, and the entirely manual verification process made seeking approvals, processing payments, and following up with vendors for the correct invoices extremely difficult and time-consuming. The process was prone to errors, leading to overpayments due to unchecked invoices that did not match the initial quotation. There was also a lack of standardisation and transparency in the invoice reconciliation process. The auditing process was inefficient and complex due to the lack of a consolidated repository to document the invoices and their status.

The customer is a global pharmaceutical company established in 1977. It is an industry leader with 14 manufacturing facilities and a commercial presence in over 80 countries. The company specializes in manufacturing dermatology, respiratory, and oncology-related products. With hundreds of shipments every month, the company operates on a global long-term price agreement with its freight forwarders. The company's logistics and accounts teams were previously burdened with a labor-intensive and error-prone manual invoice verification process.

The company implemented GoComet’s GoInvoice Automated Invoice Reconciliation module to build efficiency into their invoice verification process. The solution used a blend of Optical Character Recognition technology and contextual language processing to automatically match invoices to the original quotations and reject duplicate invoices, ensuring error-free verification. This technology saved up to 65% of the time required in invoice processing. In case of inconsistencies between the invoice and quotation, the module automatically notified the vendors, saving the logistics and accounts team the burden of manual follow-ups. This allowed the company to divert 75% of the workforce required to verify invoices to other critical tasks. The module also auto-approved invoices based on predefined tolerance levels, leading to quicker approvals and faster payment cycles. GoInvoice became a consolidated online repository for keeping track of all invoices and payments. The platform allowed the user to time-stamp remarks on each freight invoice, making audits transparent. The module also offered analytical reports highlighting the overall performance of vendors with respect to the accuracy of invoices, payment cycles, etc.

• The implementation of GoInvoice Automated Invoice Reconciliation module brought significant operational improvements to the company. The error-free invoice verification process eliminated overpayments and improved the accuracy of the invoice reconciliation process. The automated follow-ups and auto-approval of invoices based on predefined tolerance levels streamlined the process, reducing the burden on the logistics and accounts teams. The module also served as a consolidated online repository for all invoices and payments, bringing transparency and standardisation to the process. The ability to time-stamp remarks on each freight invoice made audits more transparent and efficient. The module's analytical reports provided valuable insights into the overall performance of vendors, including the accuracy of invoices and payment cycles.

• Saved up to 65% of the time required in invoice processing
• Diverted 75% of the workforce required to verify invoices to other critical tasks
• Reduced the number of duplicate invoices from over 4% to zero