Developing purchase invoice processing through workflow automation

The aim of this master’s thesis is to research and analyze how purchase invoice processing can be automated and streamlined in a system renewal project. The impacts of workflow automation on invoice handling are studied by means of time, cost and quality aspects. Purchase invoice processing has a lot of potential for automation because of its labor-intensive and repetitive nature. As a case study combining both qualitative and quantitative methods, the topic is approached from a business process management point of view. The current process was first explored through interviews and workshop meetings to create a holistic understanding of the process at hand. Requirements for process streamlining were then researched focusing on specified vendors and their purchase invoices, which helped to identify the critical factors for successful invoice automation. To optimize the flow from invoice receipt to approval for payment, the invoice receiving process was outsourced and the automation functionalities of the new system utilized in invoice handling. The quality of invoice data and the need of simple structured purchase order (PO) invoices were emphasized in the system testing phase. Hence, consolidated invoices containing references to multiple PO or blanket release numbers should be simplified in order to use automated PO matching. With non-PO invoices, it is important to receive the buyer reference details in an applicable invoice data field so that automation rules could be created to route invoices to a review and approval flow. In the beginning of the project, invoice processing was seen ineffective both time- and cost-wise, and it required a lot of manual labor to carry out all tasks. In accordance with testing results, it was estimated that over half of the invoices could be automated within a year after system implementation. Processing times could be reduced remarkably, which would then result savings up to 40 % in annual processing costs. Due to several advancements in the purchase invoice process, business process quality could also be perceived as improved.

KATS: A Knowledge Acquisition Tool Based on Electronic Document Processing

This paper describes a particular knowledge acquisition tool for the construction and maintenance of the knowledge model of an intelligent system for emergency management in the field of hydrology. This tool has been developed following an innovative approach directed to end-users non familiarized in computer oriented terminology. According to this approach, the tool is conceived as a document processor specialized in a particular domain (hydrology) in such a way that the whole knowledge model is viewed by the user as an electronic document. The paper first describes the characteristics of the knowledge model of the intelligent system and summarizes the problems that we found during the development and maintenance of such type of model. Then, the paper describes the KATS tool, a software application that we have designed to help in this task to be used by users who are not experts in computer programming. Finally, the paper shows a comparison between KATS and other approaches for knowledge acquisition.

Electronic data processing in the Division of Accounting Operations /

"Prepared by: Staff Development Unit, Administrative Management Section, Management Coordination Branch, Divison of Accounting Operations."

Electronic data processing for business and industry,

Bibliography: p. 325-327.

Nonlinear and ROADM induced penalties in 28 Gbaud dynamic optical mesh networks employing electronic signal processing

We report the impact of cascaded reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer induced penalties on coherently-detected 28 Gbaud polarization multiplexed m-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (PM m-ary QAM) WDM channels. We investigate the interplay between different higher-order modulation channels and the effect of filter shapes and bandwidth of (de)multiplexers on the transmission performance, in a segment of pan-European optical network with a maximum optical path of 4,560 km (80km x 57 spans). We verify that if the link capacities are assigned assuming that digital back propagation is available, 25% of the network connections fail using electronic dispersion compensation alone. However, majority of such links can indeed be restored by employing single-channel digital back-propagation employing less than 15 steps for the whole link, facilitating practical application of DBP. We report that higher-order channels are most sensitive to nonlinear fiber impairments and filtering effects, however these formats are less prone to ROADM induced penalties due to the reduced maximum number of hops. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that a minimum filter Gaussian order of 3 and bandwidth of 35 GHz enable negligible excess penalty for any modulation order.

Ulkoisen laskennan organisoinnin kehittäminen. Case: Stora Enso Oyj

Tutkielman päätavoitteena oli analysoida, miten taloushallintoa voisi kehittää case –yrityksessä ulkoisen laskennan osalta. Case yrityksenä oli Stora Enso Oyj. Tutkielmassa analysoitiin kolme kehittämisvaihtoehtoa. Ensin analysoitiin palvelukeskuksen soveltuvuutta case –yrityksen taloushallinnon kehittämiseen. Toiseksi tutkittiin, onko konsernin sisäinen fuusioituminen mahdollistanut case –yrityksen taloushallinnon toimintojen kehittämisen ja kolmanneksi etsittiin muita vaihtoehtoisia keinoja kehittää case –yrityksen taloushallintoa. Tutkielma edustaa ymmärtävää tapaustutkimuksen tyyppiä, jossa on normatiivisia piirteitä. Palvelukeskuksen soveltuvuus case –yrityksen taloushallintoon todettiin teoriassa hyväksi. Käytännössä sen toteuttamiselle löytyi kuitenkin esteitä, eikä palvelukeskusta tässä vaiheessa päätetty perustaa. Fuusioitumisen todettiin mahdollistavan case –yrityksen taloushallinnon kehittämisen vähäisessä määrin. Tätä ei kuitenkaan ole toistaiseksi hyödynnetty. Muina ratkaisuvaihtoehtoina taloushallinnon kehittämiseen tutkittiin lähinnä sähköistä ostolaskujenkäsittelyä. Se todettiin hyväksi vaihtoehdoksi ostolaskujenkäsittelyprosessin tehostamiseksi. Teoriaosuuden tavoitteena oli asemoida palvelukeskus muiden mahdollisten taloushallinnon kehittämisratkaisujen joukkoon. Palvelukeskuksen todettiin olevan lähinnä keskittämistä, mutta sisältävän piirteitä myös ulkoistamisesta ja liiketoimintaprosessien uudelleen organisoimisesta. Uusina seikkoina nousi esille asiakaslähtöisyys ja tulosvastuu.

Gestió de factures electròniques amb .NET (Visual Studio Tools for Office)

Creació d¿un software de gestió de factures electròniques desenvolupat en aquesta plataforma tecnològica, amb indicació expressa d¿utilització de les eines VSTO (Visual Studio Tools for Office) en la seva última versió.

Diseño y Desarrollo de un cliente Web Processing Services (WPS) para gvSIG

Configuració d'un entorn de desenvolupament en el IDE Eclipse. Introducció als SIG. Usos, utilitats i exemples. Conèixer la eina gvSIG. Conèixer els estàndards més estesos de l'Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) i en especial del Web Processing Services. Analitzar, dissenyar i desenvolupar un client capaç de consumir serveis wps.

Aplicación de gestión de facturas electrónicas basado en la tecnología .NET

En la present memòria es presenta el treball realitzat en el projecte de desenvolupament de l'aplicació efactura que pretén fer la gestió de les factures de forma electrònica, sense l'ús de paper.

Diseño y Desarrollo de un cliente Web Processing Service (WPS) para gvSIG

Estudi dels estàndards definits per l'Open Geospatial Consortium, i més concretament en l'estàndard Web Processing Service (wps). Així mateix, ha tingut una component pràctica que ha consistit en el disseny i desenvolupament d'un client capaç de consumir serveis Web creats segons wps i integrat a la plataforma gvSIG.

Automated Purchase to Pay Process Value Modeling and Comparative Process Speeds

The importance of efficient supply chain management has increased due to globalization and the blurring of organizational boundaries. Various supply chain management technologies have been identified to drive organizational profitability and financial performance. Organizations have historically been concentrating heavily on the flow of goods and services, while less attention has been dedicated to the flow of money. While supply chains are becoming more transparent and automated, new opportunities for financial supply chain management have emerged through information technology solutions and comprehensive financial supply chain management strategies. This research concentrates on the end part of the purchasing process which is the handling of invoices. Efficient invoice processing can have an impact on organizations working capital management and thus provide companies with better readiness to face the challenges related to cash management. Leveraging a process mining solution the aim of this research was to examine the automated invoice handling process of four different organizations. The invoice data was collected from each organizations invoice processing system. The sample included all the invoices organizations had processed during the year 2012. The main objective was to find out whether e-invoices are faster to process in an automated invoice processing solution than scanned invoices (post entry into invoice processing solution). Other objectives included looking into the longest lead times between process steps and the impact of manual process steps on cycle time. Processing of invoices from maverick purchases was also examined. Based on the results of the research and previous literature on the subject, suggestions for improving the process were proposed. The results of the research indicate that scanned invoices were processed faster than e-invoices. This is mostly due to the more complex processing of e-invoices. It should be noted however that the manual tasks related to turning a paper invoice into electronic format through scanning are ignored in this research. The transitions with the longest lead times in the invoice handling process included both pre-automated steps as well as manual steps performed by humans. When the most common manual steps were examined in more detail, it was clear that these steps had a prolonging impact on the process. Regarding invoices from maverick purchases the evidence shows that these invoices were slower to process than invoices from purchases conducted through e-procurement systems and from preferred suppliers. Suggestions on how to improve the process included: increasing invoice matching, reducing of manual steps and leveraging of different value added services such as invoice validation service, mobile solutions and supply chain financing services. For companies that have already reaped all the process efficiencies the next step is to engage in collaborative financial supply chain management strategies that can benefit the whole supply chain.

Review of automatic data processing developments in the Federal Government.

Mode of access: Internet.