crossgate: Electronic incoming invoices for Lanxess
Validation, workflow optimisation and archiving from a single source
Starnberg, 1 March 2007 – crossgate AG (formerly indatex SCI GmbH) digitizes all incoming invoices for the major German and European units of the leading chemicals supplier Lanxess with immediate effect. With its partner Scanpoint, the incoming paper-based invoices and associated correspondence are scanned and the content extracted by optical character recognition (OCR) and validated. The next steps in the process, the checking of the invoices and logging are supported by a mailbox logic system and electronic workflows. The approval workflow takes place via the web between accounting and the respective internal end user. Thanks to crossgate’s professional rollout and project management, a total of 14 of the chemical group’s subsidiaries profit within a very short time.
The advantages of electronic invoice processing – such as cost reduction together with process optimisation – speak for themselves: But with the simple process of scanning alone, the potential is far from being exploited. Validation of the digital documents uncovers inconsistencies (for example, incorrect totals or quantities supplied). The technical and content-related details are approved by the order initiators via the Web. The vouchers are indexed and, along with all supplementary information, such as booking and audit trail logs, they are stored in the electronic archive. Together with its partner Scanpoint, crossgate installed the relevant technology for Lanxess at its sites in Leverkusen, Antwerp and Barcelona. As a result around 260,000 documents from 2,500 suppliers are processed per year. Moreover, crossgate not only takes over the new incoming data, but also the legacy archive with more than three million pages.
“We anticipate substantial savings on our current costs through the electronic invoice handling process”, explains Holger Geroneit, Head of Accounts Payable in Accounting Germany at Lanxess. "The scalability and flexibility of the system has convinced us: We are – like our industry – always in motion and we therefore need a solution that is quick and easy to adapt and expand. Especially here we profit from crossgate’s expertise.”
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