Improving the Electronic Invoicing Process for Third-party Logistics

Black Belt project resulting in a revenue gain of over $850,000--A supply chain management firm was asked to invoice a customer through a new B2B online process. The customer used the website as a way to connect with its original equipment manufacturers, overseas repair centers and third-party logistics providers (3PLs). The system allowed service providers to send their invoices electronically, and also provided real-time updates on parts, services and warranties to the firm's suppliers and service vendors. The supply chain management firm began using the electronic invoicing system in compliance with its customer's request. During the first year of the implementation however, it was found that a high volume of its invoices were being rejected by the website invoice verification program. The invoice rejections resulted in a number of problems, including: 1) services and parts not being paid at their original rates or not being paid at all; 2) an overloaded manual process, with both