In today's fast-paced logistics industry, where precision and speed are crucial to profitability, integrating Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) into Transportation Management Systems (TMS) is a game-changer. This blog explores how IDP streamlines invoice processing and the advantages it offers to TMS providers and their customers.

Major Challenges in Transportation and Logistics

The logistics industry faces numerous challenges, including complex supply chains, rising trade volumes, fluctuating costs, and the relentless need to enhance delivery speed and efficiency. A major issue is the reliance on paper documents, particularly for invoice processing. This approach is not only time-consuming but also prone to errors, such as misinterpretations, lost documents, and delays. With a shortage of skilled labor, the logistics sector cannot afford the inefficiencies of manual invoice processing. The future demands automation to handle monotonous and repetitive tasks that fewer people are willing to do.

Importance of Transportation Management Systems (TMS)

Transportation Management Systems (TMS) are designed to streamline transport operations, from planning and execution to optimization. They handle important tasks like route planning, shipment tracking, cost estimation, invoicing, internal billing, and integration with downstream ERP systems. However, TMS software often faces challenges when dealing with complex, unstructured data from paper documents, such as invoices, which many companies still rely on.

Invoice Processing Workflow

In the transport and logistics sector, the invoice processing workflow is often cumbersome and manual. Companies typically handle paper invoices that must be processed and managed by hand, leading to inefficiencies, errors, and delays. Although an increasing number of invoices are now received electronically, such as PDFs, the process remains labor-intensive. Key tasks like verifying and manually entering details such as invoice numbers, amounts, and delivery information into a TMS or accounting system still require significant manual effort. Many existing automation solutions struggle with inconsistent invoice formats, complexity, and lack of standardization. They often only capture basic data like customer numbers and addresses, making it challenging to accommodate special requests such as payment terms or shipment numbers.

Verifying and comparing order data and handling approvals is both complex and time-consuming. Employees are often stuck performing repetitive tasks, such as matching numerous individual items against inventory. This includes managing payments and detailed documentation to ensure compliance and facilitate audits. The final step—archiving—adds to the tedious nature of traditional invoice processing, making it a challenging and error-prone job for employees.

Aspects of Invoice Processing in Transport & Logistics:

• Complex Invoice Data: Handling complex and various invoice details.
• High Transaction Volumes: Managing a large number of transactions.
• Regulatory Compliance: Adhering to stringent regulatory standards.
• National and International Regulations: Complying with diverse regulations across different regions.
• Legal Updates: Adapting to changes like mandatory e-invoicing and real-time reporting requirements.

Challenges of Manual Invoice Processing:

• Slow Turnaround: Manual data entry and verification are time-consuming.
• Error-Prone: Handled manually, data transfer is often subject to mistakes.
• Compliance Risks: Mistakes in processing can result in compliance issues.
• Costly: The labor-intensive nature of manual processing consumes time and resources, making it inefficient and expensive.

Challenges for TMS providers

Software providers face multiple challenges: they must constantly innovate and integrate the latest technologies to stay ahead of the competition. With growing customer demands, users expect intuitive interfaces and a seamless user experience. TMS providers also aim to increase the STP (straight-through processing) rate, especially in invoice management, to enhance data quality and consistency. Adding to this, they must tackle cost pressures, security concerns, and data protection challenges. The industry also grapples with a shortage of skilled workers, making it harder to find employees willing to perform repetitive tasks like data entry, document sorting, or data comparison.

This is where Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) makes a significant impact: For users, IDP revolutionizes invoice management within transportation management systems by boosting accuracy, speed, and cost-effectiveness. For TMS providers, IDP addresses multiple challenges simultaneously: it allows for seamless and cost-efficient integration of AI-driven tools into their core systems, enhancing functionality and user experience. Additionally, IDP eliminates tedious document-handling tasks, increasing overall efficiency and effectiveness while lowering operational costs.

IDP key solution

By leveraging AI, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), and Machine Learning (ML) technologies, Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) Solutions is transforming the landscape of invoice management within Transportation Management Systems (TMS). IDP automates the capture, classification, and extraction of data from various invoice formats, significantly speeding up the processing cycle and enhancing data quality. This automation boosts accuracy and efficiency, reduces operational costs, and increases the Straight-Through Processing (STP) rate, allowing businesses to process invoices without manual intervention, further optimizing the entire workflow.

Enhancing Invoice Processing with IDP Solutions

1. Optimized Freight Cost Calculation: Automation of freight offer processing boosts efficiency by matching recorded data with freight orders and contracts, ensuring accurate cost calculations and minimizing freight expenses.
2. Streamlined Invoice Data Import: IDP simplifies the handling of complex logistics invoices, automatically capturing detailed information on senders, carriers, and loading/unloading points.
3. Enhanced Compliance and Transparency: It ensures full transaction tracking and archiving, aiding compliance with national and international regulations.
4. Error Reduction and Less Manual Input: It minimizes common invoice processing errors and reduces manual entry, saving costs.
5. Automated Credit Note Processing: It enables efficient credit note processing, automatically reconciling them with invoices and identifying discrepancies.
6. Improved Delivery Document Synchronization: Automated import and comparison of delivery notes with invoices lead to faster, more accurate accounting.
7. Faster Invoice Processing: Automation reduces invoice processing times, enabling quick payments and better cash flow management.

8. Real-Time Insights for Better Decisions: IDP provides real-time visibility into accounting processes, supporting faster, more strategic decision-making.

    

Closing-in

Integrating Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) into a Transportation Management System (TMS) not only addresses the overall invoice processing challenges caused by outdated paper-based methods but also serves as a groundbreaking innovation for TMS providers. This advanced AI solution enhances accuracy, accelerates processing speed, and boosts cost-efficiency, allowing TMS providers to deliver substantial value to their clients. By adopting IDP, providers can position themselves as market leaders, offering cutting-edge capabilities that set them apart in the competitive transport and logistics industry. This integration not only streamlines operations but also enhances customer satisfaction by delivering more reliable and timely invoice management.

Feat Systems, in association with UiPath's Intelligent Document Processing tool, is equipped to manage a wide range of documents beyond invoices. These include waybills, transport orders, delivery notes, packing lists, supplier declarations, accompanying documents, customs forms, bills of lading, and more, all handled digitally.

We help companies transition from days of manual processing to seconds of automated efficiency. For any document processing needs, Get in touch with us. https://www.featsystems.com/contact