Automation of Financial 3-Way Match w/ Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Project Overview:
The client, a large building materials supplier, specializes in providing essential construction materials for a variety of customers. They faced challenges in efficiently managing Purchase Orders (POs) that came in different formats such as emails, PDFs, and paper documents. Their existing manual data entry process required ten customer service representatives to re-enter up to 15 data points per PO into their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. This labor-intensive process not only drained resources but was also error-prone and led to inefficiencies across their operations.
Project Challenges:
The supplier's main challenge was the significant inefficiencies within their accounts receivable/accounts payable (AR/AP) processes. Manual data entry into their ERP system was time-consuming and prone to human error, requiring an entire department's efforts to maintain accuracy. Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) had to manually extract information from POs, which consumed valuable time and limited their ability to work on more strategic activities. The process created bottlenecks that hindered operational productivity, increased processing time for payments, and led to costly errors. The company required a more streamlined and automated approach to handle POs effectively and reduce the reliance on manual labor.
Technical Solution:
To address these challenges, Softura implemented an intelligent solution using Microsoft Teams, Power Automate, and Cognitive Services. A new Teams Channel was created that leveraged Microsoft's Cognitive Services for Intelligent Image Processing and Optical Character Recognition (OCR). This solution could process over 100 different types of POs and accurately map extracted data to the relevant fields in the ERP system. Integration with existing data sources, including emails, faxes, and scanned documents, allowed for seamless data capture and validation. Straight-Through Processing (STP) accelerated payment processing by three days. Furthermore, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) was utilized to handle uncertainties by routing POs requiring Quality Assurance (QA) to the appropriate teams for manual review. The result was a remarkable 96% reduction in manual labor, streamlined workflows, a unified Teams channel for collaboration, and annual savings of over $300,000 with an ROI achieved in under six months.
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