6 ways how Ephesoft accelerates data entry to your Infor solution
In a world that is becoming hyper-digital, paper documentation is a subversion. The larger the enterprises grow, and the more customers and partners they have, the bigger the pile of documents. Physical documentation is a roadblock to digital transformation too, which is essential to optimal resource utilization and to keep up with the competition. Attempts to send and receive documents electronically via electronic document interchange (EDI) interfaces often fail due to lack of partner support.
To help enterprises clear the digital transformation roadblock, Infor and Ephesoft have partnered to develop IDM Capture, an intelligent document processing (IDP) solution powered by Ephesoft. IDM Capture extends the functionality of Infor Document Management (IDM). Leveraging AI and machine learning, IDM Capture can extract meaningful data from scanned documents, emails, faxes, folders, and cloud storage and feed it to Infor M3, CloudSuite, Infor PLM for Fashion, or any other Infor solution.
In this blog post, let’s examine the reasons why enterprises should automate their document capturing processes with IDM Capture.
1. Cut down staff time spent on processing documents
It’s no secret that AP departments struggle with paper documents more than any other department in an enterprise. According to Ardent Partners’ Accounts Payable Metrics that Matter in 2021 report, 60% of the AP professionals are concerned about the lengthy invoice and payment approval times. The report further states the restrictions on in-person procedures effected by the COVID-19 pandemic as a cause. The survey found that 31% feel they are dealing with too much paper.
IDM Capture automates the document processing from capturing to transformation in a five-step process.
Figure 1. The five-step IDM Capture process: Capture > Classify > Extract > Validate > Deliver
IDM Capture can capture documents from many sources and can be trained to acquire information from new sources. Human resources documentation, mailroom processing, claims processing, and records digitization functions too can benefit from IDM Capture. In one success story, Fortude consultants trained IDM Capture to capture data from tech packs for a leading fashion brand. The captured data was then fed into Infor PLM for Fashion.
2. Ensure information accuracy and better manage exceptions
48% of accounts payable professionals in Ardent Partners 2021 study feel that AP functions are affected by the high percentage of exceptions. An exception can include incorrect data on a line item, discount level, total due, or company details, often due to human error. Exceptions can occur in any kind of documentation, but they affect AP departments more, delaying the process and impacting the relationship with the supplier.
IDM Capture incorporates a fuzzy database lookup to make sure that partner information such as ID, address, and account number is correctly populated. As IDM Capture can identity exceptions even before a business user looks at the document, AP professionals do not have to manually compare different information sources to identify discrepancies. If any exception needs human intervention, IDM Capture notifies the user.
3. Dramatically reduce cost per invoice
According to IOFM AP Benchmarking Study, the cost per invoice can range from USD 8.78 to 1.77, depending on the degree of automation, while other studies show the cost to process invoices can be even higher.
Enterprises can prevent poor utilization of AP professionals by handing over tedious document processing tasks to IDM Capture. Accounting staff, instead, can spend time on tasks that require human expertise and innovation.
Figure 2: IOFM AP Benchmarking Study – Annual cost per invoice
Source: AP Benchmarking Study
4. Great user experience
The user-friendly drag-and-drop interface allows users to monitor and validate processed documents and train and re-calibrate new document types with ease.
5. Leverage Infor OS
IDM is a core part of Infor OS, a cloud operating platform designed to bring productivity, business processes, and artificial intelligence together. Enterprises can leverage Infor OS to trigger workflows from the information fed via IDM Capture. The data captured by IDM Capture can be linked to M3/CloudSuite records so that business users can access information, right from the ERP.
IDM is also a centralized document repository that supports advanced search, metadata management, information security, versioning, archival, content integration and can be extended to incorporate workflows.
6. Easy integration
The prebuilt IDM Capture integration allows enterprises that use Infor solutions to leverage Ephesoft technology quickly with minimal configuration. Having an integration partner who knows the industry in and out can be immensely beneficial as they are familiar with workflows, best practices, time-saving optimizations, and pitfalls to avoid.
~
The need for capturing documents and data through intelligent methods is becoming a priority for enterprises as they scale. Solutions such as IDM Capture powered by Ephesoft can also help enterprises be more resilient in times of crisis. With fitting technologies and a partner who understands industry pain points, smart document automation can be a giant leap for enterprises in their digital transformation journey.
To learn more about how you can leverage IDM Capture, register, and join the upcoming webinar – An intelligent document and data onramp to your Infor ERP co-hosted by Ephesoft and Infor.
Written by:
Subscribe to our blog to know all the things we do
