The e-invoicing has been developing for over a decade now. Historically, global corporations (that receive dozens of documents every day) along with service providers have pioneered the markets by pushing their partners to deliver electronic invoices. Recently, the situation has changed and now the invoice issuers who have already implemented various IT solutions try to maximize the e-invoicing market penetration.
Omni-channel – Just a Buzzword, or An Important Trend?
All of the market players, including manufacturers, distributors and retailers put the omnichannel in their strategies. Nowadays it’s a must. More and more enterprises have been collaborating with service providers to extend their current e-invoicing projects also for the new partners, such as SMEs. Such projects require a different approach because in this case the attention should be put on the on-boarding process and building user-friendly solutions. Thus, the manufacturer needs to maintain the same standard of e-invoicing as the one already implemented for large trading partners (e.g. protocols, various formats, data protection), but it’s equally important to facilitate seamless on-boarding, out-of-the-box, efficient IT tools, and service desk. Food manufacturers can serve as a meaningful example here. Having direct sales relationships with small partners (HORECA, small local stores) and wholesalers, they expect the service provider to deliver invoices identically in both cases. This involves, mapping them to the proper format, possibility to sign the document on behalf of the manufacturer, and distribute it (via e-mail or dedicated portal).
E-invoicing Enhances O2C
When manufacturers are considering e-invoicing with smaller partners they should pay their attention to full Order-to-Cash solutions. These solutions enable the synergy with comprehensive B2B collaboration platform enabling prompt access to reliable data on the whole supply chain as well as the improvement of bilateral relationships.
Someone may think that it is just a standard WEB-EDI solution but the following functionalities are rarely offered in such solutions:
- Dedicated layout of B2B portal – the manufacturer may choose the graphic design of the website
- Tailored product catalogs – pricing policy adjusted to a particular partner or group of partners
- Product baskets – ordering can be simplified thanks to the “favorites”, or “sample” baskets; additional algorithms can be also implemented (e.g. minimum order quantity)
- Discounts and promotions – tools to optimize sales operations
- Orders management – access to current status of orders
- Marketing materials – usage of portal to enhance marketing campaigns
- Logistics – setting up preferred ordering quantities and getting important details (packaging, transport)
- Integration with Customer Service – partners can place orders on the phone
- Analytics module
Taking into consideration the e-invoicing project, many manufacturers think about the complex Order-to-Cash solutions enhancing the decision process based on updated information. The success lies in implementing proper business logic, ease of use and guaranteed support level.
E-invoicing as a nexus of supply chain
The influential Billentis’ ‘E-Invoicing/E-Billing 2016 report’ states that today pure e-invoicing services are no longer sufficient. The demand to support additional documents, processes and services significantly increasing. The market is already aware of the advantages of e-invoicing and the role of service providers as well as consulting companies is to advise the enterprises how to approach the topic holistically to optimize as many operations within the supply chain as possible. For this reason, big international service providers get more clients nowadays. These companies are able to tailor a solution to customer needs, integrate it with other IT systems but, most importantly, they have vast experience with all the processes within the supply chain.
About Bartlomiej Wojtowicz
He has over 10 years of experience in the field of B2B communication in the supply chain. Initially responsible for the EDI market development in Southern and Central Europe, he is currently responsible for the development of Comarch EDI portfolio.
About Comarch
Comarch EDI is a B2B platform, which provides a competitive advantage by a fast and secure data exchange with business partners. The solution provides the automation of data processing throughout the supply chain: from the procurement process, through the logistics, to invoicing and payment processing.
For more information about Comarch EDI, please check out a detailed profile of this company in our dedicated, industry-specific online company database.
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