Dataimage works with Corporate Express to increase throughput of daily invoice volume by 300%!

corporate-express-1.jpgCorporate Express deployed an invoice processing solution with Kofax Intelligent Capture & Exchange to automate paper-based processes in its accounts payable division in order to reduce invoice management costs, streamline invoice approval processes, and integrate financial documents with a centralized content management system to reduce document search and retrieval time.

Corporate Express had hired an outside consulting firm to review all aspects of its financial management practices and to identify the greatest areas for process improvement. During this time, the consulting firm found that many of Corporate
Express’s accounts payable practices were extremely manual, heavily paper-based, and created a number of challenges:

  • Slow access to information.
  • Labor-intensive invoice management.
  • High accounts payable coordinator expenses.

In September 2005, Corporate Express began its implementation and deployment process using both Kofax professional services and internal personnel to help install and configure the software. By February 2006, Kofax Intelligent Capture &
Exchange was fully deployed and used by employees in accounts payable to manage invoices for the sale of trade and non-trade goods.

Kofax Intelligent Capture & Exchange has enabled Corporate Express to support further growth, automate key accounts payable processes, and refine workflows to support greater profitability. Key benefits from the solution include:

  • Improved invoice search and retrieval. Invoices are now centrally stored, easily retrievable, and properly versioned, saving the company more than $26,000 a year.
  • Improved accounts payable processor and coordinator productivity.
  • Increased compliance and improved payment efficiency.
  • Self-service management. By compiling invoices into a central location and integrating various workflows, management has a greater ability to ensure proper tracking, approval, and payment of invoices without having to consult other colleagues or call suppliers.

Like business process automation projects, the Corporate Express project delivered significant indirect savings, including increased productivity of accounts payable processors and coordinators. These benefits are quantified and calculated using
the average fully loaded cost of employees and multiplied by a productivity correction factor to account for the inefficient transfer of time. By automating several paper-based services, integrating workflows, and centralizing document storage, the increased productivity the employees in the accounts payable division have exhibited is a driving factor for the significant ROI the company achieved.

For full case study see corporate-express-roi-study.pdf