Articles by "management"
Showing posts with label management. Show all posts

on Tuesday, April 12, 2022 0


AI artificial intelligence mapping brain as digital circuit network
If you search on the internet, it is no surprise that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its potential to significantly change the workplace is a consistent trend with companies that want to grow. While it is not a new concept, the opportunity for application and saturation in financial services is accelerating.

AI is no longer reserved for big tech and entertainment-focused companies. Albeit these organizations tend to lead the way with integrating AI in their most recent product launches.

The relatively inexpensive cost to create and implement AI into software applications has broadened the scope of use, specifically when it comes to everyday business processes. The first question to ask when considering the adoption of AI, or any technology for your company, is how will it help grow the business, reduce costs, and improve cashflow?

One use case explored involves AI Automation within a finance organization. The solution was deployed to automate invoice processing, a monotonous task that was time-consuming for employees who manually entered large amounts of data and reconciled against multiple records. The use of AI invoice automation software has significantly reduced processing inefficiency, data entry errors and processing time.

In another use scenario, a company was able to reduce their data extraction manual efforts by two full days. On average, reading and keying data from an invoice takes an employee approximately three (3) minutes per invoice. Automating that process for close to 500 invoices monthly, results in 25+ hours of time savings. This reduction is attributed to the ability of AI to read, extract, and transpose:

  • Supplier Names
  • Payment Terms
  • Bill Dates
  • Invoice Numbers
  • Line-Item SKUs and Descriptions
  • Quantities
  • Prices and Taxes
As a bonus, the AI results in fewer keying errors than the customer’s existing manual processes.

AI invoice automation “learns” and evolves on an ongoing basis. While processing big data, it contextualizes information and understands different languages. Most importantly, employees previously responsible for related tasks are free to focus on more strategic contributions to the organization.

It is difficult to envision any market that would not benefit from AI invoice automation technology. If your organization procures products or services, paying invoices quickly should be a top priority. As a finance team, using AI invoice AP (Accounts Payable) processing software should be simple and easy.

Are you a CFO or business leader interested in reducing expenses and improving your procurement process? Learn more about AI-driven invoice automation in the AI, Automation and Invoicing Revolution webinar with Julien Nadaud, Senior Vice President of Innovation at Corcentric.



Read more »

on Friday, December 03, 2021 0

 What is Supplier Relationship Management (SRM)?

Supplier relationship management is the discipline of strategically planning for, and managing, all interactions with third party organizations that supply goods and/or services to an organization in order to maximize the value of those interactions. In practice, SRM entails creating closer, more collaborative relationships with key suppliers to uncover and realize new value and reduce risk of failure.

Getting back to the initial goal of cost savings, the question becomes ‘when cost savings is a critical driver in supplier selection, how do you balance the collaborative relationship with low cost?


The major key is internal alignment between procurement and other business units. Supply Chain leaders must be able to explain why certain vendors are selected who may not be the low-cost option for reasons like customer service, on-time deliveries, payment terms, reporting, etc. while also stating how they are managing those vendors to get the best price possible. 

Category leaders must be able to explain how new suppliers versus incumbent suppliers will impact the company. There are too many cases where the grass appears to be greener on the other side and by selecting a low cost, new supplier, operational differences get lost in the shuffle and the transition becomes a disaster.

Why is Supplier Management Important?

In plain and simple terms, it creates a competitive advantage. Whether you are the procurement or the supply chain leader for your organization, having a strong supplier management system in place allows for maximin opportunities in cost reduction, value driven services, and over all systematic efficiencies which otherwise would be achieved.  

Supplier Relationships

A critical component to any company’s success is their ability to maintain strong working relationships with their suppliers and vendors. SRMs should always look to avoid complacency. You should never be satisfied with the idea of ‘if it’s not broke, don’t fix it’. SRMs should always be looking for opportunities to improve the relationship, streamline processes or procedures, or change costing models. Relationship Managers should always be looking to challenge the status quo.

Another key to a strong supplier relationship is to open that line of communication and don’t be afraid to ask the question, ‘what we can be doing better?’ Here are some quick ideas as to how you, as a customer to your key suppliers, can help enhance your relationship and make those suppliers want to compete for your business. 

• Trust and Loyalty (treat them as more than just vendors)

• Improve technology and automation

• Adhere to payment terms

• Develop communication plans

• Differentiate between price versus value

• Have a dedicated Supplier Relationship Manager (SRM)

• Internal alignment between Procurement and Supply Chain Category leaders


Read more »
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)