Joint Solution To Automate Exception Handling Required on 15-30% of Invoices To Be Released in Q4 with mySAP 2005

 

BOSTON (May 17, 2005) - SEEBURGER Inc. has collaborated with SAP AG to

develop a new Add-On for mySAP invoice management system that automates the process of detecting and handling errors in incoming paper-based invoices.

 

Combining SAP's Enterprise Services Architecture (ESA) with SEEBURGER's

Paper-to-ERP technology for electronic processing of paper-based transactions, the solution is intended for commercial release with mySAP ERP.

The system eliminates the manual procedures involved in identifying and reconciling the errors that affect 15% to 30% of incoming invoices today. With 70% of all invoices still received on paper and problems ranging from duplicate billing to missing or inaccurate information, invoice dispute resolution is currently inefficient, expensive, error-prone, and likely to cause complications such as lost discounts, late payments and/or poor vendor relationships.

 

The new Add-On for the mySAP invoice management will utilize the optical character recognition (OCR), artificial intelligence, and advanced data validation/exception handling capabilities of SEEBURGER's Paper-to-ERP technology to minimize the need for manual exception handling by mySAP users. The system will:

• Scan incoming paper-based invoices via OCR;
• Interpret and validate the data in each invoice by automatically crosschecking
  it against a knowledge base;
• Post the results in mySAP as a structured XML document; and
• Route exceptions through user-defined workflow for resolution before
  submitting invoices to mySAP's Accounts Payable module.

"The new Add-On for the mySAP ERP invoice management system we are building will solve a major problem for enterprises, and underlines the vision of our Enterprise Services Architecture, as well as demonstrates how well known business processes also can benefit from new innovation significantly," said Dr. Lutz Heuser, Head of SAP Research. "SEEBURGER is making key contributions to the solution with its data validation, artificial intelligence and automated paper-to-invoice technologies, extending a close partnership that has seen SEEBURGER's business integration platform connect to our SAP solutions for over a decade.", adds Archim Heimann, Senior Vice President, Global Solution Management, mySAP ERP.

 

"Seventy percent of supplier invoices and customer orders today still come through on paper, and that frustrates efforts by large organizations to implement end-to-end automation of their business-to-business transactions," said Scott Lewin, president of SEEBURGER US. "By using our Paper-to-ERP technology to increase user automation in the handling of invoice exceptions, SAP is equipping its customers with an important new tool for increasing their productivity and continuing to streamline every aspect

of their operations."

 

SEEBURGER's Paper-to-ERP application - enabling faxes and other paper documents to be processed electronically to reduce the time and error risks of manual data entry - is currently available as a stand-alone solution that can plug directly into any version of SAP R/3. Organizations that deploy Paper-to-ERP today will be able to easily migrate to the new mySAP invoice management system when it is released with mySAP 2005 later this year.

SEEBURGER is a leading provider of global business integration solutions designed to optimize transactions throughout the extended enterprise by automating trading relationships with all partners regardless of their size and technical resources.

Launched in 1986 to provide integration solutions to the automotive industry in Germany, the company today serves more than 6,500 customers in 35 countries and more than 15 industries through its flagship Business Integration Suite (BIS) and related products and services. SEEBURGER has global offices in Europe, Asia Pacific and North America, including a U.S. office that has attracted blue-chip clients ranging from Hyundai to Whirlpool, Chevron Philips Chemical, Sega of America, Bosch-Siemens, Sunny Delight Beverage Company, C&H Sugar and Goodyear since it opened in 1998.

SAP is the world's leading provider of business software solutions. Today, more than 27,000 customers in over 120 countries run more than 91,500 installations of SAP® software"from distinct solutions addressing the needs of small and midsize businesses to enterprise-scale suite solutions for global organizations. Powered by the SAP NetWeaver® platform to drive innovation and enable business change, mySAP® Business Suite solutions are helping enterprises around the world improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration and create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. SAP industry solutions support the unique business processes of more than 25 industry segments, including high tech,

retail, public sector and financial services. With subsidiaries in more than 50

countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol SAP®." (Additional information at

<http://www.sap.com>)

 

SAP, SAPPHIRE, SAP NetWeaver and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and several other countries all over the world.

All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

 

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