- When an order is received from a customer a despatch note
is issued listing product description, quantities, weight and
code
- On delivery the note is signed by the customer along with
the customer's Goods Received Note (GRN) which details the goods
actually delivered
Problems arise if goods are damaged, lost or delivered piecemeal,
as discrepancies can occur between the despatch note and the customer's
GRN.
The system has been set up so that these documents can be automatically
read, matching delivery line items with corresponding items from
the company's despatch notes.
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After every delivery, despatch notes, GRNs and any other delivery/receipt
documents are scanned by the delivery driver at any one of the
company's 20 depots in the UK.
Coping with different document styles and formats
The company's system is configured to recognise every GRN's header
and footer, so it can read each item's line code and quantity.
This process is made complicated because each customer uses a
different GRN style, format and layout. Also, there can be multiple
GRNs for one despatch note - typically when a single delivery
goes to several different customer sites.
However, once the OCR software has been correctly configured to
read the lines in the different styles of document, accurate reading
of forms is high - ranging from 85% to 90%. A threshold can
be set by users so that any document that falls below a certain
level (e.g. 80%) is entered manually. So any document that can
be read less than 80% accurately is flagged up for manual indexing.
Anything above this value is saved automatically.
The system automatically consolidates this process by matching
the different documents and line items in the original order,
and stores all documents in the appropriate order folder.
Automatic invoice amendment
Any discrepancy is automatically flagged up and investigated.
This generates an amendment to the sales invoice issued to the
customer, which in turn reduces the company's debtor days by ensuring
that the sales invoice matches the customer's GRN.
Should there be any discrepancies or delays in receiving payment,
staff have online access to all delivery information stored in
the order folders.
Integrating intelligent document recognition and classification
technology provides significant customer benefits:
- Reduced administrative overheads
- Improved business visibility
- Reduced invoicing errors and attendant disputes and delays
- Increased cashflow by minimising debtor days
- Improved customer service
- Enhanced corporate image
About the Author:
Tokairo is an international solution provider of electronic document
management systems and education solutions.
Visit http://www.tokairo.com for further
information
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