CHALLENGE:
An invoicing process requiring significant manual work
With rapid growth across its operations, Kids Care Dental (KCD) manages relationships with over 100 vendors. This large number of relationships means a high volume of invoices received through multiple channels, including vendor websites, portals, and emails.
Lacking a single solution to deal with these invoices, KCD handled them manually. This meant a high volume of manual work entering invoices from multiple sources in KCD’s ERP. Manual data entry also resulted in inaccurate data within the ERP. Overall, KCD found this process inefficient, and they turned to Spaulding Ridge for a solution.
SOLUTION:
Automation and integration to streamline invoicing
Spaulding Ridge assessed KCD’s current systems and implemented a robust, end-to-end invoice automation solution that included:
- Automated invoice retrieval: The system needed to systematically collect invoices from vendor websites, secure portals, and designated email inboxes. Spaulding Ridge programmed bots to interact with each interface and retrieve invoices for KCD.
- Smart data extraction: Once the invoices were retrieved, KCD needed to quickly extract the main points of each invoice. We leveraged IDP + Einstein AI to intelligently read and extract key invoice data (vendor details, invoice numbers, dates, line items, and totals) from various file formats, based on context prompts.
- Data normalization and transformation: Spaulding Ridge then applied business logic to validate and transform the data extracted to match the schema required by KCD’s internal invoice processing system.
- Seamless integration with finance systems: All this work was orchestrated using MuleSoft to provide a fully automated flow, from data ingestion to processing and loading. By managing the process within a single system, KCD can quickly make adjustments and add new data sources.
RESULTS:
A connected, intelligent supply chain
At the conclusion of our work together, KCD had a fully streamlined invoicing process, delivering numerous benefits in terms of both efficiency and work quality. KCD reports:
- 4x annual cost savings: KCD achieved significant operational savings by eliminating manual data entry and reducing processing errors.
- Automation equivalent to two full-time employees: The combined use of MuleSoft RPA and IDP + AI effectively replaced the manual workload of two FTEs, leaving staff free to pursue higher value-added activities.
- Enhanced speed and accuracy: Invoices are processed faster with higher accuracy, enabling faster vendor payments and improved financial visibility.
- Scalability and future readiness: The automation framework can accommodate additional vendors and evolving document formats without significant rework.
