Automatic invoice-matching brings greater productivity and efficiencies for Lawsons

Kerridge Commercial Systems are pleased to announce the successful development of integrated e-Trading.

With a close co-operation between Unimer, Kerridge Commercial Systems and leading Timber/Builders Merchant, Lawsons, the totally paperless and automated integration of Unimer Invoices has been achieved. The integration, which takes advantage of modern E-Trading tools such as XML, means that invoices from Unimer suppliers are electronically transmitted, received and processed without any manual intervention. The cost savings in terms of paper, time, effort and manual errors are considerable. However, the added control and visibility is also a key benefit.

Invoices are transmitted from Unimer electronically. The Kerridge Commercial Systems' solution translates and verifies the invoice before registering it onto the Lawson accounting ledgers without any manual intervention. Invoices can then be checked and passed manually or they can be automatically matched by the Kerridge Commercial Systems' solution. Automatically matched invoices save still more manual effort and time. Invoices which do not match correctly against their original purchase orders are automatically highlighted as exceptions for management attention. Management control and visibility is enhanced while gaining the benefits of time saving, cost reduction and no manual errors. Having successfully pioneered the system with Unimer, Lawsons are already preparing to receive test data from other major suppliers, and expect to also be 'live' with NMBS within the next six months.

Says Jeremy Norris of Lawsons, "reducing cost from the business is a consistent theme for Lawsons. E-Trading is a major initiative for Lawsons. The Unimer interface is already delivering valuable benefits. Like all merchants we need to manage the burden of administration. We look forward to extending our e-Trading in other areas and gaining cost efficiencies and controls using the Kerridge Commercial Systems interface with all our key partners."

Chris Pateman, Commercial Director of Unimer comments, "as discussed at the Conference, most merchants find invoice-matching ties up a huge amount of time – often senior management time. Being able to automate this process represents a major opportunity for our members to gain significant cost savings. The volume of transactions now managed by Unimer is enormous and growing. Streamlining this administration task is essential in order to control overheads at Unimer and as demonstrated by Lawsons the savings are delivered at the Merchant as well. We support and encourage the practical use of E-Commerce and we look forward to providing these benefits to many more members over the coming months."

Says Ian Bendelow, Business Development Director, Kerridge Commercial Systems, "this development is in keeping with our strategy to deliver real added value to our customers. Our solutions can of course deliver the sales order processing and stock control which is essential to any Merchant. Still more cost control and productivity can be delivered by the additional tools that we can offer such as e-Trading. We look forward to offering all Kerridge Commercial Systems' customers the opportunity to integrate with Unimer and NMBS."

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Kerridge Commercial Systems

Kerridge Commercial Systems is a market leader in the development and provision of trading and financial software environments for specialist Distribution, Wholesale, Importing, Merchant and Retail industry sectors.

With 30 years experience, Kerridge Commercial Systems and its flagship product, K8, has the knowledge, expertise and proven track-record to fulfil customers' IT requirements, allowing them to focus on their core business issues.

From single- or multi-branch operations, through to 'point-of-sale' showrooms and warehouses; Kerridge Commercial Systems aims to provide a business solution geared, primarily, towards helping customers:

•  increase profit potential;

•  improve efficiency;

•  reduce cost;

•  provide superior customer service; and

•  gain visibility and control across their organisation.

Ultimately, Kerridge Commercial Systems' K8 solution has been developed to assist customers 'Create Their Business Advantage'.