Patel and his team were tasked with creating an automated capture solution capable of supporting multiple languages, multiple currencies, large-volume batch processing and complex data fields. Along with vendor and customers’ names, value added tax (VAT) information had to be captured for both customers and vendors, too – as well as purchase orders, invoice amounts and line items.
Previously, Patel’s team helped PepsiCo’s Russian office with its AP workflow – a complex process involving multiple document types, business processes and languages. “Their documents were not pure invoices,” recalls Patel. “Other processes were involved, and we had to work in Cyrillic. They recommended FlexiCapture, so we used it to work with our in-house data repository and workflow solution, Image Vision – which converts captured data to XML then sends it to our SAP backend. FlexiCapture integrated smoothly and worked well right from the start.”
To help expedite the POWER Project, PepsiCo leveraged the expertise of Criteria First – an ABBYY partner who helped Imaging Technology with PepsiCo’s Russian project. “We did the exploratory work in handling the multiple languages, currencies, and VAT’s,” explains Russell Kent, Solutions Developer with Criteria First. “For the POWER Project, we configured the software to do the same for France, Belgium, the Netherlands as well as a few German, Italian and Swiss entities – what’s known as the PepsiCo Western European Region.”
Patel says that Criteria First’s initial goal was to create a test pilot for each of the major entities to review. “We wanted to ensure satisfaction from both the standpoint of users and leadership,” explains Patel. “And having tested the new solution, they all agreed that it really would reduce their workload.”
Once fully implemented, the accounts payable workflow became straightforward, automatic and highly cost effective. The solution is hosted at PepsiCo’s North Texas data facility and accessed remotely via the web. This enables the cost of the system to be shared between the business entities and greater consistency in PepsiCo’s AP procedures.
The process begins when paper invoices in any of five languages are scanned locally by each of the entities via ABBYY Scan Station. They are then sent into POWER Project, identified with the correct entity, and recognized by FlexiCapture. From there, the new digital documents and data are sent to verification stations – and once verified, forwarded PepsiCo’s Image Vision for approval. After that, the data is exported in XML file format to PepsiCo’s SAP ERP solution.
