Lawson 9.0 and Service Order Invoices

Lawson 8.x did not accept service order invoices using their MA540 interface.  I’m glad to say that Lawson 9.0 now accepts these documents.  Here are a few tips for you:

The HANDLING CODE (record #37) typically must have the handling code of either “M” for match or “S” for service.  A purchase order may have multiple lines.  These lines may include a combination of inventory and service items.  The handling code may be “S” only if all the lines sent with the invoice are service items.  If there is at least one non-service item, then you must submit the handling code as “M”.  Lawson will reject the invoice if you send a handling code of “S” for an invoice that includes a non-service line item.  

If left blank, the handling code defaults from the vendor, process level, or match company.
The invoice will enter Lawson with a status of “UNREALESED”.  It will remain unreleased until the mass release process is run (job #126).  Some companies run this job on a daily basis.

If you need any help, let me know.  I’ve been sending MA540 files from DocEdge to Lawson for years.  I’d be glad to help.

Filed under: DocEdge, EDI, ERP, LGLUG, LMAUG, Lawson, MA540, accounts payable

Drive Savings with Account Payable Automation

Accounts payable departments require tremendous overhead – without generating revenue for an enterprise. For this reason, many view the AP department as a revenue sinkhole. However, your AP department may provide an opportunity to drive dramatic reductions in operating expenses.

Most account payable departments rely on expensive paper-based methods. Data entry operators key data from stacks of invoices into their ERP systems. Managers receive photocopies of invoices for approval via inter-office mail. Finally, invoices are archived for a decade in room full of file cabinets – or worse, sent to an off site storage location.

An average invoice cost $10 to process (IAPP, 2003). Consider an organization with a volume of 25,000 invoices per month. The overhead of paying these invoices will reach 3 million dollars per year. Organizations have reported between 40% and 60% savings by implementing an invoice automation solution (Aberdeen Group). If we assume only a modest 20% reduction in cost, this AP department can yield $600,000 in savings per year. Even a company that processes 5 thousand invoices per month can benefit from AP automation.

I shall discuss strategies that can be used to achieve such success in later posts.

Filed under: Approval, BPM, Data Capture, Data Entry, Document Imaging, ERP, Invoices, accounts payable

Corporate Espionage

A couple weeks ago I attended the Lawson Mega User Group (MUG) conference in Indianapolis. This conference included Lawson users and vendors for both the Lawson Great Lakes User Group (LGUG) and Lawson Mid-America User Group (LMAUG).

The keynote speakers were Lawson executives speaking about the new international corporate structure. Lawson acquired Intentia International, an ERP solution provider based in Stockholm, Sweden late last year. Their combined enterprises launch Lawson into the number three spot for ERP solution providers, behind SAP and Oracle.

Many of my customers utilize Lawson for their ERP solutions. Next year I will most likely be an official vendor for a few user group events. This year I spent a lot of time researching my competition in the document imaging arena.

I have to admit, I felt like I was engaging in pure corporate espionage. In my defense, I was very up-front with all the other vendors. There were two heavy-hitters in the imaging market: ImageNow and BasWare.

ImageNow has been a partner with Lawson for many years. They provide a solution to seamlessly integrate document imaging with Lawson. They appear to be a good solution for companies looking only for document imaging solutions.

BasWare, on the other hand, has a focus on automating the accounts payable processing of vendor invoices. They do not have an integrated retrieval solution for Lawson. In other words, a user will have to user a separate application to view a document.

I would consider DocEdge closer to BasWare than ImageNow. However, this gives me a lot to think when designing the next round of feature enhancements. A solution that provides integrated document imaging and AP automation would be received very well by the user community.

Filed under: DocEdge, Document Imaging, ERP, LGLUG, LMAUG, Lawson, accounts payable