Automation has gained a significant amount of traction in the past few years, entering into a wide breadth of industries and sectors amid the need for more sustainable, consistent and affordable operational support frameworks. The digital revolution has had a variety of benefits to the average business, and has presented more opportunities than ever before to expand upon the use of automation tools.
From content management and the ability to eliminate data entry to more fluid workflow oversight and enterprise resource planning integration, the sky is the limit for the applications of automation within most organizations, and those that have taken the most proactive approaches to the technology are likely reaping the greatest level of benefits. The economic recession forced the issue for many decision-makers, but leaders now seem to be taking a more process improvement-centric approach to these tools rather than simply trying to cut expenditures.
As a result of the widespread growth in automation deployments, several trends have surfaced regarding the standards and practices that are associated with the use of these relatively novel tools, especially with respect to managing the entirety of these investments and following guidelines from a compliance standpoint. After all, companies are beginning to use automation tools for core business processes that relate back to security, compliance and transparency.
Businesses using these tools should always keep up with the shifting best practices and standards as they proliferate and transform to ensure the smoothest, most advantageous experience possible with the investments.
New e-invoicing standards released
The Ocean Freight Industry EIPP Standards Advisory Board has released a new set of guidelines meant to ensure the integrity and transparency of e-invoicing procedures in the sector. This organization is independent and comprised of executives in the ocean freight industry, while the Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment standards released are relatively straightforward.
Some of the guidelines relate to pure invoice processing with a specific focus on the procedures that take place between the issuance of the invoice and the eventual acknowledgement, while others are more aligned with EDI messaging guidelines and credit note processing.
Notably, the ocean freight industry has become a bit more aggressive in its deployment of electronic solutions, especially as satellite providers move to make the Internet more available to sea-bound organizations.
"The SAB is dedicated to strategically collaborating to maximize the full potential of electronic invoice presentment and payment within ocean freight shipping, and to raise awareness of our unique requirements to drive interoperability globally," SAB Executive Officer Sherrie Orzechowski affirmed. "The introduction of these important guidelines towards the adoption of a standard in the industry sets the foundation for helping enhance e-invoicing practices, and accelerate the benefits they can bring to ocean shipping in a digital world."
Finally, other officials from the organization noted that they believe more standardized and ubiquitous use of automation tools for invoicing and other procedures can lead to more sustainable operations, stronger financial performances and accelerated procedures.
Integrated management
One of the fundamental discussions in the automation arena has been worries that the technology would eventually upend the IT workforce, but this has not necessarily come to pass quite yet. Rather, automation is being used to supplement staff performances and actually improve morale among employees who were once tasked with handling mundane, repetitive and arduous responsibilities.
Now, Multichannel Merchant reported that companies – especially those in industrial-related sectors – are trying to find ways to integrate their management of automation tools and the workforce itself. Asserting that labor management systems are increasingly necessary for the complex, digital and intertwined operations of the modern private sector, the source cited the comments of several players in the field.
One, Jason Franklin, who is the director of sales and engineering at a material handling provider, stated that these and other automation deployments must be conducted in a way that keeps all employees in the know.
"Companies tend to underestimate the level of effort required at this stage," he told the news provider. "In a lot of cases this represents a paradigm shift from a change management perspective. The fact is that none of us enjoys having every minute of every day tracked by a software program. Being able to communicate upfront the impact to your associates and team with complete transparency into why you're implementing this system will provide tremendous benefit to the company and its employees."
This is a relatively common thread regardless of which industry or technology one might be discussing, in that boardroom members must find ways to ensure transparent deployments of new solutions and attain employee buy-in before finalizing purchases.
Between the internal management of automation solutions and adherence to industry-recognized or federal standards, business leaders have a lot to gain from leveraging the services of a proven automation vendor that has experience in implementation, oversight and other matters.
