Jabil and the secret to automating 2 million invoices annually through AP automation

Industry
Consulting

Revenue
$34 Billion

Headquarters
Munich, Germany

Going digital-enabled us to be more flexible and agile. We were able to quickly redirect vendor invoices from one mailbox to another to balance workloads, and we introduced SmartEye cloud invoice capture to reduce the number of paper-based invoices being processed.

Roberto Bayon
Senior Director, Global Shared Services, Jabil
40%
average straight-through invoice processing
Fully
digitized and automated from end-to-end
70%
straight-through invoice processing rates for selected vendors

Jabil, a high-tech manufacturing company, processes approximately 2 million invoices per year in its three shared services centers (SSC) located in Mexico, Malaysia, and Ukraine. Different processes and different levels of automation were used at each location, which made it difficult to get a real-time, company-wide view into vendor invoices and supplier payments.

Jabil turned to Serrala to implement a single global process for invoice capture and handling. The award-winning AP Automation solution would enable it to:

  • Standardize AP workflows according to the latest best practices
  • Automate invoice processing in its SAP ECC and SAP S/4HANA systems
  • Increase straight-through invoice processing rates across all SSC locations
  • Enable accurate and timely payments to global suppliers
  • Manage rapidly increasing invoice volumes without adding additional headcount

Key facts:

  • 2 million invoices per year
  • Three shared services centers (SSC) in Mexico, Malaysia, and Ukraine

Jabil Manufacturing used the fully digitized Serrala FS² AccountsPayable solution to automate the way it managed vendor invoices, removing any repetitive and non-value-added steps. The goal was to process as many invoices as possible – touchlessly. Any invoices that could not be auto-posted would be intelligently routed 
to the correct individuals for further processing, minimizing the number of times AP would have to touch an invoice.

By using AP automation for invoicing its features of 
the solution included:

  • Highly accurate, cloud-based digital invoice capture using Serrala SmartEye
  • Capture of e-invoice formats including Fappio and CFDI
  • Automated validation of invoice information against purchase orders and vendor master data
  • Fast detection and rejection of duplicate vendor invoices
  • Automated routing of invoices for approval or exception handling
  • Auto-coding of non-PO invoices based on a predefined coding matrix, AI and machine learning
  • Flexible invoice approvals within SAP or by email, web or mobile device
  • Guided exception handling workflows, enhanced with AI and machine learning
  • Infocenter to filter and sort invoices by vendor, status, available discount or other criteria
  • Ability to flexibly shift invoices across the global SSCs for faster processing
  • Automated generation of vendor statement of accounts
  • Real-time reporting to measure performance, including digital capture, straight-through processing, workload analysis, vendor spend and more
  • Maximize your SAP investment
  • Ready for S/4HANA
  • End-to-end processing
  • Future-proof
  • Modern user experience

The company was recently awarded “Best AP Solution” by TMI. 
The invoice process is fully digitized and automated from end-to-end, which puts Jabil in an enviable position where they can work with internal stakeholders and vendors to continue to streamline and improve it. The flexible solution can be easily adapted to Jabil’s changing business needs, which was essential for keeping vendor payments flowing smoothly during the global supply chain disruptions of 2020 and 2021.

Some of the benefits the company has achieved so far include:

  • 40% average straight-through invoice processing rates
  • +70% straight-through invoice processing rates for selected vendors
  • Reduced number of paper-invoices processed at all SSC locations
  • Reduced the number of duplicate invoices sent by vendors
  • Saved approximately 2000 hours by automatically generating vendor 
statements of accounts
  • Improved collaboration with vendors, buyers, and approvers
  • Best AP Solution by TMI
  • Saved approximately 2000 hours
  • Fully digitized and automated from end-to-end
  • Easily adapted to business needs

Business Need

Jabil, a high-tech manufacturing company, processes approximately 2 million invoices per year in its three shared services centers (SSC) located in Mexico, Malaysia, and Ukraine. Different processes and different levels of automation were used at each location, which made it difficult to get a real-time, company-wide view into vendor invoices and supplier payments.

Jabil turned to Serrala to implement a single global process for invoice capture and handling. The award-winning AP Automation solution would enable it to:

  • Standardize AP workflows according to the latest best practices
  • Automate invoice processing in its SAP ECC and SAP S/4HANA systems
  • Increase straight-through invoice processing rates across all SSC locations
  • Enable accurate and timely payments to global suppliers
  • Manage rapidly increasing invoice volumes without adding additional headcount

Key facts:

  • 2 million invoices per year
  • Three shared services centers (SSC) in Mexico, Malaysia, and Ukraine

Solution Implemented

Jabil Manufacturing used the fully digitized Serrala FS² AccountsPayable solution to automate the way it managed vendor invoices, removing any repetitive and non-value-added steps. The goal was to process as many invoices as possible – touchlessly. Any invoices that could not be auto-posted would be intelligently routed 
to the correct individuals for further processing, minimizing the number of times AP would have to touch an invoice.

By using AP automation for invoicing its features of 
the solution included:

  • Highly accurate, cloud-based digital invoice capture using Serrala SmartEye
  • Capture of e-invoice formats including Fappio and CFDI
  • Automated validation of invoice information against purchase orders and vendor master data
  • Fast detection and rejection of duplicate vendor invoices
  • Automated routing of invoices for approval or exception handling
  • Auto-coding of non-PO invoices based on a predefined coding matrix, AI and machine learning
  • Flexible invoice approvals within SAP or by email, web or mobile device
  • Guided exception handling workflows, enhanced with AI and machine learning
  • Infocenter to filter and sort invoices by vendor, status, available discount or other criteria
  • Ability to flexibly shift invoices across the global SSCs for faster processing
  • Automated generation of vendor statement of accounts
  • Real-time reporting to measure performance, including digital capture, straight-through processing, workload analysis, vendor spend and more
  • Maximize your SAP investment
  • Ready for S/4HANA
  • End-to-end processing
  • Future-proof
  • Modern user experience

Results Achieved

The company was recently awarded “Best AP Solution” by TMI. 
The invoice process is fully digitized and automated from end-to-end, which puts Jabil in an enviable position where they can work with internal stakeholders and vendors to continue to streamline and improve it. The flexible solution can be easily adapted to Jabil’s changing business needs, which was essential for keeping vendor payments flowing smoothly during the global supply chain disruptions of 2020 and 2021.

Some of the benefits the company has achieved so far include:

  • 40% average straight-through invoice processing rates
  • +70% straight-through invoice processing rates for selected vendors
  • Reduced number of paper-invoices processed at all SSC locations
  • Reduced the number of duplicate invoices sent by vendors
  • Saved approximately 2000 hours by automatically generating vendor 
statements of accounts
  • Improved collaboration with vendors, buyers, and approvers
  • Best AP Solution by TMI
  • Saved approximately 2000 hours
  • Fully digitized and automated from end-to-end
  • Easily adapted to business needs
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