Logistics Tech Outlook

nVision Global
Freight Invoice Auditing and Payment Processing at a Global Scale

Luther Brown, CEO, nVision GlobalLuther Brown, CEO
An aerial view of a shipping port with thousands of containers carrying payloads to destinations halfway across the globe portrays an interesting picture of the current logistics landscape. Amidst the growing efforts from enterprises to expand beyond boundaries, the logistics industry has been at the forefront, helping enterprises attain a true global status, albeit with hurdles in the way. The complexity of auditing supply chain freight invoices and processing payments worldwide has been one of the biggest quandaries that global organizations must battle. Historically the practice has been to partner with in-country or regional freight audit and payment service providers, which results in higher costs, and often obstructs a worldwide consolidated payment process. nVision Global caters to multinational companies—regionally or worldwide—that utilize multiple modes of transportation and want a provider who is capable of extensive data capture, rate card visibility, line item charge auditing, collaborative tools for dispute resolution, normalized/standardized shipment analytics, complex charge allocation at multiple levels, and the ability to remit payment globally.

nVision Global was established to support the worldwide expansion of Transportation Solutions Inc., which was established in 1993. nVision Global’s worldwide network includes seven processing centers strategically placed to provide customer and transportation provider support regional time zones. The company is a true global service and technology provider handling hundreds of millions of shipment transactions annually. The worldwide spend processed through their system (iMpact TMS) is in excess of 7 billion dollars annually across six continents.

"We believe in a truly global approach in every service we provide; and we have formed a niche for ourselves within the logistics industry"

nVision Global is a leader in developing supply chain technology with its iMpact TMS boasting end to end logistics contract management, global rating technology, control tower command center and standardized data rich business intelligence (BI). Data derived from freight invoices is consolidated in a single data warehouse, overcoming the challenges of integrating disparate sources of truth that reside in various customer locations. nVision Global’s online repository, iHistorical, along with an online rate library, stores customers’ negotiated contracts, rate cards and tariffs, imaged invoices, and supporting documentation to form a quintessential reference plane in the audit process.

WebTools that Facilitate Easy Payments

Today, blockages in the payment pipeline are prevalent due to discrepancies in the invoices and supporting documents submitted by providers. This often causes inconvenience for both organizations and their transportation providers. Normally, the accounts payable department will reject the invoice in its entirety, causing unnecessary delay in processing payments that will severely impact the efficiency of business activities. nVision Global’s procedures are streamlined to accommodate such less-than-optimal submissions, with tools that allow auditing and remitting of payments quickly.


We have shaped our tools over the years based on the recommendations that we received from our customers as well as their transportation providers


nVision Global’s iEntry tool allows providers to submit documents along with the invoices through a web portal in accordance with EDI, ASC X12, and EDIFACT standards. This streamlines the electronic submission of invoices and supporting documentation, which is often a difficult process outside North America.

The collaborative tools provided by nVision Global bring the customer and the transportation provider together in an exception-based manner. In cases where iEntry cannot find an appropriate general ledger code for an invoice, the iResolution tool notifies the customer with an image of the invoice and associated details, so that they can enter the right ledger code manually. Subsequently, nVision Global’s system is updated and the invoice is processed in the form of a usual purchase order.

Similarly, the company’s Collaboration tool is used to resolve invoice-related disputes between the client and the transportation provider. Short pay of invoices is a common occurrence outside North America. An invoice of €100 may be submitted for goods worth €90, and it may be audited for just €80. In such cases, the invoice is deferred to nVision Global’s Collaboration tool, which is accessible to the customer, the logistics provider, and nVision Global. After the stakeholders reach final disposition following deliberations, the invoice can be easily processed, without having to reject it or send it back to the provider.

Drill-Down Analysis of the Supply Chain

nVision Global generates crucial BI by capturing data elements from invoices that are submitted either electronically or manually, and cleansing the data with normalization techniques. Normalization helps study numerous iterations of the same data element, such as the shipper’s name, which may vary across invoices, and present it as a singular entity.

Without this contextual cleansing process in between, crucial, yet incorrectly articulated information may get omitted from the analysis stage, resulting in an inaccurate result. Further, the iFocus dashboard makes such data available for usage, going beyond the simple task of payment processing.

The iFocus dashboard facilitates a drill-down analysis of the customer’s entire supply chain based on the invoices being audited. The dashboard features a vast array of KPIs and technologies like global mapping lane analysis tool, ad-hoc report writer, and a transportation tab. It allows customers to leverage the available BI and dissect the entire supply chain to streamline and optimize it.

A host of other products and services around claims processing, consulting, benchmarking, control power, weight modeling tools, and packaging study complete the full circle of freight management for nVision Global’s clients. “The whole gamut of services we provide includes rating and routing engines and inventory management, all the way through the procurement spectrum and transportation management solutions,” explains Greg Wright, Vice President of global supply chain services at nVision Global. “When you combine those capabilities with our freight audit and payment provisions, our customers are empowered in many ways.” Greg also notes that the comprehensive nature of the company’s services falls in line with a prevalent market trend that complements globalization, where enterprises look for more than just audits, elaborate reports, and payment procedures. Organizations need a partner to process, audit, remit, and code their payment in a 360-degree manner that supports their global logistical operations.

Technology Built on Expertise

A significant factor that helps nVision Global design its web tools is an initial, comprehensive survey that it conducts in the customer’s logistics environment, entailing all negotiated contracts, rates and tariffs, general ledger account coding structures, and business logic. “Since we function like a customized shop, we have shaped our tools over the years based on the recommendations that we received from our customers as well as their transportation providers,” says Keith Snavely, Senior Vice President of sales and marketing at nVision Global.

A majority of the senior management at nVision Global are experts in the freight audit and payment industry. Brown, who leads the tight-knit group of industry experts, has nearly four decades of experience in the freight service industry. Following Brown’s initial setup in Europe, the company has expanded drastically, opening processing centers in locations such as San Jose in Costa Rica, Ningbo in China, Kolkata and New Delhi in India, and more recently, a full-service processing center in Cluj, Romania.“There are very few companies that can provide a high-touch localized experience to customers across the world, although many do pay lip service to it,” says Snavely. “We believe in a truly global approach in every service we provide; and we have formed a niche for ourselves within the logistics industry.”

Deep Dive

Freight Audit For Transportation Spend Control

Freight billing challenges are not always immediately visible. More often, the problems are subtle. A duplicate charge slips through approval, a fuel surcharge is applied using the wrong rule, a carrier invoice does not match the contracted terms, or an accessorial charge remains unresolved until paying it seems easier than disputing it. For enterprises running across more countries, currencies, carrier systems and invoice formats, freight audit and payment has moved well beyond clerical review. It now sits close to the finance controls that protect margin and the transportation data that shapes sourcing decisions. The buying problem starts with invoice complexity. Base rates, fuel, accessorial, duties, detention charges and modespecific rules do not arrive in a clean format. They come through various transportation methods, documents and regional billing practices. A good freight audit partner should do much more than just identify billing errors. They should collect data, structure it in a meaningful way, validate it against the contract, and route exceptions to ensure that weak charges don’t turn into paid charges. Speed is important, but speed without controls only causes leakage. Secondly, fragmented data brings up another point of pressure. Freight movement records will be part of the transport process, contracts in procurement documents, invoices in the finance queue and approvals in emails. Finance teams need to know how to manage their payments and accruals. The logistics teams need lane-level detail and carrier performance, while the procurement teams need data audit in order to negotiate prices instead of complaints. The stronger provider helps transform freight bills into a reliable record of what happened, what was charged and where attention is needed. Global operations add another layer of complexity. Regional freight auditing requires more than just access to the software. Tax rules, local billing practices, language requirements and e-invoicing mandates can alter how invoices should be read and processed. A centralized platform without strong regional expertise can still leave teams handling exceptions manually. A more effective approach combines consistent audit rules with local knowledge, allowing multinational shippers to maintain a unified view of transportation spend while accounting for the unique requirements of each market. “nVision Global gives finance and logistics teams a clearer, more effective way to see, validate and manage transportation spend before errors become embedded in the cost base.” The same logic applies before and after payment. Audit catches errors, but transportation spend control improves when estimated shipment cost, provider selection and invoice validation stay connected. Pre-shipment rating can show the financial implication of a routing choice before it becomes an invoice. The post-audit analysis uncovers where the exceptions persist. The claims process may regain value after service problems occur. None of these aspects should function outside of the audit trail if the goal is cost control and not invoicing. For enterprises evaluating this space, nVision Global stands out as a practical and well-rounded choice. It brings together freight audit and payment with IMPACT TMS, nSure AI, nSight Analytics and Business Intelligence, nConnect, freight claims, procurement tools and managed services in a single connected ecosystem. The platform is particularly well suited for global shippers that need invoice capture, duplicate detection, contract validation, exception workflows, e-invoicing support and audited freight data working together seamlessly. What makes nVision Global compelling is not simply the technology it offers, but how well those capabilities align with real operational processes. It gives finance and logistics teams a clearer, more effective way to see, validate and manage transportation spend before errors become embedded in the cost base. ...Read more
Top 10 Freight Audit and Payment Solution Companies - 2017

Company
nVision Global

Management
Luther Brown, CEO and Keith Snavely, SVP, sales & marketing & Greg Wright, VP, global supply chain service

Description
Processes, audits, codes, and remits freight payment for companies at a global level, with web tools that streamline supply chain operations