The Stellar Group, based in Jacksonville, Fla., is a global design and construction company that specializes in low-temperature refrigeration applications. Its invoice payment system, however, was anything but cool.

The company has 15 offices scattered around the country and more than 100 construction sites, each approving vendor invoices for payment. Stellar needed a way to simplify the process of submitting and approving invoices, as well as a way to speed up invoice turnaround, which stretched to more than a month in some cases.

With the help of supply chain expert ICS, Stellar implemented a document management system from IIS, called DocuSphere, that let it better integrate its accounts payable system with its J.D. Edwards ERP software.

The software included DocuSphere Content Manager and Workflow. DocuSphere Content Manager is an NT-based, thin-client-enabled document imaging and archiving system for viewing, managing and distributing all forms of electronic documents across internal networks and the Web. The DocuSphere Workflow piece lets Stellar employees use graphical tools to automate business processes across all application systems and platforms. The company also implemented DocuSphere’s Integration Module for J.D. Edwards, as well as its DocuSphere WEB and COLD/ERM modules.

The results immediately bolstered the bottom line, significantly improving cash flow for the construction firm. With the new DocuSphere system in place, Stellar reduced its invoice turnaround time from one month to one week. In addition, the time required to create and compile billing backup documentation has been reduced from two weeks to less than one hour.

"By allowing us to capture construction costs sooner, IIS and its DocuSphere document management solution have allowed Stellar to increase monthly earned revenue by approximately $1 million per month," said Scott Witt, Stellar’s chief financial officer.

For more information, visit IIS here or visit its booth at AIIM 2004 March 8-10 in New York.