Ice River Springs Automates Cash Application with EDI Remittance Advice

Ice River Springs, Canada's largest private label bottling company, had automated orders, invoices and ship notices with EDI, but cash application was still manual. CONTAX implemented the EDI Remittance Advice (820) within weeks, and the solution paid for itself through cost savings within the first few months.

At a Glance

The Customer

Ice River Springs produces private-label bottled water for retailers and food service operators and makes the Ice River Green brand. It also runs a plastics recycling operation that turns bottles collected by municipalities into food grade recycled PET. The company has grown steadily since it started and runs a high-volume transaction processing environment.

Ice River Springs has worked with CONTAX since 2011, starting with its SAP implementation, and CONTAX has since delivered enhancement projects and ongoing support for SAP and EDI.

The Challenge

Ice River Springs had been live with EDI for many years, with purchase orders (850/875), invoices (810/880) and advance ship notices (856) automated. Cash application was the last piece of order-to-cash still done by hand.

Many customers send remittance advices that list hundreds of invoices, and every one must be reconciled against payments. Manual matching left plenty of room for error, and the problem grew as the company grew. The push to automate came from customer needs, and in the end from a specific requirement from one of Ice River Springs' largest customers.

The Solution

Ice River Springs runs a lean internal IT group, so it turned to CONTAX, which has deep experience in both EDI and SAP. CONTAX recommended moving to fully automated remittance processing and, having implemented the EDI Remittance Advice for other customers, delivered it within weeks.

The Results

• The solution had an immediate impact and paid for itself through cost savings within the first few months
• Manual checking and matching of invoices to payments has been greatly reduced, and front-line users have cut hours per day from their workloads
• Better accuracy in receivables management and a large drop in the effort and cost of reconciling payments
• Less back-and-forth with customers, saving time and money on both sides
• Less paper, supporting the company's goal of reducing waste

What's Next

Ice River Springs is moving more customers to the EDI Remittance Advice, for better accuracy, faster responses, lower reconciliation costs and faster payments that help cash flow. As new customers come on board, the 820 process is already in place, and CONTAX will help configure any new requirements.