INPEX, a leading worldwide oil and gas exploration and production company, is to simplify and streamline its purchase order and invoicing processes within Australia through the deployment of OpenText Vendor Invoice Management for use with SAP Solutions (VIM).

The pre-packaged OpenText application will work in conjunction with INPEX's existing SAP software to speed up the creation, management and routing of invoices and orders, delivering efficiency benefits for INPEX suppliers and staff.

In addition to automatically routing invoices and orders through the approvals process, INPEX will use VIM to provide secure browser-based access for invoice submissions, fast staff access to information including invoice status and purchase order numbers, and to enable greater collaboration for problem resolution.

The deployment will also include OpenText's optical character recognition solution, OpenText Invoice Capture Centre for SAP Solutions (ICC). The software automates capture and extraction of data from paper invoices, virtually eliminating the need for manual intervention during the invoice data capture process.

Combined with VIM, the OpenText solution will complement INPEX's SAP software by enabling end-to-end automation of paper invoice processing.

Listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and ranked in the top 100 global energy companies, INPEX’s activities include research, exploration, development, production and sales of oil and gas. The company is a key player in world-class liquefied natural gas projects and is involved in numerous projects in Australia and the Timor Sea. Its work on the Ichthys LNG project in the Browse Basin off the Western Australian coast is one of the largest and most challenging projects in the company's history.

Chris Foley, CIO, INPEX said, “With such large and complex projects on the go it is important that we ensure operational efficiencies wherever possible. With this in mind we wanted a solution that would allow us to optimise invoice management processes, while maximising the return on our existing investment with SAP. After an extensive search of the market it became apparent that OpenText Vendor Invoice Management was the ideal solution.”

Graham Pullen, Vice President Asia Pacific and Japan, OpenText added, “It is pleasing to see yet another customer realising the benefits of the SAP/OpenText global partnership. The value of being able to work in close collaboration with of all key INPEX stakeholders, SAP and OpenText is a key differentiator in the success of these types of projects. This is not just about technology. It is also about the benefit of content experts and business owners truly understanding their immediate needs and their future requirements.”