At first an email
Enfocus Switch enters the dance
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Automatic incoming mails processing
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XML data loading
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Writing data to the information system through a database
- PDF invoices files archiving
From now on, any incoming mail will fire the Invoice Processing Workflow. XML Data are loaded as metadata and the latter will be used in many places of the workflow such as of course pushing data to the database.
The PDF will be archived in the invoices folder.
Keep in mind that you can set Enfocus Switch as you like.
Eventually the information system
Once data are written in the database, any external tool can pick them up and expose them in a convenient way. Here we created a simple web page where people from accounting or general services will be able to look at the list of any processed invoices received by mail. For quick and easy design, we downloaded and used a CSS stylesheet available here : https://codepen.io/jackrugile/pen/EyABe
Of course, the UI could have been way more complex. Ascending/descending sorting, search field, filters…But it wasn’t the point here.
Conclusion
Digital transformation leads to deep changes for the society but also great opportunities for automatic data processing. Here one flux Switch allows to connect many different tools around one data stream and without any line of code. That’s true, we did add some php code for the demo but it wasn’t critical for the flow. What matters is that from processing incoming emails to data management, we only needed one tool. No needs for neverending loops of betatesting cycles, You can set everything very easily.
Did you notice the Hotels brand IBIS? We have chosen not to hide it to give them credits. Maybe that will push other brands in the group or competitors to go in the same direction and provide invoices by email in both PDF and XML formats. Of course, processing those XML may require some adjustement companies by companies. Unless there is a standard for electronic invoice structure?
If you want to set such automatic data processing workflows, feel free to get in touch. Enfocus Switch was primarly designed for graphic arts. However everyone could see here that it can be used for many other industries. It’s really a powerful tool!
See you soon!
