eBilling = Environmental Billing at DHL

Interview with Brian Thumwood, eBilling Manager, Europe

In October 2008, DHL, global leader in the international express and logistics industry, announced its plans to eliminate over one third of the 18 million paper invoices it sends out across Europe annually by 2010, saving approximately 2,400 trees and 600 tonnes of C02 each year. DHL customers using the eBilling service no longer need to receive their invoices on paper, they simply log in to an online portal to view and approve them electronically. In this interview, Brian Thumwood, eBilling Manager, Europe at DHL talks to Helen Sanders, Editor.

Customers' invoice processing is enhanced as they can import data directly into their systems without scanning.

What made you decide to implement eBilling at DHL?

Protecting the environment is very important to DHL and eBilling plays a significant role in our social responsibility and sustainability plan. The marketing strap line for this project is ‘eBilling – loved by trees’ as we know that this issue really matters to our customers too. Valuable resources including paper, ink, electricity and fuel are all consumed unnecessarily in the paper invoicing process every day. 

However, while we have been under increasing pressure from some customers to generate invoices electronically, both for environmental and processing efficiency reasons, until 2006 we did not have resources internally to manage the migration from physical to electronic invoices. We then appointed a new manager with experience in eBilling who could co-ordinate the project.

How did you decide on which solution to use to support eBilling?

The decision to implement an electronic document exchange system brought a variety of challenges as we needed to transmit the invoice data rather than simply an image. We had an EDI gateway already through which we can exchange PDFs with customers or post invoices to the web. It was difficult to find a partner to help us with delivering a genuine eBilling service, as although there were lots of promises by prospective partners, there were very few solutions which would meet our needs. For example, although there are a number of domestic solutions available, we were looking for a pan-European solution delivered by a vendor with experience of similar implementations. We selected Accountis Ltd, a division of Fundtech, which is a provider of secure financial document exchange and payment systems with whom DHL has now been working for over two years.

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How did you go about implementing the solution?

Although the environmental benefits of eBilling were attractive, there was initially some scepticism internally about whether these would justify the project cost. To ascertain the potential value, and understand customer reception more fully, we launched a pilot project in Belgium in 2007. In fact, this project proved to be one of the most straightforward and successful projects we have had. The results were persuasive, enabling us to roll out the solution country by country. Each country’s operations within DHL are fairly autonomous, particularly as there are different legal requirements in each region. However, by implementing a common solution, it is easier to work in a standardised, consistent way. Initially, it was not easy to encourage users who had been accustomed to local solutions to accept a new system.

Although this posed a challenge, these issues were political rather than technical. In reality, business processes have had to change very little. The same processes are deployed irrespective of whether invoice is sent to a printer or through Accountis’ eChannel. The billing system is integrated with the EDI gateway and an image of the invoice stored for archiving.

How have customers reacted to the introduction of eBilling?

We have been surprised at customers’ enthusiasm for the eBilling solution. For example, SME clients can do business with us when it suits them, and we find that people are logging on to the system 24/7.

What environmental benefits have been achieved so far?

The success of our eBilling project has already delivered significant environmental and financial savings but this is a drop in the ocean compared to what we intend to achieve in the near future. We are currently experiencing a 30% increase in the number of e-invoices sent through the system each month, proving that organisations across Europe are ready and able to embrace this greener technology.

What advice would you give to other companies considering a similar solution?

It is important to work with the experts on a project of this type. Not only did we need support from our in-house IT department, but there are also legal and compliance implications of an electronic rendition of an invoice. A digital signature capability was provided by Accountis and we took advice on the project from PricewaterhouseCoopers. The combination of specific expertise proved extremely valuable and contributed to a smooth and successful project.

Implementing a solution gradually is important to encourage support both internally and externally. Customers need to be approached in the right way, as eBilling will have different levels of acceptability. We have found, for example, that some countries have converted a higher percentage of customers than others to eBilling. Initially, we started simply to replace paper with electronic invoices. Then we embarked on a second phase, where customers can log queries, retrieve invoice copies and back up documentation etc.

How is eBilling helping DHL from a processing perspective?

Historically, we have received tens of thousands of customer invoice queries each year which creates a substantial administrative overhead and delays payment. By implementing a self-service facility, queries can be resolved more quickly and easily, the customer experience is improved and the order-to-cash process accelerated. Customers’ invoice processing is also enhanced as they can import data directly into their systems without scanning, and can distribute invoice data more quickly within the organisation for approval and payment.

How do you envisage the future of eBilling?

It is easy to vacillate on a project such as eBilling, but there is no future for paper invoicing. eBilling is here to stay and it is growing. All transactions will ultimately be electronic and this time is approaching quickly. Companies which implement eBilling now will not be forced to be reactive to market changes, and can take early advantage of the benefits both to them and to their customers.