Brightpoint North America Goes Live with FastAP for IFS, Astra's AP Automation Solution for IFS ERP

Aug. 17, 2012 - PRLog -- Brightpoint North America went live on Astra’s FastAP for IFS^tm on August 8, 2012.  The company is an operating unit of Brightpoint, Inc., a global leader in providing supply chain and customization solutions for the wireless device industry with sales of $5.24 billion in 2011.

Initially, Brightpoint will process approximately 45,000 supplier invoices annually through FastAP using a centralized AP process flow at its Americas headquarters in Plainfield, Indiana.  Ryan Willman, Vice President and Controller of Brightpoint Americas, said, “We purchased FastAP to deliver significant improvements in processing time, efficiency and scalability.  During implementation we benchmarked the old process, designed a new one that will leverage off of FastAP and established aggressive targets for invoice cycle time and efficiency.  We feel confident that we will achieve our goals. Astra was great to work with and we will continue to partner with them to achieve best-in-class status for AP processing and cycle time.”  

Astra's FastAP has three components.  It couples the advanced data capture of INVOICES by ReadSoft, a global leader in the AP space, with the automated invoice matching and workflow approval routing capabilities of the IFS Supplier Invoice Workflow (e-invoice) module.  Astra’s APConnect^{for IFS} provides seamless data transfer between the ReadSoft and IFS solution components.  

FastAP removes the “manual” from AP processing for customers of IFS Applications.  It automatically performs every step from reading the invoices through 3 way matching against POs and receipts and entering the required accounting codes within the IFS AP module.  Fully matched invoices are ready for final posting.  Discrepant invoices and non-PO invoices are automatically routed to the appropriate approver for review.  

“Brightpoint is the first of several FastAP early adopters to go live,” noted Bob Corrigan, Vice President of IFS North America.  “This AP automation solution is fully integrated into IFS Financials, and we expect many IFS customers to follow the leaders and take advantage of FastAP’s low cost and high ROI.”  

Astra, the creator of FastAP, is a product and services partner of IFS.  “Our long experience with IFS ERP and our knowledge of the IFS community enabled us to design a solution that delivers what IFS users want,” commented Naren Velu, President and CEO of Astra.  “FastAP leverages their existing investment, avoids the risk of a third party bolt-on product and is directly supported by IFS.”  

About IFS
IFS is a public company (OMX STO- IFS) founded in 1983 that develops, supplies, and implements IFS Applications™, a component-based extended ERP suite built on SOA technology.  IFS focuses on industries where any of four core processes are strategic: service & asset management, manufacturing, supply chain and projects.  The company has 2,000 customers and is present in more than 60 countries with 2,800 employees in total.  For more information about IFS, please visit: http://www.IFSWORLD.com

About Astra
Astra, Inc. was established in 2007 and is headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, with an offshore fulfillment center in Chennai, India. Astra specializes in enabling companies to leverage the power of their enterprise application investments.  It provides packaged and custom consulting services related to all aspects of implementing and getting the best use of enterprise systems throughout their life cycle.  For more information about Astra, please visit: http://www.astra-us.com

For More information, Please Contact:

Naren S. Velu, President & CEO
Tel: (M) 520-971-2714
Email: naren@astra-us.com

George Hardy, Vice President
Tel: (L) 323-522-5519 (M) 602-733-9591
Email: george@astra-us.com