EDI Invoice Automation with Salesforce, Slack, Xero & Heroku

Challenges

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  Manual Invoice Management: PK Enterprises was manually downloading EDI invoices from multiple shipping providers (FedEx, UPS, Canpar, Purolator, Flashbox), grouping them by customer, and generating invoices in Xero. This process was time-consuming and prone to errors.

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  Inefficient Data Handling: The manual handling of invoice data was inefficient, increasing the workload on staff and causing delays in invoicing.

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  Lack of Automation: Without a fully automated solution, the invoicing process lacked scalability, making it difficult to keep up with growing order volumes and customer demands.

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  Inconsistent Data Entry: Errors in manual data entry could lead to inconsistencies and inaccuracies in financial records, affecting overall business operations.

Tools & Technologies

Solution

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  Custom ETL Tool Development: Developed a custom ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) tool using Java Spring Boot to automatically download EDI invoices from multiple shipping service providers via SFTP. This reduced manual effort and increased data accuracy.

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  Automated Invoice Generation: The system automatically processed the cleaned data and created invoices in Xero using the Xero API, eliminating the need for manual invoice creation.

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  Salesforce Integration: Integrated the ETL tool with Salesforce using Bulk API v2, ensuring seamless data transfer and better tracking of customer invoices.

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  Data Storage on Heroku: Implemented a PostgreSQL database on Heroku to store the invoice data, ensuring scalability and secure storage.

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  Custom LWC Component: Developed a custom LWC (Lightning Web Component) in Salesforce for real-time viewing of pending invoices, enhancing visibility and tracking for customer service teams.

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  CI/CD: Implemented CI/CD and DevOps for deploying the ETL tool on Heroku.

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  Automated Notifications: Set up automated notifications for invoice generation and updates, ensuring timely communication with customers.