Stationery retailer WHSmith has upgraded to a new version of invoice-matching suite DIDOS, as part of move from mainframe to UNIX.
In contrast to John Lewis, which is moving in the opposite direction from UNIX-based computers to a much larger mainframe system, WHSmith is two years into what has been described as an 'ambitious plan to migrate from the mainframe to UNIX'.
The advantage for the accounts department is that the mainframe version of DIDOS, from AIM Retail, offers several improvements for the end user compared with the older version that ran on UNIX.
WHSmith supplier accounting manager Sharon Waters runs the team that processes and clears invoices for items procured by WHSmith's stores from all its suppliers, whether trade or non-trade. She says the new version of DIDOS makes it easier for clerks to see which invoices they need to look at.
The suite features a notes facility so that clerks can jot virtual notes on the edge of the invoice, and there is improved reporting of key performance indicators.
Waters explains that the new version enables multiple credit notes to be sent to a supplier in one batch. The suite also includes an archiving system that anyone can use, as opposed to the complex system in the old version. Waters says it is also easier to redirect invoices for travel and direct business that turn up in the wrong place.
WHSmith was obviously anticipating productivity savings when the new version of DIDOS was introduced, because this was taken into account under the recent organisation.
Waters points out: 'My whole team has been reduced, but this wasn't just down to DIDOS.'
No comments yet