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Supply Chain: Specification

Over the years, corporates have invested heavily in automating the Physical Supply Chain (i.e., the processes relating to the flow of goods in and out of a corporate). Recently, they have turned their attention to the Financial Supply Chain. These are the processes that relate to the funds and capital used in support of the Physical Supply Chain. It is generally recognised that millions of dollars are locked up in the Financial Supply Chain mostly due to lack of visibility of financial flows and to obvious gaps with the Physical Supply Chain.

Business Processes

The business processes covered by the TWIST Standards are:

  • Quotation
  • Collaborative Ordering
  • Collaborative Invoicing (including Invoice Disputes)
  • Supply Chain Financing (Reverse Factoring)

What can these standards be used for?

This set of standards is equally relevant to Corporates, Public Adminsitrations, Banks and e-Billing and e-Invoicing Platforms.

They can be used to help deliver on the following two strategies:

  • Automation of ordering, invoicing and financing (e.g., peer-to-peer electronic invoincing, automated reconciliation of Invoice to Remittance Advice)
  • Building of a package of financial supply chain products and services (e.g., constuction of an electronic invoicing platform)

What is different about the TWIST Standards?

What is unique about the TWIST e-Ordering and e-Invoicing standards is their interoperability and alignment with all the relevant and popular existing standards:

  • OASIS UBL, V2.0
  • HongKong’s DTTN V1
  • Siptro’s UNeDocs, V1.2
  • Swift’s TSU Standards
  • UN/CEFACT Cross Industry Invoice, V1.1
  • Finland’s FINVOICE

This means that the TWIST Standard can be used as a unique basis for global electronic ordering, invoicing and financing, irrespective of geography or industry. In fact it makes the TWIST Standards particularly attractive to those parties that have to accommoddate multiple communites and multiple standards as cross-standard mapping will be significantly reduced.

What is next?

TWIST is participating in the European Commission’s e-Invoicing project. This project is aiming to lift barriers to mass adoption of electronic invoicing. The standards workstream of this effort is looking into creating an EU e-Invoicing standard. TWIST is not only contributing its experience to this effort, it is also committed to upgrade the relevant TWIST Standards to ensure interoperability with the outcome of the EU standards work.

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