TowWorks has introduced Tow Works Invoice Intelligence, an automated invoice-processing solution developed for marine transportation companies handling high volumes of complex vendor billing.

The technology is designed to reduce the manual work and processing time involved in managing vendor invoices and completing voyage close-outs. It reads incoming invoices, identifies and extracts important information, and connects the captured data with the appropriate records in the Tow Works enterprise platform.

According to TowWorks, the solution differs from conventional document-scanning systems through its use of intelligent data recognition and machine-learning capabilities. Invoice Intelligence is designed to improve as it processes more information, increasing its ability to identify the different formats and data structures used by individual vendors over time.

The automated process is combined with human review and validation. TowWorks said this approach is intended to deliver efficiency gains while retaining the controls and accuracy needed when handling financial information.

Invoice Intelligence also aims to create a closer link between operators’ financial and operational records. By recording vendor costs earlier and assigning them to the corresponding voyage or activity, the system can support faster voyage accounting and provide a more timely picture of voyage performance.

The solution operates within TowWorks’ enterprise security framework. It is governed by the same security controls used to support the company’s SOC 2-compliant environment, according to the announcement.

TowWorks developed Invoice Intelligence in response to the volume and complexity of vendor invoices encountered in marine operations. The product extends the company’s technology offering by applying automated data extraction and machine learning to a financial workflow that can require substantial manual input.

The company did not provide details on customer deployments, pricing, implementation schedules or specific performance benchmarks for the new solution.