KMD & NEC launch KMD Connect in Japan

In autumn 2023, the first Japanese companies and organizations will start using the KMD-developed e-commerce solution KMD Connect. And soon many will follow.

The plan for the large-scale collaboration between NEC and KMD is that the e-commerce solution KMD Connect will support the new Japanese legislation for invoicing, which will enter into force in October. Here, KMD Connect is launched on the Japanese market, and it is the first time that a KMD solution will be available to Japanese companies and organizations.

When NEC bought KMD, such projects were part of the plan for the collaboration, and it is therefore in many ways a milestone – both for KMD, but also for the partnership between KMD and NEC, says CEO of KMD, Per Johansson.

"It is a great seal of quality of Danish digitization and of KMD that we can now, together with NEC, offer the Japanese market a Danish-developed IT service. We have always known that the potential has been there, but there are many steps to take before you can make a Danish-born IT service Japanese. But we have succeeded, and great praise must be given to NEC and to everyone who has been involved in the project. This will be an example to follow for us at KMD, and for our collaboration with NEC," says Per Johansson.

KMD Connect is a specialized e-commerce solution that digitizes payment information and documents. In Japan, work is currently underway to establish a standard within digital invoicing based on the global standard Peppol, of which KMD is a certified and approved supplier in Japan.

In 2005, Denmark was the first country in the world to introduce mandatory electronic invoicing in the public sector, which meant that authorities were obliged to receive electronic invoices (e-invoices) from their suppliers.

The initiative resulted in large automation gains and savings in invoice handling and bookkeeping for authorities as well as faster payment to companies. And it is thus a similar digitization journey that Japan is embarking on.

"KMD Connect can make a big difference for many Japanese companies and organizations when it comes to digitizing the process within payments, but also within the supply chain. We are far ahead in Denmark, and societies around the world need our experience and our digital solutions. KMD Connect is now one of the first solutions offered to the Japanese market, but we see more opportunities to do the same with other digital solutions developed by KMD. We should be proud of this, and it is also a position that obliges us to continue to develop so that we can also deliver Danish solutions to the rest of the world in 20 years," says Per Johansson.

As soon as the launch of KMD Connect in Japan is completed, the first Japanese organizations will start using KMD Connect, and the number of Japanese users of KMD Connect can potentially be really large, says Mette Pontoppidan, Head of KMD Connect business at KMD.

“Japan is a large market, and with the government digitization initiatives in Japan, we expect that the spread of KMD Connect will quickly accelerate. We have therefore also created a setup that is ready for this, and we look forward to the launch in October, which will be the culmination of many months of work and preparation," says Mette Pontoppidan.

About KMD Connect

KMD Connect was launched in Denmark in 2005. The solution handles more than 300 million invoices and other electronic documents annually and has done so for more than 15 years in Denmark and Europe.

KMD Connect can support various formats, including "Peppol", which is used in more than 30 countries around the world, especially in Europe. Therefore, KMD Connect is also useful in international transactions.