See supply chain fraud and overpayments ...

... before they happen. That's the claim of Michael Lustig, CEO of Apex Analytix Inc. in Greensboro, N.C. His company's FirstStrike software checks invoices from your supply chain against purchasing-contract discounts to ensure that your business is paying the prices it's supposed to be paying. According to Lustig, overpayments can be equal to as much as 0.1% of a company's revenue. And although transaction fraud on sales to customers is an aberration, it does happen, he says, adding that FirstStrike can help there as well. The software can spot high-risk billing addresses, such as prisons. Lustig says it also calculates the safest areas in which to do business, with New Hampshire and the Corn Belt usually ranking among them. The Southeastern states tend to be the source of more fraud than elsewhere, he notes. Next month, FirstStrike will add support for multicurrency transactions and value-added tax estimates to help companies manage their European suppliers' contracts. There are several pricing options, including fees based on the amount of money FirstStrike recovers for your company.