Invoice Consolidation

Is anyone using, or familiar with BPCS Invoice Consolidation, able to give me an idea how it works, and how data in BPCS files is different when this is used? Any pros & cons. Suggestions welcome. What we need is to satisfy what the customer wants at least cost least hassle for us.

* We're 405 CD on AS/400 model 170 V5R1
** several reasons, low cost of operations primarily
* Currently at end of day's shipping we run BIL500, whose only modifications are to alter report appearance and fix rounding errors
* For several customers we fax them lists of invoice data, but still print invoices in case of need of later dispute resolution, like taking discounts after terms expiration, or taking more discount than we ever offered
* One customer now tells us they want electronic invoices via www.ob10.com which is to charge us 67 cents per invoice, plus annual fee of $ 850.00. The customer expects us to swallow this cost, not pass on to them.
** so the boss has asked me to look into practicality of consolidating one invoice a week for this customer (they take over 2 months to pay, so a few days delay on invoicing is minor) ... currently that customer uses a different PO# for each of their part #s (meaning we have to have a different BPCS order for each of their part #s)
*** I am reading BPCSDOC on invoice consolidation. It is clear as mud. Can someone give me outline of how that works, what the process is? Seems to me that some action is needed before BIL500 to assign consolidation #s that apply to more than one order, but I do not see where that is.
** my initial reading so far is that when multiple orders feed into one consolidated invoice, where there is different stuff in the different orders, such a PO#, pricing discounts, terms, the result is to have NONE on the consolidated invoice
** however, the customer needs to see PO# of what we billing them
** so another question ... even though the consolidated invoice does not have PO#, do the individual line items, in SIL file, still carry relevant PO#? ... since I would be building new file to transmit to OB10 from combination of SIL SIH and other BPCS files ... I propose to replace part description, on invoice, with customer PO# if we go this route, so that the PO# would be on the paper invoice, saved to help with inevitable dispute resolution
* I have received from OB10 a copy of the layout of what is needed on e-invoices for the customer. Their file is NOT relational data base compliant, but is reminiscent of multi-format files that we used to work with before external definition was invented. I am still thinking through alternative ways to deal with this & may have a programming question or two later, maybe to Midrange-L. Thank God IBM still supports antique file structures.
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Al Mac