The Business Need

Kimber Manufacturing, Inc. is a New York-based manufacturing company. One of their trading partners is Cabela’s. Kimber needed help with processing 852 Data Activity for VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory). A customer of Data Communication Solutions (DCS) since 2013, Kimber turned to us for assistance. DCS EDI specialist Beth Moyer handled the project.

The EDI Challenge

DCS needed to ensure that Kimber’s system would process only one order for each Ship-To code (e.g.  Store, Distribution Center, etc.) due to ERP and EDI Translator “out-of-the-box” limitations.

Over the course of DCS’ work, a particular data challenge occurred: the test data came in with a 1-to-1 ratio for items and quality type; however, when production was launched, the ratio was 1-to-many. DCS fixed this issue by creating several maps in order to support all quantity types for each line item, within each Ship-To Code.

The DCS Solution

To help Kimber achieve their goals, DCS crafted both an inbound and outbound EDI process.

For Kimber’s inbound process, the Cabela’s 852 goes through a staging database created by DCS.  Data is then separated based on quantity type. The triggers to launch these processes have been carefully set in order to generate each file in a particular order:

  1. QA (Current) Quantity
  2. QP (Ordered/In Transit) Quantity
  3. QS (Sold) Quantity
  4. QT (Adjusted) Quantity

The chart below illustrates Kimber’s inbound process:

 

Kimber’s outbound process begins once the data in the VMI tables has been verified. BizManager (with BizLink) is configured to trigger those records with the value in the update field. This configuration triggers the custom map (created using GXS/OpenText BizLink Mapper) that generates the X12 855 (Purchase Order Acknowledgement). When Cabela’s receives the 855, it triggers Cabela’s system to create a purchase order for Kimber. This initiates the normal purchase order business process for Kimber.

The chart below illustrates Kimber’s outbound process:

 

The Result

In the past, Cabela’s had to send many Order Changes or Cancellations because they didn’t have accurate counts of items. Thanks to DCS’ work, Kimber now receives purchase orders based on the newly implemented VMI processes. This makes the process much more streamlined between Kimber and Cabela’s. Kimber remains a loyal DCS customer.

“The role that Beth Moyer from DCS played was exceptionally demanding,” says Yuval Markus, Kimber’s project manager. “To make it work, she exercised both remarkable technical skills and highly creative thinking. Working days and nights, she kept our spirit up in the duration of the process and delivered with great marvel.”

DCS is prepared to find solutions for your data challenges just as we did for Kimber. Contact us today to get started wish a no-cost assessment.

About the Associate

Beth Moyer joined DCS in 2012, and is the Professional Services Lead. She enjoys solving the challenges of end-users, such as Business Analytics, Customer Service and Logistics. She has over 15 years of experience working in various industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and entertainment.  Beth has experience with numerous EDI systems, including GXS/OpenText, EXTOL Business Integrator, Cleo and Gentran Server. She also has extensive experience with various ERPs, such as Infor Visual, SAP, JD Edwards (E1 and One World), and Oracle E-Commerce Gateway.