Moving From Passive to Aggressive EDI Moved Money to the Bottom Line
EDI for a few customers ran well. When tasked with identifying possibilities of more savings, the I.T. department nominated EDI. The key was building with their existing tools: Global eXchange Services
BizLink EDI system and their existing order processing procedures. This met their goal of easier adoption of improvements by users.
A recurring headache is parts orders – they arrive by phone, email, fax, attachment, and EDI. Parts orders for machine maintenance being done across the continent arrive directly and from dealers. Another layer of complexity, parts were supplied for decades old machines.
The headache remedy – one order gateway for all document types so that orders could be received, scrutinized immediately and easily, and then approved for fulfillment.
DCS Solution
The path was clear and the foundation was built upon experience. Three components needed to change:
- Data translation – add XML for “one-up” and small messages
- Data transmission – move to AS2 and FTPS for reliable, secure, and economical exchange
- Visibility to Management – monitor automatically and correct immediately
The solution was proven tools that readily adapted to their time proven order processing procedures.
Finally, a few EDI documents were added to achieve more process automation:
- Inbound P.O. Acknowledgments and Shipment Notices from production vendors immediately told
of late or short shipments - Pick-up messages when the truck left the vendor; delivery messages when the truck left the
customer. - Several other financial and 3PL documents were considered, but postponed until these LN
improvements were well accepted.
Working together DCS and the OEM mastered the flexibility of BizManager EDI. This means that the many variables could be solved with only a little Java programming. Business processes could be set in Transformation and Trading Partners, but only after a thorough analysis of current processes, LN processes, and user definition of desired new processes.
Investment
- Customers – The time needed to set “one-up” XML documents is about one week.
- Vendors – The time need to set the first vendor for two documents was 3 three weeks. The subsequent were 3 days each.
- Data Transmission – The time needed to move away from the EDI VAN was one week.
- Transport Messages – The time needed to set these was two weeks for the first trucker and
2 days for each subsequent trucker. - The total investment for DCS service, about 15 weeks was about $72,000.
Biggest Hurdle
Management knew that improvements would yield great efficiencies, but did not understand how improving the process for document exchange (B2B) yielded greater efficiency. This was because the level of errors, delays, and lost documents was not known to them. Highlighting this required totaling the cost and exposing the current process to criticism.
Savings
The OEM estimated the dollar amount capable of being saved (including the VAN savings) was about $50,000 annually. This estimate does not include quantification of time saved, faster service, and avoided hiring.
Next Step
Let DCS help you build your EDI foundation and later add more process automation. Setting up Global eXchange Services BizManager with Transformation is straight forward but not trivial. We recommend our NEXT LEVEL™ Conversion service.
We are experts with the gateway for B2B. Unfortunately, many developers who focus on the Oracle 11g or Microsoft SQL Server databases do not have gateway experience.
Your integration will be thorough, quick, and economical due to our many years of EDI and B2B experience.
Having DCS develop the first few documents and data transmission setups lowers the cost of implementation and hastens payback. Using a seasoned expert will save you time and headaches. DCS is eager to work with your Infor dealer or consultant too. Our expertise is with the EDI/E-C gateway: we do not seek
non-EDI work. Your first step is easy; just email DCS for your FREE assessment.