Company Description
A large manufacturer of lawn & garden products with five separate divisions manages significant growth.
Summary
A large manufacturer of lawn & garden products needed the ability to manage their large-volume EDI program across five separate divisions. High growth and lack of system integration led them to purchase an ERP system that would be used at all locations. Each division in this company had different EDI trading partners, each requiring their own set of EDI business rules. The company chose Microsoft Dynamics GP, vSync EDI and vShip to streamline EDI order processing, control VAN fees and redeploy staff to other strategic initiatives.
Key EDI & Shipping Issues
Trying to standardize on one ERP system can be mind boggling for companies with complex operations supporting multiple product lines in multiple categories under separate divisions, each with their own spin on how their systems should work.
One thing this manufacturing company did not want to compromise on was giving up the EDI functionality they had custom created and integrated. While they wanted the same functionality, they did not want to dedicate the resources needed to recreate their previous EDI environment. They needed an EDI system that could easily handle more than 1,000 transactions per day and included EDI integration with their warehouse management system.
The company needed a way to ensure that the complex orders they received from Wal-Mart and other retailers were accurately packed, shipped and processed to avoid heavy fines which could be levied on them..
As the installation of any new ERP system requires the effort of IT and operations staff, the company wanted to be able to deploy resources to assist in the ERP implementation and not on creating new EDI integrations, EDI maps, new EDI installations and testing.
With 3 employees devoted to nothing but EDI mapping and an additional 8 employees managing EDI orders, the company wanted a way to better deploy their staff without losing the control gained by managing their own EDI environment. This control also needed to include the ability to manage how their EDI transactions would be sent (Internet, FTP, VAN or XML) to better manage cost.
Problem Resolution & Results
he company selected Microsoft Dynamics GP and vSync solutions across all five divisions creating a uniform system that could be configured for the different needs of each of their businesses. Each division had their own unique EDI customers but they shared many as well. vSync EDI enabled them to configure unique business rules for each and every EDI customer - by division, by customer and by product.
vSync's business rules enabled exception management capability which drastically reduced the time it took to process EDI orders. Business rules were configured to assist in discrepancies that sometimes occurred between the inbound transaction and the business system data.
For example, EDI transactions that did not match the business rule parameters such as price variances, units of measure and incorrect product IDs are flagged by the Microsoft Dynamics GP system - letting the user know the exact document and error that occurred. Managing by exception saved many hours of manual review as only erroneous documents now required intervention. The company was able to deploy four of eight employees to other areas in the company.
Both vSync EDI and vShip were integrated into the company's Warehouse Management system. Using vShip, warehouse employees received the electronic order data from Microsoft Dynamics GP. As no manual recording of data was necessary, order accuracy rates greatly improved. vShip ensured that employees packed orders correctly, letting them know immediately that an error was made. vShip also collected information about every item that was packed in every container. With this data, vShip could now automatically send out EDI Advance Ship Notices ensuring trading partner compliance and reducing charge back fees. This data was written back to the sales order in Microsoft Dynamics GP so customer service representatives could better serve customers.
Adding new EDI customers and handling new EDI maps became faster. While the company employed three employees solely for the purpose of EDI mapping, these employees now received pre-made mapping templates for each EDI partner enabling them to quickly manage changes instead of writing EDI maps from scratch. The existing resources were able to be redeployed to better manage the EDI program overall and to focus on getting new EDI customers up and running in half the time required before.
The vSync solution, being a packaged and configurable solution meant IT could focus on more pressing projects like the implementation of their new Microsoft Dynamics GP system.
The company is pleased with their recent implementation. In just 12 weeks vSync's EDI and Shipping solutions were processing orders and many other EDI documents for more than 100 trading partners. Order accuracy is increasing and customers have taken notice by upgrading the company’s supplier scorecard ratings. Redeployment of resources has saved time and improved the speed at which strategic projects are initiated and completed. Additionally, adding new EDI trading partners are added at a fixed cost and require very little time to implement and test, a process that used to takes weeks now takes days.