AG Barr is synonymous with the iconic soft drink, Irn-Bru, launched in 1901. In an affectionate nod to whisky, it’s often described as ‘Scotland’s other national drink’.

It’s not the only successful brand of the FTSE-250 company. Other famous lines include; Rockstar energy drink, Rubicon exotic fruit juice, Bundaberg ginger beer, Funkin Cocktails, and Caribbean-inspired KA fruit punches.

AG Barr was founded in 1875 and headquartered in the Lanarkshire town of Cumbernauld. The company employs 1,000 members of staff and operates production sites nationwide, including a £41 million canning facility in Milton Keynes.

The company has a demonstrable track record in securing sustainable growth. This is underpinned by strong trading relationships with distribution partners.

These partners include familiar names in food and beverage retail, such as Tesco, Lidl, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Waitrose and The Co-op. However, they also supply regional cash and carry wholesalers that sell to the smallest corner shop. AG Barr even has direct store delivery channels and contracts with restaurant groups and local grocers.

With so many routes to market, AG Barr’s customer service team are in continual contact with wholesalers, distributors and retailers.

For the most part, this is a smooth operation. The majority of the trading network harnesses process automation. This means that orders, invoices, delivery notes and other documentation is shared digitally via IT systems.

But not every trading partner relationship runs this way. Despite the accessibility of EDI for small business, some continue with manual processing. In these cases, email attachments and PDFs are their preferred way of communicating order information.

The AG Barr team has accommodated these other trading partners by manually entering the relevant data into their own systems. The downsides of this approach are obvious. Manual order processing is time-consuming, costly, and carries a high risk of human error.

Julie Kelly, AG Barr’s Business Process Analyst, explains: “Our larger customers, such as Tesco and Bookers, use EDI. This trading relationship involves processing orders via a SaaS provider, where documentation is integrated into our ERP system. But we have a lot of other customers, including independent cash and carry outlets, who do not follow this automated process due to costs, technical issues, lack of know-how, or desire to use EDI.

“These customers were sending PDFs and email attachments as the output from their ERP systems. We would print and match them to a form which showed the customer number and SKU, to then rekey this data into our own ERP system. It was so time-consuming and repetitive. Human errors could also easily creep in during transcription. It was not an efficient process.

We kept asking ourselves if there was a better way to manage these issues. An easier, more automated way. If we could achieve greater process automation we knew it would free people up for higher value tasks and create an opportunity for better customer service.”

A digital transformation project was scoped and proposed by Julie’s colleague John Thompson, AG Barr’s Integrated Systems Manager and Business Process Lead. John compared the error rates between the trading partners using EDI and those that were not.

“I found there were far more human errors where the customer was relying on sending us PDFs and email attachments,” says John. “Rectifying errors typically entails issuing credit notes for returns and fulfilling mistaken orders. We confirmed that the proportion of credit notes issued to those not using EDI was much higher than for the rest of our customer base. The industry average for raising a credit note is £25.  To rectify a mistaken order, you have to take into account the lorry journeys there and back and the time involved in double-picking. It obviously adds cost.”

John and his team put together a proposal to implement a new cloud-based Paper-to-Digital EDI platform from Transalis.

“We prioritised ten customers who between them were typically averaging 50 orders a day. Based on our non-EDI-user error rates, we were looking at around 367 credit notes a year between them. That’s an average of 30 to 40 credit notes each. Sorting these took an average of ten minutes an order, that’s 11 hours a week of non-value time, or 572 hours annually. We predicted that moving these ten customers to the Transalis solution would potentially save £9,000 through the avoidance of credit notes, with up to £6,000 on other associated savings, so £15,000 in all. We calculated that if we reduced the amount of credit notes by just 5% it would pay for the investment in Paper-to-Digital EDI. I took the business case to our capital committee and finance and IT teams. We got the go-ahead because our analysis had confirmed that small customers do indeed add complexity and can sometimes end up demanding a disproportionate amount of care and attention. We showed there is a considerable saving to be had if you can minimise the time and energy involved in sorting credit notes and returns.”

After the initial customer demo, which persuaded him of the benefits of Paper-to-Digital EDI, John used the offer of a month’s free trial of the platform. AG Barr ran an initial pilot with one trading partner, Carlsberg’s outsourced distribution arm. The success of this implementation gave John and Julie the reassurance required to add to the platform and embed it within business processes.

“It gave us the confidence to crack on, size it all up and engage the others on our priority list of ten,” says John. “We were keen to show we could maximise time and cost savings and make better use of our people.”

John says: “The internal resource involved in the project included our master data team of three, our customer support team of seven, and Julie and me. The master data team set up the processes in the system having understood the kind of information required to keep it flowing. We also did in-house training for the customer support team.”

Julie says: “The technical challenge was to map the input, ensuring the essential information was in place such as the item number, quantity, order date and requested delivery date. We were then able to train the customers on that. The project started in October 2017 and we had all customers live by May 2018. We did it in stages over the nine months, incremental from start to finish. We needed to do the initial pilot so we could be convinced that the system would work, enabling orders to go to Transalis and come back as EDI files.”

“infinitely better than manual keying”

All ten of the priority trading partners are now being managed through the Paper-to-Digital EDI platform.

Everything now runs on the Transalis cloud with PDFs and other email attachments translated into proper EDI format and accessed through ODBC or ‘open database connectivity’, something AG Barr is used to in its production processes.

All the data processing involved has been automated and streamlined, enabling AG Barr’s administrative resources to be reallocated to more valuable tasks.

John says: “The benefits have gone beyond our original case about the cost of credit notes. Being able to put orders automatically into the system is a big timesaver for all aspects of operational correspondence. The platform has made life easier for our customer service team. It really has made a positive difference. We are seeing ROI by having people focused on more value-added activity. Customer ratings and feedback also show we have improved customer satisfaction levels.”

Julie agrees the benefits over manual processes are clear. “You can be facing daily orders running to 80 or 90 lines from some customers. It can be difficult to keep on top of that with a manual system. You need to know the specific SKU you are ordering each time, otherwise there is potential for mistakes. The EDI system splits it all into data loads which is infinitely better than manual keying.”

• £15,000 annual saving on processes with ten priority customers
• 5% improvement covers investment spend on project
• 572 man-hours saved annually for higher-value operations

Julie’s advice for other companies looking at using OpenEDI from Transalis with customers is to go for it, but she adds: “Do a reasonably small pilot and pick customers you’ll get most benefit from, those who order all the time. Be bold in your choice of customer. Go for ones who, once it becomes a standard process, will appreciate it. I’d say do it step by step to keep everyone on board.”

John adds: “It’s important that your customer services team is on your side. With us, the team understood that this was about freeing up time and getting rid of non-value-added activity, not about reducing head count.”

John describes Transalis as ‘genuine partners’, adding: “In one case they were three-quarters of the way through implementation and unfortunately the customer went out of business. Several days of development work had simply gone down the drain, but they just took on an alternative customer without any complaint or extra charge. They have been really easy to work with, very helpful. They are great at keeping in contact. They put their finger on what we knew had been a pain and pinch-point for a number of years. Our contact with them came at exactly the right time as we looked to improve our processes, do some business process engineering and upgrade our EDI.”

On technology matters, John adds: “The Paper-to-Digital EDI solution is really well written. It is easy to pick up and run with, making understanding and training very easy. It’s very intuitive.”

Making customers happy by sending out the products they order on time, every time is a top priority for both retailers and manufacturers.

Fast, efficient and accurate delivery enriches the customer experience and the potential for brand loyalty and market growth in what is today a highly volatile retail environment built on ever tighter margins.

The supply chain behind an e-commerce business can involve a wholesale trading relationship, where the manufacturer bulk delivers to the retailer’s warehouse, or, increasingly, dropshipping, where stock is only shipped by the manufacturer once the sale has gone through.

A prime example of retail relationships working successfully on both fronts is clear at simplehuman UK, the multi-award-winning designer and manufacturer of smart home products.

The company’s experience is relevant for any industry sector – from electronics to clothing to food and drink – where a manufacturer is seeking to grow trading partners at pace while staying streamlined.

It also shows how, with the right supplier relationships, retailers of all sizes can make their margins, please their customers and build their brands.

Key to this win, win situation is the optimisation of behind-the-scenes service delivery processes, in this case through a digital trading platform incorporating electronic data interchange, or EDI. The watchwords are ease of use, speed and accuracy.

The background: a spirit of innovation

Founded in the US in 2000, with its UK subsidiary opening in 2003, simplehuman has reinvented tools for efficient living to elevate everyday life through design and innovation. With more than 250 patented innovations, simplehuman has pioneered the smart home category with its international award-winning bins, sensor mirrors, and kitchen and bath accessories that push the boundaries of intuitive user experience and function.

simplehuman UK’s distribution network features leading retail brands, online stores, catalogues and bricks-and-mortar shops. This complex mix of routes to market – not an uncommon scenario in many sectors – requires careful management and a continual eye on process improvement.

To satisfy orders from across the network, simplehuman UK was until 2018 relying on a Windows-based EDI system. It was designed to enable staff at the company head office to share data, integrate it with internal systems and automate processes such as extracting information from paper and pdf. The idea was to save on the costs of manually processing sales orders, invoices, shipping notes, despatch advice, workflow reports and other essential paperwork.

The challenge: how to move to the next level

While EDI had certainly supported company growth over the years, by 2018 the need for more process improvement and scalability was clear. The incumbent solution required too much staff time to start an order process and manage inbound and outbound files. It was also difficult to validate transactions in the event of queries.

While a great way to introduce new products to market – especially for an innovator brand such as simplehuman UK – the dropshipping side was particularly labour intensive, typically involving the physical keying in of single-sale orders not always cost effective to store and ship. With thousands of product orders coming in from different retailers, all requiring acknowledgement, release and despatch, the logistics and cost pressures were becoming increasingly formidable.

simplehuman UK turned to its integration specialist Ian Tofield, an IT industry professional with previous experience at brands such as the shoe retailer Clarks and financial services giant Legal & General.

“A manufacturer who supplies a retailer will typically have a tricky balance to strike,” says Ian. “They need to guarantee regular income for both parties and have the ability to innovate and extend their product range pending market demand. Whether you are looking at a wholesale or dropshipping relationship, any retailer will need its suppliers to support their ability to sell in the marketplace. That goes for both the high street and online. simplehuman UK has accounting relationships with lots of big name brands, as well as smaller outlets. The customer doesn’t know or care if the retailer is using a wholesale or dropship supplier – they just want the product they order in their hands as soon as possible. Behind the scenes, dropshipping can complement a wholesale trading relationship and there are benefits if you get it right, but it is exceedingly labour intensive unless you automate.”

Scoping the challenge that simplehuman UK faced, Ian found that, despite EDI, staff were still having to manually download files from trading partner portals. There were other manual tasks involved in acknowledging orders, providing tracking numbers for despatch and filling out the required fields in automatic shipping notices or ASNs. Another drawback was that outbound orders could only be processed during office hours. Any order made after 5pm on a Friday would have to wait until the following Monday morning for attention.

“Dropshipping was killing the order handling process at first,” he recalls. “The logistics of managing orders manually and the physical keying in of information in an e-commerce environment was a growing challenge. In the time I was scoping this, we received 4,039 orders. Each one needed to be acknowledged, released and sent on its way, some 8,000 transactions in all. We were inundated with orders and it was becoming a nightmare.”

Ian recommended that simplehuman UK explore a managed service solution – a digital trading platform incorporating EDI – to automate the order process. Given the wide range of processes and IT capabilities among the distributor network, a central question in the procurement exercise was whether or not an outsourced provider could enable simplehuman UK to connect to any data format using any connectivity method. The preferred partner would also have to guarantee a flexible working approach, ready access to data held in the service, and HMRC compliance for EDI invoicing. Any new infrastructure would also have to integrate with simplehuman UK’s existing back office system, Sage 200 Extra.

The solution: automation for both wholesale and dropshipping

The winner in the competitive procurement exercise was UK-based Transalis, whose cloud-based digital trading platform was already underpinning billions of pounds’ worth of order processing by companies and organisations around the world.

“They met all our set criteria,” explains Ian. “And they outshone the others in terms of their work ethic and culture. We knew we could grow an open working relationship with them. As soon as the contract was signed in April 2018, they started working on a series of integrations. Crucially, they listened. Once I had done my analysis, they allowed simplehuman UK to define the interface files and mapping documents to support each integration. They really made it easy. For example, as simplehuman UK were using Asana as an in-house project management tool, Transalis were more than happy to keep it as part of building and communicating about the solution. They had the confidence and ability to do that.”

Ian remembers the initial pressures as the project got under way.

“Whereas I knew the previous EDI solution was not going to aid the growth of simplehuman UK in the medium to long term, we still had to work hard to prove we had a way forward. IT projects with third-party developers do have a reputation for slipping sometimes, especially when there are a number of separate developments on the go at the same time. I needed to prove what I was doing very quickly to show the business that this was how it was going to work.”

Ian worked with Transalis to agree the basic processes for integration with accountancy software so that data could be inputted and extracted smoothly. Transalis then made the technical changes required for the overall infrastructure build and EDI messaging.

“Transalis were brilliant,” says Ian. “They had to make these changes and translate the files very quickly to ensure we didn’t have to wait long to sign up our first developer. That’s exactly what they did.”

Within eight weeks, simplehuman UK’s biggest wholesale trading partner was the first to be successfully on board with the new solution. Once the wholesale model was shown to work, the next step was to automate the dropshipping side and so make efficiencies there. Success would help to position simplehuman UK as a recognised dropship vendor, or DSV, in the market. Again, Transalis were able to accommodate a third-party CRM system that simplehuman UK were using so that more DSV orders could be connected automatically.

The outcome: a stronger platform for business growth

After the first wholesale partner was on board, ten further partners – a mix of wholesale and DSV relationships – were added over the following year, extending to 52 connected accounts so far.

The new solution has fully automated a range of e-commerce data processes, both inbound and outbound and in both wholesale and DSV relationships. They include order acknowledgement, despatch advice, invoicing and inventory. Outbound files can be processed 24/7 any day of the year rather than just within office hours. A robust system of validation is now in place with simplehuman UK better able to manage partner pricing and carton quantities while avoiding any risk of order duplication.

Ian says: “To give some context to the connected accounts, when I started work at simplehuman UK there were six active accounts sending and receiving data via their Windows-based Freeway interface. Now we have an automated system that works for big and small retailers and partners.  In my experience, some businesses think they are using EDI properly when in truth they are not. Thankfully, simplehuman UK now has a different level of automation and operation throughout their entire process. Since the solution was implemented, it has successfully underpinned millions of pounds’ worth of orders from across the distribution network. Everything about our processes has been simplified from a customer relationship point of view. We have had no major connectivity issues. It’s a rock solid and stable solution with an absolutely miniscule error rate, less than 1%.”

Summarising the project, Ian says:

“Together with Transalis we have successfully automated whole processes that had previously been run manually, freeing up precious time. This is a perfect case study for many manufacturers in different sectors seeking to engage with a wholesale distribution network or operate as a DSV and go direct to consumer. For retailers, it’s proof that with superb, robust automation in place you can truly rely on your wholesale or DSV partners to support your margins, market presence and customer service. This is a solution that works. It’s scalable, easy to use and it delivers.”

Reflecting on his experience of working with Transalis, Ian adds:

“I love the working relationship with them. Their background knowledge, experience and willingness to be flexible have made this project a success. Aside from the technical aspects of file translation and so on, they understand trading relationships and the world of business including the distinct requirements of dropshipping as opposed to wholesale warehousing. They have done everything we’ve wanted. They have embraced everything we have put their way and shown confidence that a solution could be found all the way through. You can’t ask any more than that from a service provider. This has been the most exciting work I’ve done in my career, being able to apply my industry knowledge to help build a beautiful system.”

The benefits: cost and time savings

simplehuman UK has identified a wide range of benefits from the new solution, both within the organisation and when connecting with trading partners. Here are just some:

Faster turnaround: By avoiding manual processes, simplehuman is making a time saving on the handling of each transaction involved in an order. Since the solution was implemented, there have been more than 12,800 orders from different retailers requiring around 27,000 discrete transactions, each transaction faster than the equivalent manual process.

A better customer experience: When an order is received, it is picked, packed and despatched the same day, even if there is a sudden influx of orders. This supports both the manufacturer-retailer relationship and the ultimate customer experience.

Avoiding pointless orders: Built-in inventory files automatically stop the fulfilment process if the product is out of stock.

24/7 cover: Thanks to continual processing there is no longer a need to key in on a Monday morning what has been ordered since 5pm on a Friday. Inventory files for trading partners are automatically sent out multiple times a day and at the weekend.

Lead-time management: If a retailer needs to have the lead-time extended for order fulfillment, the system can automatically scale to fit the new requirement.

Flexibility: Wholesale and DSV orders can be split out easily to meet the different requirements of retailers.

Template for different verticals and sectors: Any business keen to develop DSV capabilities, whether from the retail or manufacturing point of view, can benefit from automation in this way. This includes small and medium-sized businesses working in, for example, apparel, electronics or food and beverages, as well as bigger retail brands. Senior decision makers, including operations, finance and IT managers, can expect to make significant cost and time savings through an equivalent automation solution from Transalis.

For more information, visit www.transalis.com or call 0845 123 3476 or +44 1978 369 343 (for international callers).

Transalis provides a global digital platform that drives business growth, through cloud-managed services. Based in the UK, Transalis services a digital community of over 10,000 users internationally across Retail, Manufacturing, Distribution, Logistics, FMCG and Health and Beauty.

Background

Confronted with internal and external challenges to optimise its supply chain operations, The Hut Group’s major high street brand identified that rationalising its B2B systems would increase efficiency and reduce costs.

By harnessing technology, The Hut Group could meet their supplier and customer needs whilst streamlining their supply chain operations.

The Transalis Solution

Transalis provided a scalable, cloud based solution for a fully digitally enabled supply chain via Integration Brokerage.

OpenEDITM forms Transalis’ range of Integration Brokerage services, including B2B messaging, trading partner on-boarding, community management, mapping, testing and monitoring.

Transalis manage the full B2B electronic enablement for 1,000 suppliers across the UK and Europe. This includes approx. 800 stores and 50,000 products.

By outsourcing the management of its B2B EDI requirements, The Hut Group optimised its technical resources and improved its relationships with customers and suppliers.

Transalis integrate B2B messages using its SaaS solution directly with the retailer’s ERP systems. This allows The Hut Group to remove redundant EDI and translation middleware. Message exchange utilises the Transalis Digital Platform where suppliers have access to web-based, mobile and integrated solutions.

Benefits

Greater In-Store Stock Availability

Product Delivery Reliability

Document Uniformity

Transalis EDI, powered by OpenEDI, manages the full B2B electronic enablement for 1,000 suppliers across the UK and Europe. This includes approx. 800 stores and 50,000 products.

Key Facts

• Bespoke online portal for EDI transactions between retailer and

 suppliers

• Management of B2B electronic enablement for 1,000 suppliers

• Removing costly investment in software, installation and training

• Orders and invoices can be sent in any format, reducing time

 spent re-keying data

• Removal of redundant EDI and translation middleware

Transalis Integration Brokerage

OpenEDITM connects organisations, people, processes and technology. Existing systems rely on communicating parties having previously agreed standards, message formats and processes.

This complexity and the associated costs of establishing electronic communication between trading partners are totally removed via Transalis solutions. By default, proprietary systems from different vendors fail to integrate efficiently. OpenEDI enables organisations of all sizes, regardless of IT deployed, to communicate electronically with each other seamlessly.

Transalis integration brokerage integrates multiple EDI documents and standards between multiple networks, systems and trading partners necessary to maintain complex B2B e-commerce programs.

This managed service automates The Hut Group’s B2B relationships and digitally enables their supply chain allowing the retailer and their suppliers to focus on central business processes. OpenEDITM connects organisations, people, processes and technology.

Transalis provides a global digital platform that drives business growth, through cloud managed services. Based in the UK, Transalis services a digital community of over 10,000 users internationally across Retail, Manufacturing, Distribution, Logistics, FMCG and Health and Beauty

Dachser – Logistics Partner for UK and the World

Background

As one of the global leaders in the logistics industry, DACHSER has continued to successfully show, since 1930, how much a family-owned company can achieve through innovative thinking and committed employees.

Like many logistics companies, Dachser has seen the change in buyer behaviour directly affect their business processes. The changing nature of the consumer in this digital age has seen logistics companies need to embrace change to remain competitive.

In the UK, 359 Dachser employees are involved at any given time, in connecting the ow of goods and information. The cooperation of 3 branches ensures the intelligent combination of logistics network competences.

Dachser were using a sophisticated Transport Management Systems, managing 12,000 EDI connections internally across their partner delivery network. Based in the head office in Germany, a team of thirty were managing the EDI transactions.

Unfortunately, as with many manual processes that are labour intensive, the time taken to execute EDI connections was slow. There were frustrations regarding supply chain communications including despatch notes and proof of deliveries.

The Transalis EDI Solution

Dachser came to the market to find a long term EDI B2B solution to provide a middleware solution to integrate data from delivery business partners onto the Dachser system, whilst also translating the data into the Dachser standardise format.

Dachser had numerous criteria for this new solution provider but their focus remained to work with companies with a similar ethos to theirs. Whilst Dachser has grown to a global company with over 250,000 staff, they remain family owned and prefer to partner with companies who share their vision of creating a company that people are proud to work for.

 A Trusted Partner

Transalis became a trusted partner to Dachser as the ethos of both companies were similar.

Transalis were an excellent resource for Dachser to draw from, having integration experts from Transalis as part of their extended team. The agility and speed shown by Transalis, even in proposal status, was not matched by any other potential provider. The cost model of the hybrid solution was also in line with Dachsers requirements.

Dachser save 20 hours per week on processing time

Key Facts

• First cloud-based EDI solution provider

• Web and integrated solution

• Reduction in manual work

• Eliminated manual errors

• Transalis experts as extension of internal team

• Network Growth

Benefits

The Transalis EDI solution saves Dachser 20 hours per week on processing time. This has reduced the admin work of managing the partner network data considerably, as the Transalis hybrid solution now does all the work, freeing up valuable resource to move to more business critical tasks. This cloud based solution is the first to be implemented across the global business.

Transalis eDI Freedom

Build your own EDI solution to suit your unique business needs.

EDI Case Study Background: AS Watson

The client, AS Watson group, came to Transalis seeking a way to standardise their supply chain communications across their vast and complex network.

AS Watson group is one of the world’s largest Health and Beauty (H&B) retailers. It was established in Hong Kong in 1841.

Understanding the scale of AS Watson’s operation reveals the challenge of managing the supply chain. The trading network totals around 3,000 suppliers. These are spread across 16 European countries and include 8 major high street retailers, totalling up to 4,000 stores.

Having such a vast network across multiple territories posed a number of challenges for the H&B retailer. Some of these challenges in the supply chain were too complicated to manage internally. Therefore, supply chain technology provider, Transalis, was consulted to implement a solution which simplifies and standardises their processes.

Challenges With Supply Chain Communications

AS Watson group needed to standardise all supply chain communications to meet centralised strategy objectives. These objectives primarily focused on IT consolidation and SLAs.

In addition, country divisions of the group also had their own objectives. For example, rapid onboarding of new suppliers in the UK.

Approximately 40% of the Group had never used Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) before.

Although, some country divisions did have Integration Brokerage solutions in place. However, there was no standardisation across the various country divisions of the group.

This lack of standardisation was evident in a number of areas across the group’s different divisions. For example, there were numerous different ERP solutions being used. These included Retek, Navision and other custom built systems.

Ultimately, this lack of standardisation across the organisation created challenges for consistent processes. This also posed a further challenge for Transalis regarding the integration of applications and systems.

Transalis Integration Solutions

Transalis provided a solution which was tailored to AS Watson’s specific needs. In particular, it targeted the lack of consistency and connectivity between divisions.

Firstly, multiple integration solutions were introduced. All of these integrations were built on the same methodology, via Integration Brokerage. This strategy ensured a fully digital European supply chain.

Secondly, Transalis provided custom built cloud-based EDI platforms. These platforms were either integrated or accessed online. This allowed for the secure, reliable and consistent exchange of business documents and messages throughout the entire European supply chain.

As a result, these cloud-based platforms meant data could be exchanged digitally, regardless of the document type, data format, or network standards.

This approach resulted in the 75% reduction in order processing time.

Improved Business Performance

Transalis also introduced further functionalities on top of the EDI solution detailed above.

These additional features gave AS Watson group greater oversight of their supply chain. This oversight could then inform decision making and lead to improved business performance.

Including data dashboards and reporting were some of the additional features provided by Transalis. The ability to view data on dashboards and create reports gave the central IT department and individual divisions an enhanced overview of supply chain communications.

Order information was now readily available, all whilst these documents were rapidly converted into EDI compliant messages and sent for processing. This meant that AS Watson group had full visibility of their data for the first time.

The existing ERP systems were also fully utilised with this solution. This is because replacing these systems would have been disruptive, expensive and labour intensive. Therefore, non-displacement was a key goal for the overall solution design.

In summary, this solution removed the complexity of establishing digital communications across the network. This is because it enabled all organisations, regardless of IT deployed, to communicate data in a standardised way.

Key Facts

• Reduced document processing time by 75%
• Non-displacement of existing systems
• Removed IT complexities
• Full visibility of vital business data
• Improved traceability and auditing
• Efficient supply chain communications
• Rapid supplier onboarding

EDI Case Study Outcomes

The Transalis web and integrated EDI solution allowed AS Watson to meet all their objectives whilst ensuring no existing investments in IT were displaced. The solution ensured that performance SLAs were met across Europe. This allowed AS Watson group to drive business growth and constantly optimise its digital supply chain.

Head to the Case Study section of our Knowledge Hub to find other great examples of EDI in action! You can also talk to our dedicated team on 0845 123 3746 (UK) or +44 1978 369 343 (international), or via email sales@transalis.com to find out how EDI can help tackle your unique business challenges.

Background

QVS Global specialises in producing exceptional personal care products within the health and beauty category with focus on providing retailers and consumers with distinctive ranges of cosmetic, nail, bath and travel accessories.

A recent 2017 partnership with global giant Zwilling Beauty Group has rapidly expanded our customer and trading community by 300%, this quickly put strains on our order processing staff and capacity.

The Challenge

Whilst QVS Global were already using Transalis, powered by OpenEDI, for its EDI supply chain digitalisation. However, new customers that didn’t support EDI or digital trading were a real concern due to the time involved in processing their orders manually.

Each ‘non-digital’ customer had their own ordering preferences with most using PDFs sent in via email but some using Excel or even typing orders in the body of an email.

QVS Global needed to find a relatively quick fix to an ever-increasing bottleneck of processing incoming order data to satisfy the expectations of new and demanding customers.

After identifying these new challenges, regarding on boarding new EDI customers, Transalis recommended the DataCapture Managed Service.

Transalis saved 20+ staff hours a week

The Transalis EDI Solution

It was agreed that Transalis would immediately onboard QVS Globals new top ten non-digital high volume/high value customers on to the DataCapture service. This would automate the import of orders directly from their respective PDFs, Excel Forms and Emails into QVS Global’s ERP system, Microsoft Dynamics.   The added advantage being that there were either no, or very minor changes that QVS trading partners needed to make to their current order processes.

QVS Global provided Transalis’ DataCapture specialists with customer details and order samples to configure the mappings and translations for each customer. Within 8 weeks the designated trading partners were onboarded and the benefits quickly realised on both a day to day and management level.

The Benefits

Incoming multipage and high frequency orders are now automatically extracted, mapped and integrated error free into Dynamics in more or less real time saving staff 20+ man hours a week and ensuring there are no delays in getting order information across to the warehouse facilities, ensuring tight delivery timelines are consistently met.

The Conclusion

“Transalis EDI DataCapture has provided us with a realtime 24/7 order automation service at fraction of the cost of hiring new administration staff without any impact on the non-digital customers it supports,”

It also compliments and dovetails perfectly with our existing Transalis EDI Integration and enables us to have on the fly visibility and control of orders in the back office systems that are central to our business critical processes.” comments Chris Holden, Supply Chain & Operations Director

“The service has been key in harnessing the rapid increase in order intake and just as importantly provides another trusted, cost effective business tool for us to continue to expand our trading and information sharing no matter how our customers want to send us data.

Transalis provides a cloud-based EDI solutions that drives business growth through digitalisation of supply chain networks. Based in the UK, Transalis services a digital community of over 10,000 users internationally across Retail, Manufacturing, Distribution, Logistics, FMCG and Health and Beauty.

Transalis has been delivering EDI integration services to Argos suppliers for the past 10 years, with its cloud B2B automated document integration platform.

The Transalis EDI platform enables smarter, faster, better business with total digital supply chain process integration. Argos EDI suppliers exchange, capture, digitise and integrate multiple documents through highly flexible integration and automation with multiple standards, systems and networks.

Paul Simpson, Founding Director Transalis said:

“It is quite something to have provided Argos and its suppliers with our EDI integration offering since 2008, exchanging millions of electronic documents with millions of pounds of invoice value for 1,000’s of users”.

Aniello Sabatino, Founding Director Transalis stated:

“Supply chains of the near future will be characterised by agility, event-driven information, integrity of data, global reach, integration and visibility across participants and Transalis solutions will remain at the forefront to provide this”.

Transalis digital business applications are network independent, designed as light weight, high performance web applications to run on any modern Telco Mobile Network, Wi-Fi, Internet, Satellite on any connected device, PC, Laptop, Tablet, Android, Apple, Blackberry and hand held mobile devices.

To find out more about Transalis B2B digital business solutions go to www.transalis.com/products

2014 was a sad year for poor Jimmy Lewis.

On December 6th, Jimmy wrote his letter to Santa asking for a new bike.

He took his time over this important letter, ensuring he had spelt words correctly and formatted the letter in the right way. He told Santa all about the blue bike he wanted. He was sure he understood what Santa need to know from him to ensure he received his much longed for bike on December 25th.

The letter was sent up the chimney and carried by the wind to the North Pole. Or was it? Jimmy actually has no idea if his letter reached Santa. Did the wind change direction? Did the letter get so wet in the snow it was illegible by the time it reached Santa?

Ok, in this day and age, it was more likely sent via the post box, through a sorting office and then onto the North Pole. But the same issues could arise….the letter could be stuck with another and end up being delivered to the wrong person at a different address.

Let’s say, for Jimmy’s sake, the letter had arrived. Jimmy’s only 5. His handwriting is not perfect….though his parents helped with the spelling, it’s still hard to understand which blue bike it is that Jimmy wants. As we all know….not all blue bikes are the same to a 5-year-old!

Christmas morning arrived and a bike was delivered…but it was red….not what Jimmy had asked for at all.

Fast forward a year and Santa has got his act together… EDI is the answer!

In 2015, Jimmy wrote his letter to Santa on his Mum’s iPad. He used the EAN number for the Lego set he wanted. The letter was sent through Transalis OpenEDI straight to Santa in the North Pole. A few minutes after the letter was sent, Jimmy received an acknowledgment from Santa, confirming he had received his request.

Little does Jimmy know, in the North Pole, Santa’s back-office system automatically added his order to the elves’ manufacturing schedule. Actually, Santa’s back-office system itself placed a follow-up order for more acrylonitrile butadiene styrene to the chemical company in Basel as the demand for Lego bricks exceeded expectations this year.

Santa was very happy knowing that his elves had readied the North Pole Lego factory to support JIT (just in time) processing during the quieter months. Had Santa known about OpenEDI Analytics, Santa could have predicted the shortfall in raw material and used EDI to place an advance order.

A week before Christmas Jimmy’s parents will receive an ASN so they know exactly what time Santa will be arriving on Christmas Eve. This allows them to set bedtime at the right time so Jimmy will be fast asleep when his Lego set arrives.

Ok, this is a little farfetched, and somehow takes the magic away from Santa, but an automated, error-free ordering and invoicing world has arrived. OpenEDI from Transalis is topping everyone’s Christmas wish list.

Universal Music UK is the UK’s biggest music company and home to artists from Take That and Florence + The Machine to Mumford & Sons and The Rolling Stones.

Universal Music UK have signed to Transalis and will utilise Transalis Cloud OpenEDI Managed Services. Transalis will perform all day-to-day EDI operations on behalf of Universal to exchange all EDI messages with its Retail Trading Network below:

Amazon, Arvato, Asda, Australia UMG, Blackwells, Block Buster, EDC Hanover, Edward DB, Gardner Books, HMV, HMV Eire, HMV Guernsey, IMS, MSE Group, Play Direct, Play.COM, Sainsbury, Sony Dadc, Tesco, The Hut Group.