Transitioning EDI to the Experts Helps Aspen Systems Stay the Course

Aspen Systems’ beautiful new facility in Scottsdale, Arizona. Photo above courtesy of Aspen Systems, Inc.

“The transition of EDI services for our customers to GraceBlood has gone extremely well. GraceBlood does an excellent job of meeting our customer’s EDI requirements. Thank you for your partnership.” ~ Lisa Lawrence, President/CEO

Executive Summary

When Aspen Systems, author of the food-based Canopy ERP system, initially received inquiries from their customers regarding the setup of EDI, they turned to Liaison Technologies (now OpenText) and became a reseller. This decision proved to be successful for many years, and with the assistance of in-house development resources, they were able to meet their clients’ needs without engaging a third party.

However, as time went on and the workload of EDI requests increased, Aspen found it challenging to handle everything on their own. Fortunately, they had an existing relationship with GraceBlood, who was a member of the OpenText reseller community. Together, they brainstormed and found a mutually beneficial solution.

Challenges

Aspen’s clients range from small and medium-sized food distributors and producers to large enterprise-level food companies that supply perishable food worldwide. As Aspen continued to grow, more customers were realizing that EDI is a fundamental requirement to conduct business in today’s digital landscape. At a crossroads, Aspen needed to decide if they should consider outsourcing the work to a company focused on EDI.

GraceBlood’s Role

Before 2020, Aspen had already relied on GraceBlood for smaller, one-off requests such as complex mapping projects or VAN setups. Therefore, it was a natural progression to establish a more formal partnership.

Since many of Aspen’s clients were already aware of the relationship with GraceBlood, a simple email explaining the transition was sufficient. All incoming EDI requests are now diverted to GraceBlood, and any potential confusion between ERP and EDI is swiftly resolved by the cohesive support teams, who always prioritize the clients’ best interests.

Results

Because of the new partnership with GraceBlood, Aspen was able to free up development resources to continue to expand Canopy, their robust all-in-one ERP system designed for the Food Industry. In addition to growing their market share, Aspen recently moved into a remarkable new facility that showcases their family business roots, commitment to clients and employees, and a nod to their Arizona heritage.

Since the formal partnership began, GraceBlood has successfully supported 59 Canopy users in their EDI processes with both customers and suppliers. Many of these companies have chosen to migrate to GraceBlood’s cloud-based Managed Services, relieving them of the EDI responsibilities and allowing the experts at GraceBlood to handle this crucial aspect of their business.

In addition, GraceBlood continues to provide support for Canopy users who require EDI visibility, VAN services, and mapping projects for clients who still maintain an in-house Delta/ECS server. GraceBlood stands out as one of the few remaining OpenText resellers supporting this platform. Aspen and GraceBlood look forward to many more years of mutual success.

Speak to an expert at GraceBlood now to learn more about our EDI partnerships.