“Since we had limited experience with EDI, we needed a technology partner who could take us through it step by step, and who could integrate EDI with our unique infrastructure. GraceBlood has certainly been up to the task, and more.”
~ Robert Gonzales, President and CEO
Mounting pressure and growth prompted a shift to EDI integration
Executive Summary
Print Media of Miami, FL, manufactures printing supplies and recording paper for all medical instruments. For over 20 years, they have consistently delivered the highest standards in product and service to their clientele, which includes many instrument manufacturers, as well as the largest distributors and hospital group purchasing organizations in the country.
Challenges
Print Media had virtually no EDI experience and was dealing with an ever-increasing list of distributors and group purchasing organizations (GPOs) pressuring them to become EDI compliant with POs, invoices, ship notices and sales/rebate reports. They needed to integrate their complex pricing structure into EDI processing and inform customers immediately of changes on their POs. They also had a unique need to store data from inbound EDI sales/rebate report from distributors for multi-purpose internal reporting, as well as for outbound EDI sales/rebate reports to GPOs. In addition, they wanted to be able to generate and send email blasts for marketing purposes.
Solution
Print Media chose GraceBlood to make them completely EDI-compliant. GraceBlood set about the task of analyzing each of Print Media’s requirements and installing a proven on-premise full feature EDI solution, establishing a line of communications with the trading partners and testing all EDI transactions.
Results
In a few short weeks, Print Media went from having no EDI solution to communicating via EDI with distributors and GPOs with over 30,000 transactions annually. PO acknowledgements are now sent via EDI whenever a PO is received or changed and sent via email to non-EDI customers. Prices are updated daily and compared against the prices on inbound EDI POs and emails are generated notifying customer service if there is a discrepancy so the customer can be notified immediately. Since Print Media needed a way to store data from inbound/outbound EDI sales/rebate reports, GraceBlood went outside the standard “EDI box,” and developed a unique and customized database. In addition, Print Media is using their EDI solution to distribute marketing information to hundreds of customers using the email blast tool.
Looking ahead slightly, Print Media plans to continue to stay on the cutting edge of the latest technology solutions. Next on their agenda – punchout capability via the Jaggaer eProcurement platform. This will allow them to do business with ultimate efficiency with one of their largest customers.
Speak to an expert at GraceBlood now to learn more about solutions for EDI in manufacturing.