Amid an ERP migration and massive expansion, Santa Monica Seafood streamlined operations with the help of GraceBlood's VelocLink™ cloud EDI platform.
EDI Case Study
Amid an ERP migration and massive expansion, Santa Monica Seafood streamlined operations with the help of GraceBlood's VelocLink™ cloud EDI platform.
EDI Case Study
Transitioning EDI to the experts at GraceBlood helps Aspen Systems focus on ERP core competency and stay the course.
EDI Case Study
Green Bay Packaging pivots & prospers under EDI Managed Services. A change in personnel led to major progress and big dividends.
EDI Case Study
Retractable Streamlines EDI Operation, Saves Time, and Improves Self-Sufficiency with Syncrofy and GraceBlood
EDI Case Study
CVS Health Embarks on Supplier Enablement Program Electronic trading made possible for the smallest of suppliers – effortlessly.
EDI Case Study
Integrated Supply Network successfully shifts after a disappointing start to EDI outsourcing
Photo courtesy of isnweb.com.
“Partnership is the key. They are responsive to our needs, do not over promise and have been flexible in working with the myriad nuances inherent in our industry.” ~ Samantha Mangione, Director of Commercial Systems
Executive Summary: Integrated Supply Network EDI Case Study
Integrated Supply Network (ISN), the nation’s largest independent automotive wholesaler of automotive tools and equipment, made a strategic decision around the time of the Pandemic to outsource their EDI operations. Initially signing on with a large mid-Atlantic based EDI provider, three years later they realized this provider had bitten off more than they could chew. Having worked with GraceBlood briefly in the past, ISN knew the team was already familiar with ISN’s business model. In addition, GraceBlood could handle EDI integrations as well as the marketplace integrations, which had proven challenging for the initially selected EDI provider. With ISN’s EDI contract coming up for renewal, it was the right time for GraceBlood to step in.
Challenges
ISN needed to migrate hundreds of partners and required a very specific integration process with their legacy system. Their new EDI provider not only did not understand their business model, but they also opted to outsource their marketplace integration to a third party since they didn’t have that skillset in-house. This was not in ISN’s best interest, as ISN preferred to keep everything under one umbrella. The final straw was the fact that only a handful of partners had actually been migrated in three years’ time.
How VelociLink™ Helped
At ISN’s request, GraceBlood sat down with them to assess the current and future landscape. It was determined that with the previous contract expiring and GraceBlood’s unique experience managing similar projects, Project Phoenix would be a “go.” The Phoenix symbolizes the idea of rising from the ashes, stronger than before. In fifteen months’ time, GraceBlood has been able to migrate the vast majority of ISN’s customer trading partners and is now processing hundreds of thousands of documents on their VelociLink™ Enterprise platform. “GraceBlood has proven to be the ideal partner,” said Samantha Mangione, Director of Commercial Systems at ISN. “Partnership is the key. They are responsive to our needs, do not overpromise and have been flexible inworking with the myriad nuances inherent in our industry.”
Results
With virtually all of ISN’s customer trading partners migrated, and the rest slated for go-live by the end of 2024, Project Phoenix has been a mind-blowing success. Whereas previously, even before the unfortunate three year experiment, partners were sometimes backlogged for months, they are now able to get them onboarded in a fraction of the time. With Project Phoenix still on track, ISN is targeting to begin migrating their supplier community to EDI automation in 2025. In addition, they also have ambitious plans surrounding data syndication. GraceBlood sincerely appreciates ISN’s collaborative approach to partner relationships and the confidence they have placed in our development and support teams.
Santa Monica Seafood’s new Baltimore location, photo courtesy of Seafood Source.
“GraceBlood has proven to be the perfect partner for the complexity of our industry, as well as our multi-faceted approach to our ERP migration project. Flexibility and scalability is what we were searching for and GraceBlood has delivered.” ~ Khai Vuong, Vice President of Information Technology
Executive Summary
Santa Monica Seafood (SMS), a prolific seafood supplier headquartered in southern California, was in the process of migrating to a new ERP system (Canopy by Aspen Systems, Inc.) and recognized it was the perfect time to also upgrade their EDI platform. Initially thinking they would go on-premise, but with 40 plus trading partners, massive expansion plans and an already lean IT staff, an introduction to GraceBlood’s VelociLink™ managed EDI platform led them to reassess the on-premise approach.
Challenges
One of the issues that needed to be addressed was due to the variability of SMS’ products, they are unable to receive EDI POs from many of their customers, therefore the need to maintain accurate ERP data for invoicing is critical. And due to the unpredictable nature of commercial fishing, SMS sometimes needs to substitute one product for another, adding more complexity to the invoicing process. Quality being a top priority for SMS, the ability to provide a comparable alternative is necessary to their commitment to customer satisfaction.
How VelociLink™ Helped
With plans to migrate to the new ERP for multiple locations, as well as maintaining the already bustling fresh and frozen divisions, SMS made the decision to leverage GraceBlood’s VelociLink™ managed EDI platform in a phased approach. Trusting EDI to the experts at GraceBlood freed up SMS’ IT stakeholders to focus on more strategic objectives necessary to their overall growth. Khai Vuong, Vice President of Information Technology stated, “GraceBlood has proven to be the perfect partner for the complexity of our industry, as well as our multi-faceted approach to our ERP migration project. Flexibility and scalability is what we were searching for and GraceBlood has delivered.”
The ERP migration continues to progress and GraceBlood has been instrumental in allowing SMS to phase it in methodically for large partners like Walmart by separating incoming data by location code- with some orders going to the new ERP and some going to the legacy system.
Results
Since go-live, GraceBlood’s VelociLink™ has sent and received tens of thousands of documents for SMS, which will grow exponentially once more locations are added. In addition, SMS’ customer service reps are using VelociLink™ Analytics for invoice reconciliation and shipping confirmations, saving the IT team valuable time and resources.
GraceBlood is able to onboard new trading partners, as well as continue to migrate existing partners for SMS’ ongoing ERP migration, in a fraction of the time it took previously. Using GraceBlood’s GADGET methodology for onboarding allows SMS to have visibility and transparency into the process, knowing it will be completed on-time and within budget.
The perishable food industry is not without its challenges, but when GraceBlood and Aspen Systems team up – everybody wins.
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.
Green Bay Packaging pivots & prospers under EDI Managed Services
A change in personnel led to major progress and big dividends.
“With GraceBlood’s help, we are able to onboard new partners in a fraction of the time it took previously.” ~ Jeff Wojciuk, Applications Manager
Executive Summary
Green Bay Packaging (GBP) is a large manufacturer of packaging products primarily for CPG, including cosmetics, food and beverage. When their long-time EDI Coordinator announced his retirement, they knew they were at a crossroads – rehire or outsource? With big plans in the works, including a brand-new paper mill, it was determined that the direction for EDI would be to outsource, allowing GBP to focus on more strategic initiatives.
A third-party consultant GBP was using knew of GraceBlood’s expertise and reputation so an introduction was made.
Challenges
GBP had roughly 100 customers and vendors that would need to be migrated over to GraceBlood’s platform. Due to the large number of unique maps and monthly transactions, GraceBlood made the determination that a dedicated server would need to be commissioned for this project, adding them to the growing roster of GB’s Exclusive Managed Services clients. In addition to the sheer quantity of partners, maps and transactions, GBP also has many internal applications, some of which are tied to EDI and some are not. To complicate matters further, GBP has many divisions that may send or receive the same transaction types, depending on whether the partner is a vendor or a customer.
Prior to the EDI Coordinator leaving, these processes would all need to be documented and a timeline established so that the project would be well under way, if not completed, by the time his tenure ended. In addition, GraceBlood would not only need to convince GBP of the ROI realized with such a transition, but also that they would seamlessly and efficiently take on the role of Green Bay’s “EDI department” – enormous shoes to fill, to be sure.
How Exclusive Managed Services Helped
In the spring of 2021, GBP and GraceBlood closed the deal to transition to GraceBlood’s Exclusive Managed Services. Immediately, a project management team was formed and consisted of an Onboarding Specialist, Team Leader, Services Director, and a Senior Integrations Analyst. Together with GBP, a timeline was formed, documentation was gathered (specs, process flow, partner contacts) and GBP was able to go live within the committed 90-day time frame. GBP now has GraceBlood’s dedicated team monitoring their transactions and responding to exceptions 24/7. This freedom allows them to focus on continuing to streamline internal application integrations and processes, due to recent acquisitions like Interstate Packaging, as well as the many moving parts of their vast enterprise.
Results
Two years later, GraceBlood is processing upwards of 60,000 transactions monthly for GBP. With GraceBlood’s guidance, Green Bay Packaging continues to uncover areas that can be further modernized and/or improved upon, including transitioning database cross-referencing from their process flow to GraceBlood’s map translation efforts. Jeff Wojciuk had this to say about the now two-year relationship, “Losing such a vital member of our team was intimidating. It’s such a relief knowing that our critical B2B technology is being handled with the professionalism and excellence that our partners expect from Green Bay Packaging.”
Speak to an expert at GraceBlood now to learn more about EDI solutions.
Retractable Streamlines EDI Operations with GraceBlood
Saves Time and Improves Self-Sufficiency with VelociLink™ and GraceBlood
Retractable Technologies designs, develops, manufactures, and markets safety needle devices for the healthcare industry. The Company’s VanishPoint® and EasyPoint® products: syringes, blood collection and infusion devices utilize innovative, patented automated retraction mechanisms. Retractable’s products are designed specifically to protect people by preventing needlestick injuries, cross-contamination from reuse, and reduce disposal and other associated costs. In recent years they have worked with the U.S. government and have provided low dead space syringes for the COVID vaccines.
GraceBlood provides EDI and integration solutions to supply chain organizations to proactively and cooperatively manage their daily business transactions with customers, suppliers and third parties. Their clients, associates and GraceBlood themselves profit from their clients’ ability to strategically embrace B2B electronic transactions and to enthusiastically say “Yes!” when presented with new challenges in their trading partner relationships.
Executive Summary
Retractable’s rapid growth coupled with a global pandemic exponentially increased the demand for safety syringes. Meeting the increased national and global needs created the opportunity for Retractable to examine all aspects of their operations. Their expansion of capacity, productivity and the need to utilize the latest technologies to interface with their supply chain partners and customers became of paramount importance, specifically EDI onboarding and visibility. Implementing a cutting edge platform like GraceBlood’s VelociLink™ Cloud EDI and Analytics turned out to be a very worthwhile investment that would enhance efficiency.
The Challenges
Many of Retractable’s trading partners did not include addresses on their EDI documents, so they found it necessary to hunt them down in their ERP system using the EDI allocation codes they were provided. It was not an efficient process.
Occasionally, Retractable would receive a code from a customer that was unidentifiable, which forced them to contact their EDI service provider and ask for the flat file from their archives. That became a burdensome process that slowed down their EDI operations and ultimately, overall productivity.
How VelociLink™ Helped
After struggling with their previous EDI provider and experiencing excruciatingly long issue resolution times, Retractable decided a new course with GraceBlood’s fully managed cloud EDI solution.
With around a dozen trading partners, it was imperative that they find one that would empower them to track down EDI files on their own.
“GraceBlood was instrumental in introducing us to the potential advantages in utilizing the VelociLink™ Analytics platform,” said Robert Moore, Oracle Applications System Admin for Retractable. “Once we learned more about VelociLink™ Analytics, we signed up for a free trial.”
During the trial period, Retractable’s order management team had the opportunity to get some hands-on experience. After they discovered just how helpful it could be for them on a daily basis, the decision was simple.
The team loved VelociLink™ Analytics, and we saw that it made good sense to incorporate it as a permanent part of our operation.
Results
Retractable finds VelociLink™’s search capabilities especially useful for tracking down old transactions and archived files. They also find the “Timeline” feature to be crucial for the day-to-day visibility into their orders. “Timeline is perfect for confirming the sent and received documents, especially invoices,” said Moore. “It’s also great for knowing when a purchase order acknowledgment comes through and when we need to split an order.”
Retractable’s order management team is now saving hours of time each day. It has empowered them to create a culture of self-service around their EDI data and with their trading partners. “The self-service aspect is really remarkable,” said Moore. “To think that if everyone who deals with EDI on a daily basis had this tool, you would never need to reach out to your trading partners or support team. It makes what was previously machine-readable into easy to understand, human-readable information.”
It’s great to know that there is a solution like VelociLink™. It’s ideal for helping us accomplish everyday tasks efficiently. It’s a perfect bridge between the business and your IT department.”
CVS Health Embarks on Supplier Enablement Program
Electronic trading made possible for the smallest of suppliers – effortlessly.
PR Newswire and CVS Health.
The main benefit is enabling an electronic PO while the suppliers figure out their EDI disposition, preventing us from sending the supplier a manual PO.
~ CVS’ Senior Manager, Data Transformation and Transmission
Executive Summary
CVS Health had managed to build up an impressive trading community, actively trading electronically with most of their big suppliers but they still had a gap to fill – thousands of small suppliers were still sending in paper invoices. Enter GraceBlood’s Easy-Trade™ solution and within a year, hundreds of the smallest suppliers, from family-owned Hawaiian lei companies to regional ice distributors, were suddenly EDI compliant. And in 2024, CVS also began requiring the ship notice as well as pallet and carton labels.
Challenges
CVS Health grew fast and furious when the US economy was recovering from The Great Recession. After rebranding from a simple brick & mortar pharmacy to a full-service health partner including the impressive Minute Clinic, along with several acquisitions, 2009 found CVS in a position of needing to onboard thousands of new suppliers to electronic trading. In the following years, as CVS’ automation needs increased, so did their EDI requirements.
How Supplier Enablement Helped
GraceBlood’s Easy-Trade™ solution allowed CVS to send their smallest suppliers an electronic purchase order from the very day they were set up as a vendor. Once the vendor became a GraceBlood client, the vendor could also send electronic invoices, completing the supply chain for CVS without the need for paper or manual processes. In addition to purchase orders and invoices, CVS is also able to send PO changes, remittance advice, credit/debit adjustments, application advice and planning schedules. CVS’ Senior Manager, Data Transformation and Transmission reports, “The main benefit is enabling an electronic PO while the suppliers figure out their EDI disposition, preventing us from sending the supplier a manual PO.” Another tangible benefit to this well-oiled machine is because of the secure connection between GraceBlood and CVS, and the use of a select few sender/receiver IDs, we have eliminated the need for time consuming testing. Electronic trading begins from the time the vendor number is created, saving CVS immeasurable time and money.
Results
By the end of 2009, GraceBlood had onboarded approximately 750 suppliers and processed more than 127k electronic documents. In the decade since, the process has been streamlined and improved. Moreover, we currently service CVS suppliers on six continents and process upwards of 250k documents per year. Now in 2024, CVS is streamlining their processes again with the addition of the Advance Shipping Notice (EDI 856) as well as carton and pallet labels for almost all suppliers. We have met that challenge with a user-friendly CSV template and PDF labels, allowing these suppliers to respond to the electronic Purchase Order with an electronic Advance Shipping Notice formatted according to CVS’ unique specifications.
GraceBlood endeavors to foster our retail partners’ growth by supporting their changing requirements with efficient B2B integration technology, from procurement portals to fulfillment systems and everything in between. We look forward to what 2024 and beyond holds for our long-term partnership with CVS Health.