Drinks firms Magners Irish Cider is using EDI and trusted messaging systems to automatically process orders and stream-line the logistics of cider distribution, in a move that should drive down costs and improve efficiency along its supply chain.
With a distribution network spanning 17 international markets, and including retailers such as Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, Magners has to ensure its sales orders and product distribution processes work as efficiently as possible.
“Most all of the big multiples now want us to use EDI for orders and invoicing, and we are looking at ways we can use the technology with our own suppliers to improve efficiency across the supply chain,” Jimmy McHugh of Magners explained.
“We use bar code systems and automated electronic file transfer so that no human intervention is needed to process orders in some cases, until a forklift driver actually picks the order” he told us. The drinks company has used TrustedLink and BizConnect from Inovis to automate sales order processing.
McHugh said the business was also using EDI to better manage some outsourced business processes.
Via TrustedLink, staff at Lucey the transport company Magners uses to distribute orders, can monitor order volumes in real time and gauge more efficiently the number of vehicles required to deliver drinks stock to retailers. “Our systems will talk every 15 minutes or so, so that loads can be shared or consolidated without us having to micro-manage the process,” McHugh said.
In other areas, use of TrustedLink has led to better-management of rented pallet services. The company said that by utilising EDI, it can record the exact time of the delivery of each pallet to retailers, ensuring the business is not liable for extra rental charges through failure to pass on liability to the retailer or back to the pallet supplier.
“It means we have instant de-hire of pallets, which means we only pay for what we use. That saves money and improves efficiency,” noted McHugh.
As a next step he said the plan was to increasingly press more of Magners own suppliers to make use of EDI. The idea is to use a web-based portal operated through the Inovis software to provide small suppliers with an easy-to-use entry point to the electronic order cycle.
An Outlook-like user interface would provide all that is needed for a supplier to open an electronic order, or create an invoice which can then forwarded across a network and also be easily integrated using predefined software templates with SMB-favoured ERP and financials systems such as Sage or Navision.
“As retailers impose chargebacks and fines for inaccurate, mis-timed or non-delivery of goods, the pressure on suppliers to get it right first time, every time is intensifying,” said John Redfern, MD for Inovis, EMEA. He added that 80% of his 2,500 or so customers are small suppliers to the likes of supermarket and grocery chains.
