30 October 2008

Premier Paper decided to upgrade its customer ordering system with the help of Fusionsoft to lower processing costs and increase data accuracy.

Premier Paper is one of the UK’s largest suppliers and distributors of paper and pulp products, selling to around 14,000 customers. At Premier much of the work associated with processing customer orders was telephone based – a labour-intensive manual process. In most organisations processing telephone orders is a paper-based procedure, requiring the rekeying of orders into internal systems. This is no longer cost effective and it increases the risk of errors, for example misinterpreting a hand-written quantity, value or product description, rekeying the wrong product code or delivery date.

Entering incorrect data into the ERP system creates even more work to correct the order and re-set the stock balance. If an error is not identified, the customer can potentially receive the wrong goods, which has a knock on effect to their business. As an organisation grows, this inefficiency puts more pressure on human resources, creating a potential administrative nightmare and a financial drain on the business, as more and more order-entry telephone clerks are required.

This scenario rang true for Premier Paper and the company realised that it would have to open up business information systems to enable external parties like customers, suppliers and its own remote sales force, to access the order processing system.

Fusionsoft was chosen to provide a solution that would allow customers to order over the Internet, easing the pressure on the sales operation and providing an alternative method to ordering over the telephone.

The Weblinc eCatalogue provides Premier customers with the ability to access information through a Web site. Authorised users can now access details about stock levels, pricing and alternative goods. Customers can make more informed choices. They view extended descriptions of product details, check order status and view transaction history. Customers select products from the catalogue, which builds the customer order. Once a customer is satisfied with the items and quantities chosen, he or she can process the order in a similar way to checking out on a B2C Web site. Rather than asking for a credit card, Weblinc has already pre-authorised the order value by checking the customer’s credit limit set in the ERP system. Once delivered, the system invoices the customer.

One of the key features of the system is the rules engine, which applies predefined rules to overcome the problems associated with bypassing manual order taking. For example, orders over a certain value can be automatically routed to a sales representative to check with the customer to ensure no mistakes have occurred before the products are dispatched. The rules engine also defines and outlines what information a customer can and can’t access; for instance they can’t view price information or another customer’s account details.

Weblinc’s rules engine includes over 70 standard verification tests to ensure the integrity of the order against the back-end database, with the in-built potential to add unlimited user-defined rules.

By accessing data from the ERP system in real time, Weblinc avoids the problems associated with duplication and there is no requirement to synchronise data between the web catalogue and the ERP. Weblinc displays live information from the ERP system through to the Web catalogue, customers can be sure that items ordered are in stock and the price is fixed at the point they place their order.

Implementation took just over three months from the initial design stages to the system going live and now provides Premier’s customers with a powerful electronic ordering solution. Weblinc also tracks a customer’s path through the Web catalogue, providing useful information to the marketing department.

Integration with Premier’s logistics supplier has provided further cost and customer benefits. All orders received through the eCatalogue can be placed instantly with the logistics supplier with no manual intervention.

This article first appeared in the 2008 edition of the Prime Partner Guide.

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