Case Study: |
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Solution
To find that “something better,” Bi-Lo turned to Access
IT, the Microsoft solution provider that also helped B-Lo
maintain
its previous solution. “We went with the people we were
comfortable with,” says Lowe. “Access IT has good people;
they know what they’re doing, and we trust them.” As a
solution provider, Access IT is very experienced in the
distribution industry, and has a long history of working
with Microsoft Business Solutions– Navision software.
The solution that Access IT recommended to Bi-Lo was
Microsoft Business Solutions –Navision supplemented with
Retail Supplier Link integral retail compliance software.
Microsoft Navision is a customizable end-to-end business
solution with built -in retail supplier and wholesale
distribution functionality, designed to empower
manufacturers, importers, and distributors, such as Bi-Lo,
to manage fast-changing retail compliance issues required by
their customers, while maintaining long-term profitability.
Retail Supplier Link was created for Navision by Lanham
Associates, a Microsoft Certified Partner with the
independent software vendor (ISV) competency, located in
Norcross, Georgia. The company began its relationship with
Microsoft Navision in 1997 by developing the product’s first
distribution functionality, Advanced Distribution, and has
been the recipient of the Microsoft President’s Club and
Inner Circle Awards each year since being affiliated with
Microsoft.
The Navision solution includes functionality for
distribution, financial management, supply chain planning
and execution, retail compliance, customer relationship
management, and e-business.
The Navision database supports the business system, EDI,
shipping (UPS, FedEx, LTL), and forecasting. Information on
each of these functions is available to Bi-Lo through
drilldown capability and reporting.
Bi-Lo is using Retail Supplier Link’s EDI and E-Ship
capabilities and is planning to deploy Retail Supplier
Link’s Advanced Forecasting and Procurement (AFP) feature.
EDI allows Bi-Lo to manage the process of adding new
trading partners without having to hire consultants or write
code. It enables the company to maintain required EDI
transactions and documents, without having to purchase them
from outside EDI providers. The company can meet its
customers’ order and delivery specifications, avoiding
costly charge backs. Bi-Lo can use Navision
Retail Supplier Link’s EDI to create sales orders, bring
these orders into the system using an import utility, and
print pick-tickets for order fulfillment. E-Ship, a
manifesting system for package carriers or
less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments, automates the packing
and shipping function. Orders entered into Navision are sent
to the warehouse for picking and brought into the packing
area. At a packing station, E-Ship can scan the
order number, validate that the right items and quantities
have been packed, shop the best shipping options, calculate
freight charges, and print UCC-compliant shipping labels.
The solution uses bar-code scanning to avoid the need for
computer keyboards. AFP is a planning and procurement
solution that will allow the company to better forecast
inventory, in order to optimize inventory turns and reduce
cost. AFP calculates how much of the given product
the company should purchase and how many times it should
repeat that purchase over the course of the year in order to
meet customer demand while minimizing carrying costs.
In addition to providing the technology solution, Access
IT advised Bi-Lo on ways to optimize its processes for
greater efficiency. For example, Access IT suggested that
Bi-Lo change its order numbering system from an alphanumeric
scheme to a purely numeric one, which increased the speed of
order entry. Access IT also suggested changes in warehouse
management— such as reorganizing bin locations on the
warehouse floor—in order to decrease order pick time and
free additional warehouse space.
The solution was implemented over six months and runs on
a single Dell PowerEdge server with the Microsoft® Windows®
2000 Server operating system.
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