When migrating to a new ERP system, Olo Marzipan O. Lohner AG, a Swiss manufacturer of marzipan and nut products, chose Descartes' solutions in order to generate added value using our interfaces. The successful project has brought the company several benefits in terms of process optimization and digital simplification. Thus, the company focuses even more on individual customer needs and is strengthening its position as an innovative business partner.
“There is no longer double data collection, everything runs very quickly and via the same process. This means that everything can be monitored very well: on the website we can see whether the messages have gone through and what error messages there are, which allows us to correct them immediately.”
Brigitte Dietrich, CFO/CIO at Olo Marzipan O. Lohner AG
Challenge: Process optimization through a standard EDI interface
During the migration to the new ERP system, the EDI strategy was re-launched. Individual connections, which are maintenance-intensive and costly, should be avoided. As part of this project, Olo Marzipan O. Lohner AG needed a new, uniform interface for their ERP for all B2B customers. The goal was digital simplification and process optimization. To do this, the company turned to Descartes, its trusted partner of many years in matters of electronic data interchange.
Solution: B2B messaging
When the company wanted to replace its previous, self-programmed ERP, the interface between Olo Marzipan O. Lohner AG and Descartes also had to be redesigned. Descartes has been able to support Olo Marzipan O. Lohner AG on EDI issues for many years. Because of the good cooperation, Olo Marzipan O. Lohner AG decided within the framework of the project that Descartes would continue to be the preferred partner.
Olo Marzipan O. Lohner AG attaches great importance to customer satisfaction. The production process, which still involves a lot of manual work, makes it possible to respond to customer requests wherever feasible. Good cooperation with customers also means that the interface with retailers must work as efficiently as possible. Customer onboarding must be easy and manual intervention in the order-to-cash process must be reduced to a minimum. This is exactly what the new interface offers.
Brigitte Dietrich, CFO/CIO, describes the processes that run via this interface: "We can import orders from our customers, the retailers, directly into our ERP via the interface. The delivery notes are then also promptly sent back to the customer. Finally, the invoice is also sent to the customer via EDI.”
"There is no longer double data collection, everything runs very quickly and via the same process. This means that everything can be monitored very well: on the website we can see whether the messages have gone through and what error messages there are so that we can correct them immediately", states Brigitte Dietrich.
According to the CFO/CIO, the cooperation between Olo Marzipan O. Lohner AG, the ERP partner’s programmer, and Descartes ran smoothly: “The Descartes team was always there for us when we had questions and gave us great support. The programmer has been well documented and we now have a simple and controllable process. The standard interface also allows us to connect additional partners over the next 6 to 12 months with little effort so that we can handle everything through the same process."
Results
Simple and controllable process - everything runs through the same transparent process
Hassle-free connection - choosing a standard Descartes interface makes it easier to connect other trading partners
Time savings - low error rate due to less manual work and immediate corrective actions
Standardization - thanks to the uniform interface, there are no longer any individual, maintenance-intensive direct connections
Outsourcing - Responsibility for business-critical data flows has been outsourced