The Solution
Concordance conducted system studies of the three operating systems at the time of the merger and concluded that VAI was the optimal platform for the company moving forward. With over 1,000 users, the decision was influenced in large part by VAI’s unlimited user license and the features and functionality that VAI provided. Concordance added client groups that use the pharmaceutical side after the merger, therefore concluding the pharmaceutical components of VAI will strengthen the package.
One of the company’s goals was to bring the best practices from each of their legacy companies and bring that forward to form Concordance. “A big part of that involves VAI’s ERP application,” said Greg Huber, VP of Application Development. “Having accurate inventory management is a critical part of that, as well as making sure that we have inventory that's available for the customer at the location that they want the product shipped from.”
VAI’s Demand Planning with Suggested purchasing was a requirement for Concordance. They review proposed purchase orders every day to see what products are frequently required for purchases from a specific vendor. After going over everything, the buyer evaluates the demand and Concordance decides whether everything that is already on order with the seller is included. It enables them to delve further and determine whether this is a commitment that is needed.
With over 20,000 products in some of its warehouses, inventory accuracy is very important. The company leverages VAI’s Warehouse Management System (WMS), with RF for receiving. The company also utilizes the cargo piece to receive truckloads where they are receiving multiple purchase orders at the same time. “This definitely increased efficiency for our receiving personnel,” said Keith Price, CIO at Concordance. “We also use RF for both the put-away process as well as bin-to-bin replenishment. Then when we go on over to the picking side, we use voice for productivity, dollar efficiencies, and accuracy.”
As the business has expanded to Idaho, California, and Texas, they have been able to bring up 20 pickers on voice in a short amount of time and set up a new facility quickly—weeks as opposed to months.
Concordance has been using VAI S2K Analytics for several years, which they continue to develop. “We're working with VAI on health check, which is something I'm excited about,” continued Price. “It's giving our executive management insight into a lot of different areas, including inventory levels, bill rates, and profitability.”
The VAI Analytics Health Check piece is that dashboard that gives them information and insight into a variety of areas, as well as drill throughs and drill downs to get into the detail of what makes up that dashboard. Health Check gives Concordance a historical perspective, as they can look at the inventory over the course of the organization. “One of the interesting things about Health Check relates to the mergers as we brought on each organization,” said Price. “You see that spike in inventory and sales as we merge that company onto our platform.”
Most of the company's orders originate from a B2B, EDI website. Punch-Out is a mobile app for Concordance sales representatives and their clients that acts as an interface between the VAI ERP system and the customer's ERP system. Dale Behlmann, VP of eBusiness, stated, "Our customers benefit from the B2B portal because they can look up their pricing, contract information, and any outstanding invoices that they owe. They can track their open back orders and run reports to see what their usage is on certain items."
Concordance employs Punch-Out to establish direct contact between their customer's ERP system and the VAI ERP system. Customers are taken directly to Concordance's main page on the B2B website upon log in. They can shop and load items into the cart there and they can use the B2B gateway to make their orders with Concordance after having the ability to process the data on their own system.
The company rolled out the VAI Mobile Order Entry app to its clients and sales representatives. They can place orders, check accounting data like open accounts receivable, past due, AR history, mobile payments, and payment history, all through the mobile app. Customers of Concordance can use VAI Mobile's product search feature to find what is available by looking for items, pricing, contract details, and quantity on hand.
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