Machinery Manufacturer Streamlines Order Processing with HULFT
A manufacturer of automatic machinery, pneumatic and fluid control components, and a wide array of labor-saving devices, the client-company has been a market leader for over 70 years. With facilities all over the world,
including in remote locations, the client-company is not only equipped to deliver its products to a global audience, it is continually expanding operations.
The Situation: A growing company uses antiquated order processing methods
While the company worked to scale operations, it was still managing all inbound orders using a combination of email and fax, and these antiquated internal processes were preventing the brand from scaling to meet demand. All new orders were sent from its 15 production sales sites around the world to the company’s headquarters and, and then orders were manually re-entered into the trade system before being sent to the factory for fulfillment. However,
connectivity issues in the company’s remote locations often caused order delays and the manual re-entry of data into its headquarter system was an error-prone process. Not only was this solution inefficient, it was often inaccurate and would result in order delays.
To effectively grow the organization and eliminate data entry errors and order delays, the company needed to modernize its order processing system to meet the needs of its remote locations and, ultimately, its customers.
The Challenge: Remote locations and poor connectivity presents order processing challenges
For the client-company, modernizing its existing order processing required the organization to implement an automated system that was compatible with its existing systems. However, its domestic and international sites all operate on different solutions, all of which are critical to the brand’s success. In addition, many of its remote locations had poor network connectivity due to a country’s lack of IT infrastructure, making it difficult for these offices to share data directly with headquarters.
“By constructing the information sharing infrastructure, we were able to reduce the wasteful task of re-entering data, and eliminate corrections and wrong shipments caused by incorrect entries, which had been an issue. In addition, staff members who had been entering order information could be assigned to other work, increasing productivity throughout the entire division.”
The company embarked on a journey to build an information sharing infrastructure that would improve productivity and data quality and could reliably send data, regardless of the local IT infrastructure. It was imperative that the solution be compatible with the varying systems across all locations and allow every business site to send data back to headquarters. In addition, some of the smaller locations did not have any IT staff, so all information sharing operations and management needed to be conducted from headquarters. The client-company considered EDI and tools and solutions, but these tools could not meet specifications because they lacked the flexibility and compatibility.
The Solution: Creating a seamless information sharing infrastructure with HULFT
To meet the various needs of its remote locations, the client-company elected to build a HULFT information sharing infrastructure that integrates and manages multiple HULFT solutions. The centralized HULFT system is managed in the client-company’s headquarters and is linked to HULFT solutions located in remote locations, allowing headquarters to change settings at the company’s other sites without the need for local IT staff. Using a customized output feature, the mission critical systems located at the remote locations are able to send order information to headquarters.
With the information sharing capabilities of HULFT, the client-company has eliminated the need to manually reenter order data at headquarters, which has led to a significant decrease in order errors and delays. In addition, staff members who previously spent time entering order information are able to complete other tasks, which has increased productivity across the entire division. Now, the client-company is even sharing data between overseas sites for faster order fulfillment and exploring the possibility of analyzing historical order data. With HULFT, the client-company can now confidently continue its international expansion while maintaining its commitment of delivering quality parts to its customers.