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EDI transformation for drinks brand following competitive tendering process
Company Overview
TRIP is the UK’s leading premium CBD brand, offering a range of high-quality CBD oils and drinks designed to bring a sense of calm into everyday life. Established in 2019, the company already supplies many major UK and European retailers, including Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Carrefour, and has an aggressive long-term growth strategy.
The Challenge
Before partnering with Transalis, TRIP had been working with another EDI provider for around 18 months.
During this period, TRIP experienced many frustrations with the provider, including the inability to complete the onboarding of all the agreed trading partners, an unreliable EDI integration with TRIP’s ERP system and persistent SKU failures with orders sent to a major retail partner. These issues were exacerbated by slow, inadequate customer service, culminating in a communication breakdown; the provider was unable to simplify their technical EDI language enough to collaborate effectively with TRIP’s team.
With an increasing lack of confidence in the partner, TRIP decided to end their relationship and re-tender for the project.
The Selection Process
Transalis was recommended to TRIP by one of their customers and was invited to tender for the project, along with several other leading EDI providers. Following a rigorous selection process, Transalis was delighted to be chosen as TRIP’s EDI integration partner.
In awarding the contract, TRIP cited the following factors as key in their decision to appoint Transalis:
Proven onboarding success
Transalis had a demonstratable record of successfully onboarding trading partners.Excellent customer service
Clients highlighted Transalis’s responsive support team and faster issue resolution, enhancing their overall experience.Transparent pricing
The absence of value-added-network (VAN) pricing allowed the company to scale up orders without incurring financial penalties. With TRIP’s rapid scaling, a provider that effectively financially penalised them for growth was not an option for a long-term EDI partner.Proof of Concept
Transalis’ understanding of the business imperative that TRIP make the right choice of EDI partner – given the unexpected 18 month delay – and commitment to quickly delivering a Proof of Concept.Commercials
TRIP indicated that budget was a factor in their decision, and the above factors were compelling and cost-effective.
The Implementation Process
Transalis completed a fully working Proof of Concept within the anticipated 4 week timeframe, ensuring TRIP felt confident in their partnership decision and agreed on a project development roadmap.
Initially, TRIP prioritised the automation of orders and invoices with all trading partners plus ASNs with Amazon through EDI integration. The primary goal was to enhance efficiency and reduce the manual workload that had previously burdened the team.
Customisation & integration
A critical aspect of the implementation was the seamless integration of EDI messages with TRIP’s existing ERP system, Unleashed – something the previous provider had failed to achieve.Transalis tailored their EDI solution to ensure full compatibility, allowing for automated processing of supply chain documents without the need for manual intervention.
Onboarding trading partners
Transalis’ extensive network of connected retailers, manufacturers, distributors, and logistics partners enabled a swift and efficient onboarding process for TRIP’s trading partners.A dedicated Project Manager was assigned to oversee the process, prioritising partners based on revenue, order frequency and existing challenges. This gave TRIP a designated point of contact and ensured rapid responses when support was required.
Within just four weeks, two trading partners were onboarded, with significant progress made on the remaining ten.
Resolution to long-standing issues
Notably, Transalis resolved the long-standing SKU issue with orders sent to one of their major retail trading partners, which had persisted for 18 months. This was completed within a few days.By implementing a dynamic look-up table, Transalis automated the assignment of SKU, warehouse code, pricing and pack size for each product, ensuring accurate order processing. This solution not only fixed the SKU issue but also improved TRIP’s ability to manage its product catalogue efficiently, reducing manual errors and streamlining future updates.
UAT
Extended periods of User Acceptance Testing (UAT) were carried out to enable an extensive number of use scenarios to be tested and de-bugged pre-launch.
The Improvements to Supply Chain Operations
Efficiency Improvements
The PoC phase alone brought immediate improvements, including:
Accelerated onboarding:
Progress with all trading partners within weeks.Improved support:
Faster response times to support queries.
Issue resolution:
The successful resolution of the SKU problem with a major retailer.ERP integration:
Integration with TRIP’s ERP system.
Proactive account management:
Ongoing efforts to enhance supply chain visibility and automation.
Data Accuracy & Transparency
With the manual processing of orders and invoices now eliminated, TRIP has experienced a marked improvement in data accuracy.
The Transalis DataTrack dashboard provides real-time visibility into orders and invoices, enabling the operations and accounts teams to promptly address any issues, reducing costly delays and strengthening relationships with trading partners.
Scalability & Future Plans
As TRIP continues to expand, particularly with new operations in the US and Europe, the scalability of Transalis’ EDI solution is crucial.
Eventually, TRIP plans to integrate all overseas trading partners into a single EDI platform, ensuring seamless scalability as the business grows.
Transalis’ ability to quickly onboard new partners and integrate with existing ERP systems positions them as the ideal long-term partner for TRIP’s ambitious growth plans.
Integrations
A full list of trading partners integrated, with different integration methods used, including AS2, VANs and APIs:
Sainsbury’s
Asda
Amazon Vendor Central
Nisa
M&S
Waitrose
Ocado
Morrisons
Co-op
Superdrug
Boots
Dhamecha
Conclusion
TRIP’s transition to Transalis as their EDI provider has not only addressed previous challenges but has given them a reliable and scalable platform that will support their long-term growth.
With improved supply chain visibility, efficiency and scalability, TRIP is well-equipped to continue its journey as a leader in accessible wellness products, bringing calm to more customers around the world.
"Having had a poor experience with another EDI provider, we selected Transalis as they gave us the confidence that our account would be important to Transalis in a way it wouldn't be at larger providers and that they could provide the service they had promised. They showed a speed of service when responding to issues, an enthusiasm to keep the project moving and an ability to explain often highly technical issues in an easy-to-understand way. This led to a project that progressed smoothly, was completed ahead of schedule, and is working well for us."
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