Transalis welcomes Santa to its impressive client list

2014 was a sad year for poor Jimmy Lewis.

On December 6th, Jimmy wrote his letter to Santa asking for a new bike.

He took his time over this important letter, ensuring he had spelt words correctly and formatted the letter in the right way. He told Santa all about the blue bike he wanted. He was sure he understood what Santa need to know from him to ensure he received his much longed for bike on December 25th.

The letter was sent up the chimney and carried by the wind to the North Pole. Or was it? Jimmy actually has no idea if his letter reached Santa. Did the wind change direction? Did the letter get so wet in the snow it was illegible by the time it reached Santa?

Ok, in this day and age, it was more likely sent via the post box, through a sorting office and then onto the North Pole. But the same issues could arise….the letter could be stuck with another and end up being delivered to the wrong person at a different address.

Let’s say, for Jimmy’s sake, the letter had arrived. Jimmy’s only 5. His handwriting is not perfect….though his parents helped with the spelling, it’s still hard to understand which blue bike it is that Jimmy wants. As we all know….not all blue bikes are the same to a 5-year-old!

Christmas morning arrived and a bike was delivered…but it was red….not what Jimmy had asked for at all.

Fast forward a year and Santa has got his act together… EDI is the answer!

In 2015, Jimmy wrote his letter to Santa on his Mum’s iPad. He used the EAN number for the Lego set he wanted. The letter was sent through Transalis OpenEDI™ straight to Santa in the North Pole. A few minutes after the letter was sent, Jimmy received an acknowledgment from Santa, confirming he had received his request.

Little does Jimmy know, in the North Pole, Santa’s back-office system automatically added his order to the elves’ manufacturing schedule. Actually, Santa’s back-office system itself placed a follow-up order for more acrylonitrile butadiene styrene to the chemical company in Basel as the demand for Lego bricks exceeded expectations this year.

Santa was very happy knowing that his elves had readied the North Pole Lego factory to support JIT (just in time) processing during the quieter months. Had Santa known about OpenEDI™ Analytics, Santa could have predicted the shortfall in raw material and used EDI to place an advance order.

A week before Christmas Jimmy’s parents will receive an ASN so they know exactly what time Santa will be arriving on Christmas Eve. This allows them to set bedtime at the right time so Jimmy will be fast asleep when his Lego set arrives.

Ok, this is a little farfetched, and somehow takes the magic away from Santa, but an automated, error-free ordering and invoicing world has arrived. OpenEDI™ from Transalis is topping everyone’s Christmas wish list.