NIBCO speeds order processes into SAP with Esker document solution
By Manufacturing Business Technology Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 11/19/2007 12:00:00 AM
NIBCO, a worldwide manufacturer of flow-control products for residential, commercial construction, industrial, and irrigation markets, is using Esker DeliveryWare to automate delivery of sales orders. DeliveryWare establishes a single platform for automating the flow of business transaction documents directly into and out of ERP systems and other enterprise applications, eliminating a large amount of manual order entry and physical document handling.
NIBCO was using a fax server solution to coordinate document delivery to and from customers, but it could move those documents directly into the SAP application. Esker DeliveryWare not only integrated seamlessly with the system; it was also OCR-capable, EDI-compliant, and flexible to customizations.
NIBCO processes more than 300,000 orders a year, totaling approximately 5.2 million individual order lines. Before turning to automation, the company employed 23 customer service representatives to handle manual entry of each order line item. It was a tremendous burden on resources, and a significant source of customer dissatisfaction.
Esker and NIBCO set up initial rules to govern the flow of inbound sales orders into SAP, including the OCR capabilities to recognize the validation forms associated with these documents. This was to ensure that the incoming sales orders would be recognized and processed correctly. NIBCO also wanted everything to be available in real time.
"NIBCO began its business long before we were using technology to improve workflow processes," says Steve Smith, an Esker company VP. "For a company that has probably seen it all, we are excited to be the solution it selected to continue its success for many years to come."
