Dewhirst revamps its supply chain with Marks & Spencer
Dewhirst utilises Orbit UK expertise for managed EDI service
Many organisations believe that keeping IT skills internal is vital to business success. While there is merit to this argument, organisations that do so are missing out on some important benefits. The diverse and complex nature of an organisation’s IT infrastructure means that being expert in every aspect of its operation is an impossible task for already stretched IT staff.
Faced with this scenario it is no wonder that more IT departments are taking a close look at those processes that can be successfully outsourced without impacting the organisation. This can not only prove more cost-effective but also free up time to focus on those activities that can contribute directly to the company’s productivity and profitability.
New EDI message maps
Such a situation was faced by leading clothing supplier Dewhirst’s. Formed in the 1880’s, the company has grown to employ 12,000 people worldwide and manufactures 40 million pieces each year. With a turnover in excess of £300 million, Dewhirst’s is the largest UK clothing supplier to Marks and Spencer (M&S). Investment in IT has been central to the company’s growth with technology utilised in many stages of the manufacturing process as well as for communications.
EDI has been a critical part of the supply chain processes with M&S for many years. Late in December 2009 Dewhirst’s were informed that M&S wanted to implement new EDI message maps in a very short time frame as Paul Medforth, IT manager at Dewhirst’s explained. “We were using an external supplier to provide our EDI capability but we realised we would need to upgrade our implementation to meet this new requirement.
“We were unhappy with the cost of the service from our existing supplier, so the need to upgrade was the catalyst to look for a new EDI partner.”
Managed service
Dewhirst’s looked at a number of organisations before eventually deciding to work with Orbit UK. “We were impressed with their skills and track record,” said Paul. “Also they were offering us a GXS managed service and as we were already using GXS for other services we knew we would not have to carry out due diligence on them or worry about their DR capabilities.”
Orbit UK has over 25 years experience of providing managed EDI services to all types of organisation. Their flexible range of cost-effective and complete solutions enable customers to move away from being dependent on paper systems when trading with third parties.
Their consultants commenced work early in 2010, with a required project completion deadline of May. After reviewing M&S’ requirements Dewhirst decided the best way to meet them would be to map inbound EDI messages to a flat file. This would enable them to be very responsive to data changes and to reduce ongoing mapping costs and the cost of any subsequent upgrades.
Smooth implementation
Orbit UK, working with Dewhirst and GXS defined a flat file structure for inbound and outbound messages. Once the files had been designed, Orbit defined new EDI addressing and mailboxes on the managed service and setup a VPN connection for secure file transfer. Working with Dewhirst and M&S, they then designed a test plan that met all parties requirements. Regular progress teleconferences were utilised during this time to ensure that the deliverables were on track and that all parties were able to meet their relevant timescales.
The implementation was completed in three phases. Firstly, inbound orders, order changes, self-bill invoicing and acknowledgments. Secondly, outbound invoicing and the final phase provided flat file maps for legacy applications. Phase 1 and 2 were necessary in order to meet M&S’ deadline and were successfully completed by May 2010.
“Orbit UK has been excellent during the implementation,” said Paul. “We have been very impressed. They have done everything on time and it has been 100% correct. For example a map change we requested was completed in under 24 hours. We have also been provided with a full-featured testing environment that enables us to develop and test messages in both directions.
“All this has lead to a very smooth implementation and we are now in the final phases of testing for the third phase of the project.”
Business benefits
“We have definitely made the right decision to outsource this process,” concluded Paul. “It has given the business a number of benefits. Firstly, the costs for the service are now manageable and allow for accurate forecasting. Secondly, we have been able to remove an element of cost in our software support structure. Finally, the managed service provided by Orbit UK gives us a reporting facility both in terms of billing (messages, volumes etc) and data tracking/traceability. It also allows us to be flexible in our responses to business drivers. “
