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Our Work

  1. Sterling Integrator™ – Transportation Services
  2. Sterling Integrator™ – Food Service Distribution
  3. Gentran™:Server Conversion Using X-link – Supply Chain Services

Sterling Integrator™ – Transportation Services

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Upgrade GIS v4.11 to SI v5.0 / Process Automation and Improvement / Business Process Development / Data Mapping / Operations / Support

CLIENT PROFILE

Cleint is a privately held company providing integrated transportation services to and from the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Tortola.

  • Industry: Transportation Services
  • Location: Florida
  • Technical Environment: Hardware(and OS): Linux (RedHat) / Windows, Software(and version): Gentran Integration Suite v4.11 – Sterling Integrator v5.0, ERP: Great Plains / Proprietary in house systems
  • Relevant to the project: Other: Oracle 9i / 10g

SITUATION

The existing GIS Administrator had moved to a new company and the company had several outstanding issues that needed to be addressed.

SOLUTION / DELIVERABLES

  • GIS / SI  upgrade and migration
  • System assessment / recommendations
  • Development of new B2B and EAI processes
  • Process and system improvements
  • Operations support
  • EDI maps / XML maps / JDBC maps / positional maps

OUTCOME

  • Stabilization of existing GIS environment
  • Upgrade GIS v4.11 to SI v5.0
  • Improvements in the migration processes from beta to production
  • Successful implementation of several new trading partners and transactions
  • Resolution of several operational and design issues

Sterling Integrator™ – Food Service Distribution

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

EDI mapping and customer on-boarding team staffing

CLIENT PROFILE

Client is a national food service supplier providing food and related products and services to 250,000+ customers, including restaurants, hospitals, hotels, schools and governmental operations. The client employs more than 25,000+ associates and operates more than 90 distribution centers.

  • Industry: Food Service Distribution
  • Location: Midwestern United States serving North America
  • Products:
    Food and food related products
  • Technical Environment: Hardware(and OS): Unix, Software(and version): GIS 4.3, Communications software (and version): GIS (AS2), VAN, ERP: Proprietary
  • Relevant to the project: Number of Trading Partners: 70+, Number of Maps: Varied based on customers meeting client specifications or customers requiring their specifications be met, Other:
    TIBCO, PRIME, Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW), Product Information Management (PIM)

BUSINESS CASE

  • Project goal was to increase the number of customer business documents processed by EDI to result in reduced processing costs, reduced data errors, and increased efficiency
  • With increased electronic integration, faster inbound PO’s (etc.) were to speed the order to cash cycle
  • There was difficulty in making progress on implementations as new customer integration opportunities were being presented to the company faster than current staff implementation levels would allow

SITUATION

  • Client was understaffed in terms of GIS mappers / business process developers
  • Client was understaffed in terms of EDI data integration and implementation coordinators
  • Client wanted implementation coordinators capable of working effectively with customers that had a mature EDI knowledge base and infrastructure, as well as those with the demonstrated ability to assist customers with integrations where customer knowledge of EDI, required infrastructure, and implementation techniques was not strong
  • There was an extremely high degree of implementation complexity in the client environment due to different systems, a variety of divisions (acquired through acquisition), and a variety of customer / specification types

SOLUTION / DELIVERABLES

  • Created two EDI integration teams to increase integration capacity and reduce backlogs
  • Each EDI integration team consisted of one person to perform EDI mapping, testing, and GIS BP development
  • Each EDI integration team consisted of three people who worked directly with client customers to perform specification review, data integration and gap analysis, and coordination of testing/problem resolution/go-live
  • Based on large scale EDI implementation and integration efforts for other clients, use best practice and lessons learned from other projects to consult with client and arrive at the most effective strategy for aggressive on-boarding given the complexities of the client environment

OUTCOME

  • 70 integrations were completed in 2.5 months with the new team and structure (with more integrations to come), as opposed to 92 integrations for all of 2008
  • Much needed documentation has been completed and circulated throughout client departments to aid in awareness of various eCommerce processes
  • Projects are being handled more timely and efficiently as a result of these implementation teams

Gentran™:Server Conversion Using X-link – Supply Chain Services

PROJECT NAME

Gentran Server Unix v6.1 Visual Map conversion to Sterling Integrator™ (GENTRAN Integration Suite) Unix v4.2 Maps – Using X-Link Conversion Engine

CLIENT PROFILE

Client is a supply chain services company providing supply chain solutions to food service and grocery chains of all types throughout the world.

  • Industry: Supply Chain Services
  • Location: Southwestern United States
  • Products:
    Food and foodservice related procurement, distribution, and sales support
  • Technical Environment: Hardware(and OS): Unix, Software(and version): Gentran Server for Unix 6.1, Sterling Integrator (GIS) v4.2
  • Relevant to the project: Number of Maps: 127 total maps, 10 vendor and 117 customer maps

BUSINESS CASE

  • To get maps converted to fully utilize Sterling Integrator
  • To retire the instance of GENTRAN Unix
  • To eliminate the cost of operating the two integration environments

SITUATION

  • Client needed to rewrite a block of 127 maps in Sterling Integrator’s mapper
  • The source of the maps was GENTRAN Server UNIX Visual maps
  • Sterling Integrator maps tend to take 16 to 24 hours a piece, on average and in most instances, for analysis, mapping, unit testing, and end to end testing
  • Client required rapid development of maps, testing, and implementation due to internal objectives

SOLUTION / DELIVERABLES

  • REMEDI utilized the X-Link Conversion Engine to perform a proof of concept conversion on 4 maps of varying complexity for client
  • Client elected to perform the finalization of the converted maps internally completing map logic for functions in the Visual Mapper not supported in the Sterling Integrator mapper, updating Sterling Integrator code lists, and testing to ensure maps produced similar results as Visual Maps
  • Upon successful completion of the proof of concept, client authorized REMEDI to utilize the X-Link Conversion Engine to convert the remaining 123 maps
  • Client performed the finalization on the remaining maps

OUTCOME

  • Proof of concept completed successfully with client technical resources
  • Balance of maps were converted successfully
  • Using the automated conversion tool the client delivery, conversion, and return of maps to client took less than one business day
  • Maps were finalized by client personnel on their calendar timeline, but with total average finalization time running 2-4 hours per map in most instances