Case Study

Grocery & Food Retailer Case Study

Customer Challenge

 

Business Need

As one of the nation's largest grocery companies and a leading food retailer, they know that customer experience is everything. Ensuring the shelves are stocked daily with the freshest meat, produce, dry goods and the variety of items their 5 million customers want is critical. In a competitive market, managing costs and meeting customer needs is a delicate balance. It became clear that they needed a user-friendly solution to help them on-board existing and new suppliers, partners and vendors quickly and easily, while eliminating third-party costs related to management, support and charges.

IT Issue

With numerous suppliers, partners and vendors, incoming data formats were varied. With large EDI batch files arriving from multiple trading partners, they needed to ensure the invoices, purchase orders and product data was accurate. The data also needed to be shared through a fail-safe, secure AS2 connection. Scalability and flexibility to handle future consolidation of additional communication protocols was required. EDI translation was a critical component for system integration. The data also needed to be easily-accessible, in real-time. Staff was limited and downtime was not an option.

 

Cleo Solution

Cleo's VLTrader software was quick to install and set up, allowing them to communicate with suppliers, partners and vendors the very same day. With a built-in EDI component that works with more than 30 of the most common translators, data was moving seamlessly. VLProxy provided additional security and authentication for all transactions, and helped to manage the flow of data before it passed through the firewall. The new solution was working with 100% up-time. VLTrader also offered a user-friendly web interface that made it simple to set up, monitor and manage communications with a limited IT staff. Managing every penny in an industry where margins are tight means finding ways to streamline manual processes and reduce outsourcing costs so they can focus on what matters – their 5 million customers.

 

Success Snapshot

Size: $7.1 Billion in Annual Sales
Software and Services: VLTrader & VLProxy
Vertical Industries: Grocery & Food Retailer
Country/Region: Northeastern U.S.
Business Need: Data Management
IT Issue: Streamlined EDI Management & High-Volume Throughput