Suntory Case Study
Premium Liquor Distributor
Increases Productivity & Customer Satisfaction
with Introduction of a Flexible e-Business Solution
Suntory Australia is focused on remaining responsive to the
needs of its trade partners while continually improving business
operations. Working with Jigsaw, a Microsoft Gold Certified
Partner, and leveraging its existing IT infrastructure, the company
implemented a flexible e-business solution based on the latest
Microsoft Dynamics technologies. This implementation has
enabled Suntory to improve efficiency and productivity, increase
customer and partner satisfaction and connect people with the
information they need.
Situation
Suntory Australia is part of the International Liquor division
of the global Suntory group. Locally the company distributes
is extensive portfolio of premium spirits and liqueurs, such as
Midori, Glenfiddich, Cointreau, Frangelico, and Jagermeister, to
customers around the country.
Suntory's distribution reach is enabled by extensive supply
chain networks, including long-standing relationships with many of
Australia's major retailers.
Its success in this competitive market is due in part to its focus
on remaining responsive to, and often anticipating, the changing
needs of its retail customers and other trade partners, while
continually improving business operations. Suntory identifies
technology as having a critical role to play in supporting this
commitment.
Managing a vast number of transactions with numerous partners
through a (then) manual and costly order and invoice management
process, Suntory recognised the opportunity to introduce business
efficiencies and improve customer interactions.
"In automating the order management process, our goal was
to increase accuracy and reduce paperwork and order processing
time, while providing better visibility and control for all
stakeholders and retaining flexibility to meet the unique
requirements of our trade partners" says Cristiana Samfirescu,
Business Applications Manager, Suntory Australia.
Solution
Suntory began investigating e-business solutions enabling
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), the globally accepted method for
exchanging standard business documents, and a seamless integration
with its existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system -
Microsoft Dynamics NAV. In doing so, they turned to
Jigsaw, a Sydney based Information Technology and Communication
solutions company. With a longstanding business relationship dating
back to 2000, Jigsaw is one of Suntory's trusted IT business
partners.
"Jigsaw is our solution provider for Microsoft Dynamics NAV.
Our consistently positive experience with them over the years has
resulted in a sound business relationship and made them a natural
choice for our e-business implementation", says Ms
Samfirescu
Jigsaw quickly grasped Suntory's vision for its e-business
system and the unique challenge it faced to create a solution which
provided the efficiency of automation while remaining highly
flexible and completely configurable to the unique and changing
needs of its customers and other trade partners. Each
organisation with whom the Suntory system interfaces for electronic
exchange of documents has different processes, forms, document
formats and standards.
Jigsaw's solution was scoped in close collaboration with Suntory
and designed to leverage Suntory's existing IT investments while
allowing for the flexibility which it required.
Commencing with Jigsaw's initial installation and configuration of
a Microsoft Dynamics NAV Commerce Gateway, BizTalk server,
SQL server and Visual Studio, each individual integration project
involved detailed scoping and system customisation to specific
customer or partner requirements.
Suntory completed each integration project through a
comprehensive testing and accreditation process with each of its
new e-business trade partners. To date, the solution has been
implemented with three major retail customers and a key partner
and, with a flexible system in place; Suntory is ready to expand
its e-business model throughout its supply networks.
Business benefits
For Suntory, implementing the e-business solution has enabled
the company to improve efficiency and productivity, increase
customer and partner satisfaction and connect people with the
information they need.
Automated processes deliver greater efficiency and
productivity.
The previous manual order and invoice management process
was both time consuming and prone to inevitable human error.
Today, Suntory is able to electronically receive purchase orders
and automatically turn them into sales orders and then into
invoices. Further, it is able to automatically confirm orders
and issue electronic Purchase Order Confirmations and Advance
Shipping Notifications (if required) to its customers.
The magnitude of actual productivity improvement and cost saving is
illustrated by the reduction of time in the processing of orders
from one particular customer. A process which used to absorb
10 person hours to complete today takes less than two person hours
- an increase in efficiency of over 500%.
The above productivity improvements have also contributed to a
reduction in the number of days in the
order-delivery-invoice-payment cycle. This has a further
positive impact on cash flow within the business.
Streamlined interactions with customers and partners
result in increased satisfaction.
The customers and partners with whom Suntory is now
transacting electronically with, are also realising the benefits of
efficiency gains resulting from streamlined business interactions
with Suntory.
"Our trade partners value the reduced order
processing time, the increased accuracy of order related
documentation, and the integration of these documents with their
own automated systems. The e-business integration has also
significantly reduced the workload for our partners while reducing
time spent in verbal communication and follow up.", Ms
Samfirescu said. .
The productivity improvements and reductions in data entry
errors have enabled Suntory customer service teams to spend more
time on the pro-active checking and monitoring of
orders. While customers are also able to track progress
within their own system, when queries do arise, the Suntory team is
able to respond more quickly and accurately.
The inherent flexibility of Suntory's e-business solution
further enables it to quickly accommodate the changing needs of
customers and partners as dictated by their own processes and
systems, thus also directly contributing to a positive business
experience.
People are connected to the information they need.
The e-business system implemented at Suntory enables
real-time visibility of the status of an order or invoice at any
stage of the process. Individuals or groups can be
automatically kept informed of events and milestones. For
example, an email notification being sent to a State Sales Manager
advising him when a purchase order is received and then delivered
to a particular customer.
Customers and partners receiving automatic order confirmations and
advance shipping notices are kept up-to-date with the progress of
their order and are proactively advised of any issues.
A word from Jigsaw
"This project is a great example of the huge productivity gains
that can be made by automating core business processes like order
management, and the use of Microsoft technologies to integrate EDI
with core business systems," said Steve McGrath,
Managing Director, Jigsaw.
"We look forward to continuing to help Suntory improve its
business operations through technology."
About Jigsaw
Established in 1992, Jigsaw is a Information, Technology
& Communication solution company specialising in planning,
building, auditing and maintaining the IT&C needs of its
customers. A Microsoft Gold Certified partner,
Jigsaw offers a comprehensive range of solutions including
Microsoft Dynamics NAV, e-Commerce Gateway and CRM; all further
supported by its core IT consulting services. For more
information visit www.jigsaw.com.au or call the
Jigsaw team on (02) 9672 4222.