Microsoft Dynamics AX, plus EDI, enables a steep growth curve for food manufacturer

A growth strategy typically involves both modernizing outdated processes and enabling growth with new technology.

That is why a good many companies pair an investment in EDI technology alongside a new ERP. While EDI is, frankly, mandatory in some sectors (e.g., for manufacturers dealing with big retailers like Walmart and Costco), the more strategic thinkers see EDI as a growth enabler and use it across their customer bases.

"You add one, two, three, five new customers; and all of a sudden, your work is up front from a standpoint of being able to get them live electronically," says Dennis Bruce, director of business development at Data Masons, makers of Vantage Point EDI. "After that, you just keep running with it. You're cranking along, adding customers and adding business with them, but you're not adding headcount."

If a flat headcount is one unexpected benefit of EDI, a second is a rise in customer esteem and repeat business - something measured using strict KPIs on industry-standard vendor scorecards. As Supply Chain Management Review describes, these scorecards are used to "separate the critical few from the marginal many." The critical few become the suppliers of choice, measured on a cost-based Supplier Performance Index (SPI).

A Dynamics AX + EDI implementation

SugarCreek Packing Company has been satisfying buyers since 1966, when it began manufacturing raw bacon. Now, 50+ years later, this private Ohio-based company operates six major facilities, providing packaged foods for retail and food service channels, and both raw and fully-cooked products ...