TSCO Turns To RedTail's SaaS Solution To Enable EDI Commerce; Supports Direct Store Distribution Model To Meet Needs Of Key Customers

RedTail Solutions, a provider of Software as a Service (SaaS) supply chain solutions for EDI and data synchronization, recently announced that ATSCO Remanufacturing Inc. is now utilizing RedTail's SaaS solution to enable EDI commerce. RedTail supports the direct store distribution model that ATSCO requires to meet the needs of key retailers in the automotive parts after market.

ATSCO is in the automotive and heavy-duty steering components remanufacturing business. It was formed after the current owner purchased the steering assets of American Remanufacturers Inc. Once completed, the owner found he had limited time to build the infrastructure to run the business and meet the stringent requirements of one its primary trading partners.

Major retailers in the automotive after market segment require efficient logistics and inventory management to streamline their supply chains and guarantee delivery of "special orders," including remanufactured parts, to customers within 48 hours. As a supplier of remanufactured steering components, ATSCO needed the capability to support direct store delivery to thousands of locations within the specified 48-hour time period. With such a short order life cycle, the burden is on the supplier to fulfill the order and support the underlying EDI transactions with virtually no margin for error.

Getting an ERP system up and running quickly was a huge challenge in and of itself. Building a custom EDI solution on top of that could take many months and a significant upfront investment. Also, mission critical to its business process, EDI was not a core competency for ATSCO. No one in the company had the expertise to implement and manage an EDI solution in-house.

As a first step in rebuilding an IT department, ATSCO turned to Sage MAS 200. Blytheco, a Sage software reseller (VAR) and Master Developer, referred ATSCO to RedTail's SaaS as an alternative to an on-premise EDI solution. ATSCO contacted RedTail about RedTail Transaction Manager to enable EDI with its trading partners.

"RedTail's out of the box integration to SageMAS 200 was most important to our decision to work with RedTail," said Mickey Wright, ATSCO's IT manager. "The value of its ability to support a direct store delivery business process with a SaaS solution also proved to be huge."

Up and Running in Two Weeks
RedTail had ATSCO up and running in two weeks, and was soon processing hundreds of transactions every day between ATSCO and its trading partners. The speed of implementation reduced considerable business risk, as delays could have jeopardized the trading partner relationships upon which business was dependent.

ATSCO's commitment to providing fulfillment within 48 hours on stock orders required an extremely flexible and dependable solution. RedTail's solution provides ATSCO with a streamlined process that is completely integrated to its ERP and that helps to support ATSCO's fulfillment rates of 99.5%.

RedTail can bring additional trading partners into production for ATSCO at any time. That includes mapping the required transactions, establishing the business rules of the trading relationship, testing and validation. RedTail's SaaS for EDI allows ATSCO to concentrate on growing its business and adding new key accounts, rather than supporting transactions and specific business processes of its trading partners. Cost savings accrue at the rate of 50% a year when compared with an on-premise solution all of which can be re-directed towards product improvements and the service levels so critical in the automotive after-market.

Supply Side Solution for Direct Store and Drop Shipment Distribution Models
The automotive after market is not the only industry that can drive huge costs out of its supply chain by not holding inventory and by forcing its suppliers to deliver product directly to the consumer or to a nearby retail outlet for pick-up. This is especially true for special order products that do not lend themselves to stockpiling in distribution centers. But it is also the same model used for suppliers to Amazon.com, or any of the online ordering centers of large retailers.

Redtail's SaaS solution can pass transactions directly into the supplier's ERP system, automating order entry and facilitating the batch processing and fulfillment of large volumes of orders. However, it also allows the supplier to process orders individually and to respond with the series of transactions that report status, including an ASN (Advance Ship Notice). The solution also automatically prepares shipping labels in batch or individual order mode. These capabilities are critical to support a drop shipment business process. The ability to support all order level types (distribution center/store/drop ship to consumer) as well as a variety of communication protocols through a single integrated solution, allows suppliers with multiple trading partners and high transaction volumes to streamline their business processes, reduce transaction errors and achieve the highest levels of supply chain visibility and compliance.

Interested parties can read a more detailed version of this ATSCO Case Study.

About RedTail Solutions, Inc.
RedTail Solutions, Inc. is a privately held company, located in Westborough, MA. It enables suppliers to compete at the highest level in today's supply chain by providing a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform for b2b collaboration. This advanced platform provides a suite of hosted servicesthat integrate seamlessly with middle-market systems like Microsoft Dynamic (Great Plains) to enterprise back office systems such as SAP. Suppliers can connect and trade through a single solution with their key customers as well as third-party logistics providers in warehousing and transportation. There are more than 500,000 suppliers that participate in the global supply chain today that can gain immediate benefits by using RedTail's fully integrated and automated electronic collaboration through a single interface, helping them to eliminate transaction errors, reduce penalties for non-compliance and ultimately to streamline business processes. For more information, visit www.redtailsolutions.com.

SOURCE: RedTail Solutions, Inc.