THE ROAD TO EDI INDEPENDENCE
After meeting Lobster at a trade show, a short trial was enough to prove to warehousing and transport specialists, WH Malcolm, that we had the perfect vehicle to drive efficient EDI.
The brief:
An obsolete ETL (extract, transform, load) application sent Renfrewshire-based WH Malcolm on the hunt for new software to manage its inbound and outbound customer interfaces, which it receives in a variety of formats. One of the Scottish firm’s directors came across our UK team at a trade show and after learning more about our flagship product, Lobster_data, invited us to prove our capabilities.
The process:
The software was installed on a Linux server at WH Malcolm’s Newhouse Depot and configuration took just a couple of hours. Training was then focused on the firm’s requirements, giving its IT team the skills to handle all future mapping in-house. At the client’s request, we modified our standard software to include an ‘environment check’ that ensures, before a newly-mapped file is placed into its specified location, there is no fixed name file already residing there. This was necessary, as the firm’s internal system makes amending or overriding impossible.
The result:
File mapping is now easy for WH Malcolm and all its necessary message standards and communications protocols are supported. Hugh McMahon, manager of the firm’s Warehouse Management System IT team, said: “We have all the tools we need to provide enough flexibility for data mapping. Since the initial training, we have been configuring Lobster_data ourselves and we now use it to manage customer and internal systems EDI. The software has so far met all challenges and continues to live up to expectations. “The support service we receive has been helpful in dealing with issues or queries and all the people we have encountered have been very competent, professional and a pleasure to work with. This has created a positive feeling towards Lobster and we now depend heavily on the firm for customer and internal communications. We have every confidence Lobster_data will continue to be robust, developing further to meet changing standards in EDI.”
Key Facts:
▪ Product purchased: Lobster_data
▪ Installation time: half a day
▪ Modifications: Bespoke ‘environment check’ added to suit internal systems
The people we have encountered have been very competent, professional and a pleasure to work with.” Hugh McMahon, project manager, WH Malcolm.
More Use Cases on our blog.
