Conexiom
Background
Electro-Matic Products is a large supplier of automation
components focused on industrial automation equipment and
LED and display signage. After serving the industrial, commercial,
and retail markets for 45 years, Electro-Matic has grown to 170
employees. Today they operate out of three locations across
Michigan and Ohio with revenues exceeding $100M annually.
With a significant selection of product lines from a large group of
complementary manufacturers, Electro-Matic began using Epicor®
Prophet 21® to manage internal resources in 2009. Although this
solution streamlined warehouse management, purchasing, and
reporting functions, order processing was still completely manual.
Customers exclusively emailed, faxed or even called their orders
in to their Customer Service Representative (CSR), who then
manually entered the orders into the system. This created a few
challenges that needed to be solved.
Challenges
Manual Entry Slows Order Cycle Time
Firstly, it caused a backlog of customer orders awaiting manual
entry. As an extremely busy supplier, Electro-Matic received a high
volume of purchase orders daily. Orders also typically contained a
large degree of complexity, with an average order containing five
to ten line items. In order to process the order, each item needed
to be manually identified by a CSR. This caused delays that
increased wait times, which in turn increased order cycle times.
Too Much Room For Error
As with many suppliers, there was substantial variance in
customer terminology and order completeness. In many cases,
this required Electro-Matic staff to translate customer needs into
actual part numbers in the ERP system and frequently follow-up
to confirm their interpretations. This multi-step process resulted in
errors, while also slowing down the transition into a sales order.
In the case of errors, returns were costly and required rush
re-ordering. Error-driven costs were becoming significant for
Electro-Matic, both in terms of expedited shipping and labor.
More importantly, customers in these unfortunate scenarios were
Increased Order Processing with
100% Data Accuracy
Electro-Matic Products
experiencing longer than expected wait times for the correct parts
and in some cases this caused unacceptable project delays.
Need to Improve Accuracy and Speed
Electro-Matic needed a solution to streamline order processing in
order to serve its customers better by reducing order cycle time.
The solution needed to alleviate the backlog at the CSR level
by shortening the time between customers placing a purchase
order and actually receiving products. A secondary objective was
to reduce the error rate and associated returns, which further
slowed processing and eroded customer satisfaction. The key to
maintaining a competitive edge and sustaining customer loyalty
lies in the perfect balance of accuracy and speed.
The Solution
In 2011, Electro-Matic decided to implement Conexiom® Sales
Order Automation, which captures and transforms computer-
generated purchase orders into electronic sales orders
automatically. By mapping customer orders directly into the
application, it eliminated the need for manual processing.
Proceeding with enthusiasm, Electro-Matic selected its top 20
customers and launched the pilot. Vice President Richard Laramee
recalled, “We sorted them by the number of transactions, mapped
them to the application, and made the necessary changes to
automate them.”
Key Results
• Increased volume of orders processed
• Accelerated order cycle time
• Eliminated error-driven returns
• Improved customer service
• Automated customer orders received via
phone, fax, and email
866-860-3388 [email protected]
“Conexiom offers significant time savings on large orders and allows us to meet our EDI
requirements with suppliers. We’ve also found it’s much faster and reduces errors when
entering orders.”
Richard Laramee, Vice President at Electro-Matic
“Getting customers on board with the change was easy and
required absolutely no effort on their part,” exclaimed Laramee.
Electro-Matic found the transition to be extremely straightforward
without requiring complicated technology, new infrastructure or
any changes to their existing process. After informing customers
about the switch, it was seamless. According to Laramee, “Once
we made sure each customer conformed to a consistent format,
the change was transparent to them and they really didn’t have to
think about it.” The benefits were evident instantly at Electro-Matic.
Benefits
Reduced Order Cycle Time & More Volume
Customers enjoyed spending less time placing their orders
because the process was automated. They simply placed
their purchase order once and it was entered into the system
immediately as a sales order. This completely eliminated previous
delays caused by orders waiting for manual entry by the CSRs.
As an unexpected benefit, it also enabled the volume of orders
processed daily to increase without requiring any additional staff.
Electro-Matic appreciated Conexiom’s ability to create capacity for
future growth.
Eliminated Error-Driven Returns
Using the power of Conexiom to not only capture data from the
purchase order but also the ability to encapsulate the business
logic that went with the order eliminated the need for translation,
which was prone to errors, without requiring any changes to the
way customers placed their orders. It also saved time as CSRs no
longer needed to verify order accuracy prior to finalizing. Lamaree
adds, “Conexiom offers significant time savings on large orders
and allows us to meet our EDI requirements with suppliers. We’ve
also found it’s much faster and reduces errors when entering
orders.” Electro-Matic customers enjoy receiving the parts they
need faster with 100% accuracy, eliminating unnecessary errors
and returns.
Improved Customer Service
Now CSRs can focus efforts on customer service rather than
struggling with a backlog of purchase orders. Lamaree states,
“Last but not least, one of the biggest benefits is that it saves
our customer reps time, which they can spend on proactively
following up with customers.” Customer satisfaction has risen
significantly after implementing Conexiom for both customers
enrolled in the system and even for those who are not yet, as they
enjoy the personalized touch that sets Electro-Matic apart.
Since 2009, business at Electro-Matic has skyrocketed and
revenues have doubled. Conexiom has enabled them to manage
the tremendous increase in sales orders without doubling
the customer service team, helping to keep operations costs
balanced. Lamaree credits Conexiom as a significant contributor
to Electro-Matic’s success.
About Conexiom
Conexiom® allows manufacturers and distributors to focus on
serving customers and managing supplier relationships instead
of entering data. The patent-pending Conexiom solution was
created by ecmarket, a cloud solutions developer. Conexiom
revolutionizes critical sales and accounting business practices
by automating manual entry with 100% accuracy. Conexiom
effortlessly converts emailed and printed customer purchase
orders and supplier invoices into automated sales orders
and invoices, enabling companies to focus on driving growth.
Conexiom helps organizations across the globe maintain a
competitive edge. For more information visit conexiom.com
