11
Fri, Oct
6 New Articles

Case Study: S4i Express

Case Studies
Typography
  • Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
  • Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times

Brothers Emil and Henry Stanz started a foodservice business in 1923 with just $500, a small truck, and big plans. Today, Stanz Foodservice serves 3,500 institutions in Indiana and Michigan, including the University of Notre Dame.

The foodservice industry is competitive; most vendors sell similar merchandise at a low profit margin. Because of this, Stanz is always looking for new ways to offer its clients more value by improving responsiveness, facilitating consultative selling, and reducing the cost of business. The technology-centered solutions used by Stanz—particularly its advanced Retalix ERP system that runs on an iSeries Model 810—contribute greatly to these endeavors.

In August of 2003, a document automation solution from S4i Systems, Inc. was integrated with Retalix to produce invoices, purchase orders, statements, and other important documents via electronic forms on blank, two-part NCR forms stock, all printed with common HP laser printers. "Because of S4i Express, we are more responsive to our customers, and we affect better overall customer satisfaction," says Mark Gaddie, Vice President of Information Technology at Stanz.

Making a Good Impression

Two years ago, Gaddie vetted complaints from drivers about the marginal quality of the second, third, and fourth pages of invoices that accompanied shipments. The IBM impact printers used to produce these documents on four-part, preprinted forms weren't making a good impression for Stanz as customers had to sign off on invoice pages that were muddled because of poor print quality. And it was hard to make adjustments on return items because duplicate notations had to be made on several pages.

Exasperated, Gaddie set his Web browser to "iSeries Document Automation," found several potentially suitable options, and mounted an exhaustive study of the features and functionality of these products before settling on S4i Express. "I decided the amount of time needed to set up S4i Express was a little more than other solutions, but it was worth it because, once S4i Express was configured, it was more flexible than the other options. I could tailor it to our operations rather than conform to its constraints."

"Every system allows you to design your own form," continues Gaddie. "S4i Express offered more flexibility in how we wanted a specific form to work, from the way it processed data from spool files, to the order in which the pages were printed." Gaddie chose S4i Express because he was also considering S4i's ImageXP electronic document imaging system as a future project and felt that S4i Express would be a compatible fit.

The unchallenged reliability of the iSeries came into play too. Says Gaddie, "I wanted a solution that completely resided on the iSeries. If invoices don't get printed, then trucks don't leave the warehouse and our customers don't get their supplies." In overhauling the document-creation process, Gaddie also wanted to streamline shipping, reduce order staging time, and reduce the time drivers spend reviewing invoices with customers once the order is unloaded. With S4i Express, he is able to print two copies of an invoice's first page and have the printer's stapler bind them together. The same process is repeated for all subsequent pages until a complete set of shipping documents is created for each order. This lets drivers and customers review the orders, make any necessary adjustments to the top copy of each page, and initial it. This eliminated printing all pages of an invoice consecutively, printing a duplicate set separately, and having drivers make notations on both copies.

According to Gaddie, "S4i made this happen, and that's why we settled on S4i Express. They even developed a couple of features specifically to accommodate us."

Automation and Lower Costs

For Stanz, S4i Express also eliminates the need for an operator to manually change the preprinted forms in the printer when printing invoices, shipping manifests, and other documents. Today, the forms stock that is loaded into printers is blank except for the terms and conditions printed on the back. S4i Express automatically changes documents by changing the template that gets merged with the spooled report data. Gaddie explains, "This is a huge advantage. We can change forms at will and an operator can handle it. It has really simplified things, and the paper is less expensive."

Sometimes, busy software vendors don't share their customer's sense of urgency when the inevitable uncertainty that accompanies a new product installation slows progress. Says Gaddie, "S4i helped us with a couple configuration problems over the phone, and their tech support was excellent. They are a notch or two above the industry standard for support.“

Several information-sharing processes have also been automated. When customers used to ask for an order history report, an operator had to import a text file into Excel and perform several time-consuming steps before printing it on greenbar, placing it in an envelope, and mailing it. "Now we can email the report to them, and it really doesn't take any time at all," says Gaddie. To fulfill requests for copies of invoices and purchase orders, staff had to print copies, walk to a fax machine, and feed documents. A copy of the signed invoice, which serves as proof of delivery, can now be retrieved electronically from within the ERP system and emailed directly to the customer. "With S4i Express, once we select an email address, the product does the rest. You set it up one time and you're done. We already have the report defined in the Retalix system 90 to 95% of the time. S4i Express can convert it into a PDF or Excel file and send it off."

Fast ROI and Happy Customers

Stanz got its investment in S4i Express back in three months with the money saved on labor, preprinted forms, and delivery. Says Gaddie, "It eliminated many of our forms and the manpower needed to burst reports. Our customers are happier, and the high quality of the documents that leave our building reflect positively on our business."

S4i develops disk, imaging, and electronic document management solutions for IBM iSeries and System i computer systems with industry-acclaimed around-the-clock technical support. S4i has an above-industry-average customer retention rate approaching 98%, and in competitive evaluations, S4i products are selected over other offerings 86% of the time.

http://www.mcpressonline.com/articles/images/2002/S4iCaseS00.jpg http://www.mcpressonline.com/articles/images/2002/S4iCaseS01.png

S4i Systems, Inc.
4755 Oceanside Blvd, Suite 130
Oceanside, CA 92056
Tel: 800.231.5280 or 760.631.5280
Web: http://www.mcpressonline.net/www.s4isystems.com
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS

LATEST COMMENTS

Support MC Press Online

$

Book Reviews

Resource Center

  • SB Profound WC 5536 Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application. You can find Part 1 here. In Part 2 of our free Node.js Webinar Series, Brian May teaches you the different tooling options available for writing code, debugging, and using Git for version control. Brian will briefly discuss the different tools available, and demonstrate his preferred setup for Node development on IBM i or any platform. Attend this webinar to learn:

  • SB Profound WP 5539More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT Generic IBM announced the E1080 servers using the latest Power10 processor in September 2021. The most powerful processor from IBM to date, Power10 is designed to handle the demands of doing business in today’s high-tech atmosphere, including running cloud applications, supporting big data, and managing AI workloads. But what does Power10 mean for your data center? In this recorded webinar, IBMers Dan Sundt and Dylan Boday join IBM Power Champion Tom Huntington for a discussion on why Power10 technology is the right strategic investment if you run IBM i, AIX, or Linux. In this action-packed hour, Tom will share trends from the IBM i and AIX user communities while Dan and Dylan dive into the tech specs for key hardware, including:

  • Magic MarkTRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now!  Request Now.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericForms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericIT security is a top priority for businesses around the world, but most IBM i pros don’t know where to begin—and most cybersecurity experts don’t know IBM i. In this session, Robin Tatam explores the business impact of lax IBM i security, the top vulnerabilities putting IBM i at risk, and the steps you can take to protect your organization. If you’re looking to avoid unexpected downtime or corrupted data, you don’t want to miss this session.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericCan you trust all of your users all of the time? A typical end user receives 16 malicious emails each month, but only 17 percent of these phishing campaigns are reported to IT. Once an attack is underway, most organizations won’t discover the breach until six months later. A staggering amount of damage can occur in that time. Despite these risks, 93 percent of organizations are leaving their IBM i systems vulnerable to cybercrime. In this on-demand webinar, IBM i security experts Robin Tatam and Sandi Moore will reveal:

  • FORTRA Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAManaging messages on your IBM i can be more than a full-time job if you have to do it manually. Messages need a response and resources must be monitored—often over multiple systems and across platforms. How can you be sure you won’t miss important system events? Automate your message center with the Robot Message Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAThe thought of printing, distributing, and storing iSeries reports manually may reduce you to tears. Paper and labor costs associated with report generation can spiral out of control. Mountains of paper threaten to swamp your files. Robot automates report bursting, distribution, bundling, and archiving, and offers secure, selective online report viewing. Manage your reports with the Robot Report Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAFor over 30 years, Robot has been a leader in systems management for IBM i. With batch job creation and scheduling at its core, the Robot Job Scheduling Solution reduces the opportunity for human error and helps you maintain service levels, automating even the biggest, most complex runbooks. Manage your job schedule with the Robot Job Scheduling Solution. Key features include:

  • LANSA Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.

  • LANSAWhen it comes to creating your business applications, there are hundreds of coding platforms and programming languages to choose from. These options range from very complex traditional programming languages to Low-Code platforms where sometimes no traditional coding experience is needed. Download our whitepaper, The Power of Writing Code in a Low-Code Solution, and:

  • LANSASupply Chain is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. From raw materials for manufacturing to food supply chains, the journey from source to production to delivery to consumers is marred with inefficiencies, manual processes, shortages, recalls, counterfeits, and scandals. In this webinar, we discuss how:

  • The MC Resource Centers bring you the widest selection of white papers, trial software, and on-demand webcasts for you to choose from. >> Review the list of White Papers, Trial Software or On-Demand Webcast at the MC Press Resource Center. >> Add the items to yru Cart and complet he checkout process and submit

  • Profound Logic Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application.

  • SB Profound WC 5536Join us for this hour-long webcast that will explore:

  • Fortra IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn: