COVENTRY: Specialist UK builders' merchant Grant & Stone is now able to use EDI to improve its supply chain accuracy and visibility with its move to use the OneTime system from Wesupply.
The independent merchant is an electrical wholesaler business with 15 branches in the South of England. It joins a growing number of builders' merchants and suppliers through Wesupply's managed service approach and established market network.
OneTime, says the company, will break new ground in Grant & Stone's trading capability, initially with 16 major suppliers which include F&P Wholesale, Ideal Bathrooms, Bristan and Aqualisa.
Suppliers will use the service to exchange invoices and orders securely and accurately, either through the web or directly from back office systems using Tradacoms, ASCII or XML formats. As an open platform, OneTime connects to industry ERP platforms, including Grant & Stone's SolarSoft system.
Dave Oliver, the merchant's IT manager, said, "This is the first step in our new plans to improve supply chain performance using IT. Wesupply's fully managed approach has allowed us to adopt EDI and not suffer the traditionally burdensome aspects of the technology, such as trading partner configuration and expensive IT overheads and knowledge."
Jerry Quinn, Wesupply's director of sales – building and distribution, said: "Trading electronically with suppliers can be a complex task, involving multiple communication methods, formats and protocols and focused builders' merchants like Grant & Stone often find this to be a difficult step.
"As more suppliers come on board, the various dimensions, permutations and costs of EDI increase further, so by offering a fully managed approach we provide an attractive alternative that controls costs while improving business performance."
