Clean EDI
The HARTMANN GROUP Uses the Business Integration Platform™ of indatex / crossgate for the Electronic Integration of Suppliers, Including Process Control
Starnberg, July 18, 2006 – Organic growth by means of focussing and optimisation—this is the strategy chosen by the HARTMANN GROUP, which as of now uses the Business Integration PlatformTM (B.I.P.TM) of indatex / crossgate to communicate with its suppliers. As a result of migrating the complete order chain to WebEDI (Electronic Data Interchange over the Internet), the company obtains a considerably improved data basis for planning, as well as an up-to-date overview of the delivery status. This makes it possible to react more quickly in the case of bottlenecks and manage stock items more efficiently.
The HARTMANN GROUP is one of the leading European suppliers of medical and health care products, focussing their competency on wound management (e.g. wound dressing, conforming bandages, plasters), continence care (one-way continence briefs and underpads, as well as skin care products for people suffering from incontinence), and risk protection in the operating theatre (e.g. drape sheets, operating theatre clothing). The portfolio is supplemented by products for compression therapy, immobilisation, and first aid. In addition, the HARTMANN GROUP offers innovative systems solutions for professional target groups of the medical and nursing sector. The company is located in Heidenheim, Germany, with its focal market in Europe and a worldwide presence in 37 countries with their own subsidiaries. In 2005, approximately 9,000 employees of the HARTMANN GROUP created a turnover of approximately EUR 1.22 billion.
The basis of further growth is based on the close and reliable cooperation with the suppliers. With conventional means it would have been impossible to achieve improvement without increasing the staff. In cooperation with indatex / crossgate, the company therefore implemented a WebEDI solution with a Control Tower—the supply chain management component for active order processing and monitoring. Following the successful roll-out, the most important 280 suppliers, as well as 6 subsidiaries of the HARTMANN GROUP in various countries (Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, Czech Republic, and U.S.A.) have by now joined the ordering process over the Internet. The solution has been integrated into the SAP system of the Paul Hartmann AG, which ensures a seamless data exchange.
The Control Tower function of the WebEDI above all allows the HARTMANN GROUP to perform the active management of the complete ordering process in addition to order transaction. The complete cycle from issuing the order up to order confirmation is permanently controlled.
Delivery reminders and reminders to make payment can be sent automatically. If an order has not been confirmed within 3 or 5 days, respectively, the dispatching agent and the supplier are directly notified. “With the help of the new system, we were able to observe the improvement of the response rate from approximately 50 to 98 per cent right from the start,” reports Reiner Schmidt, project manager of Paul Hartmann AG.
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