Automating communication with distributor from Sage Sales Orders

Problem:

The allocation of stock if not managed properly can be a very slow process as well as being prone to error and mis-calculation. This was a big issue for one of our clients, they often ended up allocating more stock than they had available, which was leaving their customers waiting a lot longer than they were told and a lot of confusion throughout the company. They also needed to be able to incorporate sending details of the Sales Orders to a distributor via a web service.

Solution:

We solved this problem with a windows application.

Springboard IT made it very simple and easy to use and made sure that the code was doing all the hard work so that the user didn’t have to. A simple interface was created showing the user a list of Sales Orders and the number of items needed to complete the order. Also on this screen we showed them the current stock level of these items. One click on a Sales Order would highlight the amount of stock left to use. The simple use of a checkbox allowed them to go through and check a Sales Order if they felt that the stock should be used.

This process also sent the message to the distributors web service for each Sales Order and updated Sage stock levels and the Sales Order status.