The word "success" can mean many things ...

To a child tying their shoelace for the first time … to the parent proudly looking on … and to the grandparent quietly taking in the scene - all are successes of varying degrees.

The same is true in business. Whether it's a new company, a new application, or a new contract … our role at WaudWare is to provide the computer solutions and software support that mean success to you! Because after all … Nothing succeeds like success!

EDI Integration reduces accounts receivable balances and helps win an award...

Peel Industrial Supplies (1977) Ltd

Customized EDI Applications

Peel Industrial Supplies (1977) Ltd. is a Brampton-based distributor of industrial supplies with over 35 years experience.

WaudWare Incorporated has had the pleasure of partnering with Peel Industrial for over 12 years and satisfies a wide cross section of their IT needs. WaudWare has provided many effective solutions for Peel that have contributed to their ability to better serve their customers and increase profitability.

One of the best examples of this is the EDI integration with DaimlerChrysler Canada. DaimlerChrysler sends purchase orders to Peel, which are converted into orders and printed in the warehouse. The orders are picked, shipped and then automatically invoiced to them (via EDI). All invoices generated are electronically checked against the original purchase orders to ensure an exact match. This has enabled Peel to drastically reduce the accounts receivable balance of DaimlerChrysler.

The EDI integration provided by WaudWare, combined with Peel's excellence in customer service resulted in their being awarded the prestigious DaimlerChrysler Commodity Award.

Managing the masses at M&M...

M&M Meat Shops

M&M Meat Shops believed there must be a better way to manage access to multiple web sites for corporate personnel, franchisees and their employees at over 360 stores. With 2 internal web sites and 2 external third party web sites, the verification at login required each user to remember a different username and password. Managing this was a nightmare for the I.T. Department and a hassle for users.

The need was clear: Come up with a way for M&M users to access each of the 4 websites without signing on more than once. One username, one password, one access point!

Sounds simple and straightforward, doesn't it? Keep in mind, 2 of those sites are owned by third party companies in partnership with M&M, so the solution would have to work across different platforms and software!

So they came to WaudWare.

The challenge: devise a common login page, that upon verification would present direct links to each website without compromising security and still allow each individual site to identify and verify the user. These links would need to be encrypted expire on a daily basis so that they couldn't be bookmarked in web browsers.

WaudWare accepted the challenge, employed technology and talent and achieved the goal. All corporate personnel, franchisees and the hundreds of store employees across Canada are now able to sign on once, and then by using the direct links, easily transport themselves to the desired website.

One of these internally run websites is the MAX Card site. Franchisees enroll new customers into a "club card" type program and collect demographic data. This data is synchronized with sales from the SQL DataMart data and used to update the point of sale system at each store as well as being used for many marketing purposes. Customers benefit by receiving discounts on purchases and special gifts at certain times throughout the year. Customers can also log on to the public M&M website any time during a sales promotion to check their total sales for the current promotion period.

It's WaudWare technology powering the websites, driving the data, and making it work for M&M.

Another project at M&M involved creating a central data-driven website that allowed franchisees to administer web access rights to their own staff. Once a user logs in, their specific rights on each of the other websites are gathered and passed through to the site they are moving to. In this way, all access rights are centrally housed and maintained by the appropriate franchisee, thus freeing I.T. staff at M&M head office to work on more critical tasks.

Recently M&M approached WaudWare to allow the franchisees to access reports specific to them "on line" and in one central location. Previously, franchisees could only access their current reports via email. Again, the staff at WaudWare met the challenge and franchisees now access their current and historical reports without requiring an additional login.

Whether it's creating new websites or extending the current functionality to meet the ever-changing needs of M&M, we're proud of the work we've done and we're looking forward to continuing a long and productive partnership!

Century old company peels away the past with WaudWare technology...

Chiovitti Banana

From push cart to PDA, this is a story of how a 95 year old company has stayed in touch with its customers and technology with help provided by WaudWare.

Founded in 1908 by Italian immigrant Antonio Chiovitti, Chiovitti Banana started as a fruit peddling business with a pushcart, which Antonio ran from his home at Bathurst and Queen Streets. Antonio would be proud (and probably a little shocked) if he saw his company today.

Operating from The Ontario Food Terminal there is a sales floor staffed by 5 professional sales reps. Today, customers come by to purchase a fabulous assortment of everything from tropical fruit to nuts. For years, orders were written up in 'salesman books' then keyed in by cashiers. Everything was fine... until 2002. Chiovitti Banana started noticing things: mistakes occurring in transcription - between salesman book and cashier; customers complaining about how long it was taking to get in and out of the store; hand written invoices... It wasn't like the good old days when time was of little consequence. But what to do?

Chiovitti Banana contacted WaudWare. As a proven supplier of their PICS system, Chiovitti felt confident WaudWare would be able to assist with another business challenge.

The question was posed: "Could WaudWare provide a customized solution so Chiovitti's sales people could enter customer orders into a handheld device themselves? In addition, the system has to be able to print an invoice quickly after completing the order." The solution proposed and accepted: WebPICS Sales Order system.

Four years later, Chiovitti Banana continues to sell successfully with WebPICS Sales Order, significantly reducing transcription errors and improving customer service. They have also implemented WebPICS Purchase Order and WebPICS Receiving systems and are looking forward to working with other WebPICS packages soon. When we asked Chiovitti spokesperson Mike Adamo what he appreciated most when dealing with WaudWare, his response was, "the accessibility of the WaudWare staff and response time". Mike further complimented us by sharing that we have "friendly and personable staff". Thanks Mike, we think so too!

Custom Programming for vending machines improves efficiency...

Peel Industrial Supplies (1977) Ltd

Peel Industrial Supplies were recently awarded a multi-million dollar contract for the MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) business at an international aerospace company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Part of the contract required Peel Industrial to install automated consignment vending machines in 2 of the customer's 3 plants. Staff serve themselves at these vending machines 24 hours a day by removing selected cutting tools. It sounds incredible, but the vending machines email Peel Industrial on a daily basis with a list of items taken out of them. The volume is amazingly high and the keying in of line items would take 3 or 4 people.

Peel Industrial needed an efficient way to automate the importing of sales information into their order entry system running on an IBM AS/400 computer. That's where WaudWare came in.

WaudWare designed a program that automatically receives the emails and converts them to data that is uploaded directly into Peel Industrial's AS/400 without human intervention. That was step one. Shortly after, the customer requested detailed billing information at a departmental level within each plant for each of the 30 vending machines. Bear in mind the volume of data and dollars the contract involves.

Once again WaudWare stepped up to the plate and enhanced the order import system to create monthly detailed billing statements that met the customer’s needs. Imagine the time, money and risk of error Peel Industrial would face without this system.

At the end of the day, everyone was thrilled with the results.

Programming beyond borders...

The Debiasi Group

The following is a great example of how WaudWare are able to understand our business needs, and then come up with a solution that not only works efficiently - but also saves money.

Here at The Debiasi Group, we're currently utilizing JD Edwards MRP software on an NT network and Future 3 EDI software on an IBM AS/400 in our manufacturing environment. The integration of these 2 systems is often challenging, but with the ongoing support and assistance of WaudWare, we are able to keep things running smoothly.

Our recent expansion into Mexico made the integration of these 2 systems even more complex, by adding another AS/400 in Mexico. To complicate matters we receive orders via EDI that target specific components of an assembly that can differ with each unit ordered. With the assistance of WaudWare, we were able to come up with an algorithm that extracts the data from both systems, and provides a list of requirements that can be entered into our sales order system.

Once the algorithm was figured out, it saved us countless hours in the data entry of sales orders. The last piece of the puzzle fit perfectly into place by asking WaudWare to automate the entire process, which they accomplished by writing a client/server application that works with the AS/400 in Mexico, and our JD Edwards system.

Driving information home...

Transportation Industry

Project Overview: Web-enable Universal Freight Operating System (UFOS) software written specifically for the transportation and logistics industry providing customers with a new way to access up to date information on open, picked up, delivered and completed shipments 24/7.

Requested Deliverables:

• Provide up to the minute information to customers about their shipments over the web; increase the level of customer service; and free up the company's valuable human resources.

The Tip of the Iceberg (what you see):

An easy to navigate web site that provides the required level of detail - to assure complete customer satisfaction:

• when the shipment is scheduled to be picked up and the actual pick up details
• when it's scheduled to be delivered and the actual delivery details
• what the stats are on the load, including pieces, description and weight
• where the shipment is at any given time
• shipper, consignee, and customs broker information

Behind the Scenes (what you don't see):

• As the shipment passes specific milestones or physical check points the pertinent information is entered into the UFOS software and instantly available on the web site. The customer's interaction with the web site initiates several different processes to extract the information from the main data and display it in a meaningful way.

Would you like to see UFOS software in action? Contact us for your user i.d. and password.

Super site me!

Franchise Retail Industry

Project Overview: This national franchisor wanted to provide franchisees with a "super-site" - one central location for information that would help franchisees run their day to day operations effectively.

Requested Deliverables:

• Track on going customer demographic data; record specific data such as address, date of birth, gender, permission to mail, etc…
• Allow franchisees to sign on to the web site once but access various resources both within the current domain and third party web sites.

Tip of the Iceberg (what you see):

• Franchisees log on to a user-friendly screen, then select the specific areas of need.

Behind the Scenes (what you don't see):

• The franchisee logs in to the 'master site' then as required is automatically logged into other sites - such as suppliers - to place product orders; or marketing sites - to place orders for promotional materials; in-store suppliers - to request information, etc… This is done via the passing of secure tokens from the master site to the various sites they click on - and doesn't require an additional login by the franchisee on the third party site(s).
• Each franchisee has access to a central database of customer information that they can utilize for the purpose of downloading mailing lists for in-store promotions.
• The national franchisor utilizes the data for marketing and matching sales with demographic data.
• Franchisees also have access to reports showing how they compare to other franchises in both the region and nationally.
• Individual user access is maintained by the franchisee reducing the need to engage national IT staff.

WaudWare ends promotion headaches...

Retail Industry

Project Overview: Sales promotion periods became a nightmare for this well-known retailer. During promotion intervals, head office would be flooded with customer phone calls asking for updates on purchases. Customers were anxious to know whether they had qualified for the give away and would ask for specific details related to transaction amounts, dates, fulfillment requirements, etc... Imagine the drain on internal human resources trying to manage all those wonderful customer requests.

Requested Deliverables:

• Allow customers to access the information they require related to sales promotions and fulfillment through a user friendly web site.
• Provide appropriate levels of customer service by diverting phone calls away from head office and local stores.
• Have customer purchase information available immediately for viewing.

The Tip of the Iceberg (what you see):

• The customer logs on to an attractive and user friendly web site.
• The customer enters a secure membership number, given to them at the store level when they agree to become a member (which costs nothing and takes only a few moments to do).
• The web site displays their profile listing each transaction, the value of their purchases, and where they stand towards contest fulfillment.

Behind the Scenes (what you don't see):

• Sales details are loaded into a database at the local store level at the time of purchase, in a manner that can be retrieved later by the customer entered card identification number
• The sales transactions for the promotion period are displayed along with the status of the customers account; whether they are a winner, or whether there is more to be purchased.
• Built in flexibility means the client can easily alter the way the site is displayed through graphics or wording - if they'd like to - for each sales promotion.