Automation Topic Presenter - PowerPoint Presentation

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Automation

Topic PresenterBarney Stone, Barney Stone SoftwareSteve Cisick, Technology Copilot, LLC

CommCon 2015Slide2

Automation

Q: How can you compete and still be profitable?A: You have to be more efficient!How?

Use automation to reduce personnel costs.CommCon 2015Slide3

Automation

Find your chokepoints: boring, repetitive and error-prone tasks.Find ways to automate them:Built-in Stone Edge processes

3rd party offeringsCustom codeCommCon 2015Slide4

Today’s Agenda

Why Automate?

Barriers to AutomationAutomation ExamplesDo You Have Examples of Your Own?QuestionsCommCon 2015Slide5

Why Automate?

Do things faster and cheaperAchieve predictable results in your businessReduce reliance on people for these tasksReduce errors due to manual operationsRe-purpose employees to higher value activitiesImprove employee job satisfactionImprove customer satisfaction, grow sales

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Barriers to Automation

Fear (Unknown / or gone horribly wrong in the past)RecklessnessToo comfortable with manual operationsAssume it can’t be done or cost prohibitive.Fuzzy processesOverly complicated processesData accessibility issuesLack of vision

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Built in Automation

ProblemManual processes always used, but Order Manager has free built in automationSolutionApproval rules to automatically approve imported orders that can be fulfilled immediately.Auto drop shipping at order import

Multi Order View to batch process ordersBatch fill backorders.Automated PO CreationBatch label printing for approved orders.Integrated packing slips to eliminate collation of packing slips/labelsCommCon 2015Slide8

Auto Importer

ProblemCurrent SEOM is lacking straight forward way to automate some routine activities.SolutionAuto Importer can automate the following: Order import Process tracking numbers

Batch printing Batch send quantity on hand Product importing Drop ship tracking number processing Backorder filling And moreCommCon 2015Slide9

Auto Importer Benefits

Quantity on hand more current on sales channels.Order changes requested by customer can already be in Stone Edge.Packing slips ready to process immediately.Tracking emails get into the hands of the customer sooner.No need to wait for long imports to finish to start processing orders.No need to manually import orders at odd hours to prevent massive morning import.

Other mundane tasks can be done off hours instead of needing to tie up system during day.Can be customized to maximize its benefit.CommCon 2015Slide10

Drop Ship Tracking Automation

ProblemNo easy way to get drop ship tracking numbers into Stone EdgeCustomers don’t get their tracking numbers in a timely matter (if at all)Drop ship purchase orders in Stone Edge stay open and are never marked as shipped.SolutionImports drop ship tracking numbers into Stone Edge directly from supplier tracking emails.

Tracking numbers importedPurchase orders are closedOrder marked as shippedFor 3rd party shipping, import tracking numbers directly from UPSAutoload program automatically downloads Quantum view data.Automation platform can pick this up and auto process the tracking.CommCon 2015Slide11

Cycle Count Utility

ProblemStone Edge doesn’t currently have a way to facilitate real time cycle counting.SolutionReal time quantity updates.Organizes what gets counted and the timeframe it needs to be counted.

Use with or without scanner.Single or multi-user capable.Organizes list to be counted by sales velocity or location.CommCon 2015Slide12

Order Fulfillment Automation

ProblemStone Edge doesn’t easily integrate with 3rd party logistics providers for order fulfillment.

SolutionDifferent methods used depending on the situation.3PL runs Stone Edge3PL runs Stone Edge over remote desktop and performs all shipping functions using Stone Edge.This works well only if the 3PL is open to it.Text file exchangeExchange text files (order fulfillment, tracking, and quantity on hand)Easy but doesn’t offer real time benefits for error detection, etc.API integrationMost complex way of integratingNear real time, typically the way 3PLs would rather integrate.

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PO Import / PO Export

ProblemNo way to import or export standard purchase orders from / to a text file.SolutionPO Import tool which takes information from text file and imports them as purchase ordersPO Export which enables text file export of purchase orders as a new ‘send method’

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Multi-Warehouse Automation

ProblemStone Edge currently doesn’t support multiple warehouses for the same SKU.SolutionTreat warehouses like drop ship suppliers from main Stone EdgeAuto pick the warehouse to send the item from based on custom business rules.

Main warehouse (who imports orders) sends drop ship requests via text file over drop box.Secondary warehouse pick up orders file and import and process orders.Secondary warehouses send tracking back to main warehouse who send out tracking emails.Secondary warehouse send quantity on hand information back to main warehouse who can display / act on the quantity information.CommCon 2015Slide15

Drop Ship Supplier QOH Automation

ProblemStone Edge doesn’t support drop ship supplier quantity on hand import / export to shopping cart.SolutionTake supplier feeds, automate import of quantities into Stone Edge.Email

Web ServiceText filesFeeds QOH to shopping cart either inside or outside of Stone Edge.CommCon 2015Slide16

Stack Monitor

ProblemThe shared stack sucksSolutionProactively monitor stackSet alert levelsAlerts sent until stack levels shrink below alert level

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Content Synchronization

ProblemThere isn’t an easy way for Stone Edge to synchronize content across multiple sales channels.SolutionCreated methods to synchronize content from Stone Edge.GoogleMyBuys

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Do You Have Examples Of Your Own?

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Q & A

CommCon 2015