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Total Tools case study
The team at Pacific Commerce have worked very closely with Total Tools over many years to onboard our suppliers and deliver a solution that delivers mutual benefits for both Total Tools and our trading partners. The volume of transactions that are automated through Pacific Commerce’s EDI solution have allowed us to streamline processes and position for scalable growth into the future.
About Total Tools:
Total Tools have been passionately servicing Australia for more than 30 years, stocking the widest range of the world’s biggest professional tool brands. As Australia’s largest independent professional tools retailer, customers can be confident in receiving the best deals, the best prices and latest and greatest product innovations the market has to offer. A proudly Australian owned and operated franchise network, Total Tools continue to grow and expand their unique offerings nationwide.
The challenge:
With over 80 stores across Australia stocking multiple products from over 380 leading brands, our staff faced a tremendous challenge processing purchase orders and invoices efficiently.
- Raise Purchase Orders (POs) manually and sending to suppliers.
- Process supplier PO acknowledgements individually.
- Accept/reject/amend POs manually.
- Process invoices and delivery slips from suppliers and manually keying data into their system.
In short, the original procurement process had multiple data entry touch points that were highly susceptible to manual keying errors from own end and our suppliers. The re-work involved where errors were made could and have caused significant delays in both delivery and payment.
With Total Tools firmly eyeing growth, our team sought to find a way to streamline these processes, not only for ourselves but also our trading partners.
The solution:
After discussion and project scoping, the solution landed on was to place Total Tools onto Pacific Commerce’s flagship Pacific Commerce Exchange EDI platform. This platform is able to connect our Pronto ERP system with whatever business systems our suppliers are using, enabling us to send and process purchases orders and invoices directly, seamlessly and accurately.
The result & benefits
The results have been really positive. Total Tools now have a streamlined AP process with our suppliers and the integrated workflow has resulted in less manual handling of documents. We are no longer keying data, greatly reducing the potential for inaccuracies and errors.
This also means fewer administrative resources are now required to process orders, leading to much needed cost savings for the business.
Processing timelines have also improved due to the introduction of an automated workflow. We now see faster individual store deliveries and invoices are also getting approved and paid faster, which is always helpful for managing good supplier relationships.
Why Pacific Commerce?
Pacific Commerce’s EDI solution was the preferred choice given their extensive experience and ability to convert all document types and formats. The company is well-known throughout the industry as the leading timber and hardware business process consultants and they are an Australian-owned and operated business.
It also helped that they have an extensive network of clients similar to how Total Tools operate, which gave us more confidence in their abilities.
What was your experience working with the team at Pacific Commerce?
The team at Pacific Commerce have been very consultative throughout the whole implementation process. They understood our pain points and provided good practical solutions which we appreciated. They were also very transparent, we had regular project meetings and were always kept informed of the progress, roadblocks etc. They also assisted with onboarding our suppliers to the new process, which was very helpful.
– Nicole Bemelmans • Executive General Manager (Merchandise), Total Tools