In 2018, Integratech was approached by UK-based Appleton Woods, a long-established manufacturer and distributor of laboratory equipment globally. The company, who had implemented SAP across their business some years prior, was experiencing a number of technical errors during its sales order process; and with SAP central to their entire operations including the sales function, it was critical their systems were reviewed in full and a resolution found quickly. When their existing reseller partner and a second SAP specialist both failed to overcome the issue, Appleton Woods turned to Integratech.

After conducting a full systems audit, the Integratech SAP team were quick to determine two key areas where changes were necessary. The first – a software issue – highlighted a need to upgrade to the latest version of SAP Business One, to comply with the HMRC’s ‘Making Tax Digital’ legislation and also, to improve on how sales figures were captured and reported accurately into the accounting team. Second, a series of bespoke add-ons implemented by a legacy services provider to manage stock allocation, automated reports and EDI was operating inefficiently and preventing an automated data flow.

As a long-term SAP partner, the team at Integratech had worked with Cindercone on a number of integrations projects across their SAP Business One customer base. Magma was put forward thanks to its proven ability to integrate any systems; in this case, Appleton Woods’ future e-Commerce systems, EDI and Corexyz solutions used for ordering, scanning and warehouse management.

Magma quickly tackled two key inefficiencies that were causing the customer pain. First, sales orders were not automating and remained in draft mode, awaiting manual approval to complete. Also, system limitations meant that orders from just two suppliers could be accepted, thus, causing a bottleneck and subsequently slowing down order processing times. Now, with legacy add-ons removed and Magma installed, the entire process is automated with orders flowing through systematically and only red flagged when Magma recognises a data discrepancy. It also facilitates having additional EDI customers without incurring further expense, resulting in a much faster sales order process; improving the customer experience. Magma works in sync with the latest version of SAP Business One seamlessly and efficiently.

INEOM is growing rapidly, and with plans to open more stores, expand its product range and increase its footprint overseas, it shows no signs of slowing down. A long-time user of the ERP system, Sage X3, the team recognised a need to implement changes elsewhere in their technology stack both to obtain the best from the Sage software and accommodate their growth. Alongside their Sage partner, Datel, and Cindercone – whose Magma solution was already integrating NEOM’s B2C eCommerce site, Magento, and 3PL platform – planning commenced for this significant operational and technical uplift.

NEOM engaged with Statement, a Shopify eCommerce agency, and ILG, a 3PL provider, who, together with Cindercone and Datel, began to map out the technical interfaces and business processes needing automation. After months of planning, in 2019, NEOM transitioned its online sales facility over to Shopify Plus and outsourced all fulfilment and logistics to ILG. Both solutions would help to extend NEOM’s global reach, but both required a major systems migration project, during which time it was vital that NEOM’s systems remained operational.’ Since NEOM were already beneficiaries of Cindercone’s Magma solution, they once again opted for this preferable mechanism to connect both new systems to Sage X3. With Cindercone’s help, the migration of both was achieved seamlessly with no downtime.

Ongoing, Cindercone is assisting NEOM with many of its systems improvements ranging from minor tweaks to complex transitions. One that may be complex to some – but not to Cindercone – is NEOM’s new pre-order system introduced in 2020 to accommodate an influx in customers wanting to purchase as-yet released antibacterial products. By making improvements to the front-end website at the point of sale, customers can now easily make a purchase of an out of stock product, for a delivery at a future date. All thanks to Magma’s ability to flex as required, and the team’s ability to understand the process modifications necessary, Cindercone assisted NEOM to deliver this brand-new functionality.

The Cindercone team are now working closely with NEOM to develop a B2B website to facilitate orders from their substantial and expanding commercial customer base, which will bring much-required efficiency to a process currently managed manually. In addition to the B2B site, M&S and John Lewis are being moved from a legacy standalone EDI system to one that is fully integrated, all running through Magma. Two further international trading partners will also benefit from this new interface, US-based online retail giant, Nordstrom, and Douglas in Germany.