Profiles in Supply Chain Enablement: Energizer deploys a data synchronization solution to meet Wal-Mart's UCCnet compliance mandate.
Company: Energizer Battery Inc. (St. Louis, MO)
Company Size: Large
Company Sector: Electrical/Appliance/Components
Area(s) of Enablement: Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure
Enabler: Cactus Commerce (Gatineau, Quebec)
Case Study: Energizer Holdings, Inc., headquartered in St. Louis, is one of the world's largest manufacturers of primary batteries and flashlights and is the parent company of Schick-Wilkinson Sword, the second largest manufacturer of wet shave products in the world.
Energizer needed to deploy a supply chain data synchronization solution that would allow the company to trade with its retail customers through the UCCnet global registry. This need was driven by a mandate set by Wal-Mart that all its suppliers become UCCnet compliant. Energizer required a solution that could be quickly implemented in order to meet the deadline and that also would take advantage of the existing Microsoft platform that the company utilized.
Energizer selected the Cactus GDS Accelerator for BizTalk from Cactus Commerce as the solution it would use to achieve compliance. According to Cactus, GDS Accelerator for BizTalk allows companies to connect to the UCCnet Global Registry, synchronize accurate real-time data into existing management systems and communicate with retail, supplier and distributor trading partners. Cactus said the fact that its global data synchronization software utilizes Internet technologies, including Microsoft's BizTalk Server, makes it affordable, scalable and easy to implement.
Meeting the Mandate
Utilizing its existing Microsoft toolset, Cactus' solution successfully enabled Energizer to connect to UCCnet and meet its project goals. "Energizer has successfully deployed Cactus GDS Accelerator for BizTalk Server 2004," said John Thompson, project manager for Energizer Holdings. "As a solution that makes effective use of our existing Microsoft platform, Cactus GDS Accelerator has enabled Energizer to quickly and easily meet the global data synchronization compliance mandate, without having to invest in any additional software or hardware."
The key highlight of this solution was that it enabled Energizer to meet its specific business requirement of becoming compliant with the Wal-Mart UCCnet deadline. This also met Energizer's requirement that the technology operate with its existing Microsoft toolset.
The implementation took three months, on a part time basis, and the budget for the solution was in the range of $50,000-$100,000. As the objective of this deployment was to achieve UCCnet compliance status, the project investment was justified when compliance was achieved.
In the future, Energizer has the potential to realize additional benefits through global data synchronization with its customer retailers to gain rapid, positive, quantifiable results in the efficiency and effectiveness of its supply chain. Also, achieving effective data synchronization is widely recognized as a key step before any future collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment (CPFR) or radio frequency identification (RFID) initiatives can be properly addressed.
For more stories of successful supply chain implementations, read the "2005 Supply & Demand Chain Executive 100" article in the June/July 2005 issue of the magazine. Also watch the Today's Headlines section of SDCExec.com every Tuesday and Thursday for more in depth best practices drawn from this year's Supply & Demand Chain Executive 100.
Company: Energizer Battery Inc. (St. Louis, MO)
Company Size: Large
Company Sector: Electrical/Appliance/Components
Area(s) of Enablement: Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure
Enabler: Cactus Commerce (Gatineau, Quebec)
Case Study: Energizer Holdings, Inc., headquartered in St. Louis, is one of the world's largest manufacturers of primary batteries and flashlights and is the parent company of Schick-Wilkinson Sword, the second largest manufacturer of wet shave products in the world.Energizer needed to deploy a supply chain data synchronization solution that would allow the company to trade with its retail customers through the UCCnet global registry. This need was driven by a mandate set by Wal-Mart that all its suppliers become UCCnet compliant. Energizer required a solution that could be quickly implemented in order to meet the deadline and that also would take advantage of the existing Microsoft platform that the company utilized.
Energizer selected the Cactus GDS Accelerator for BizTalk from Cactus Commerce as the solution it would use to achieve compliance. According to Cactus, GDS Accelerator for BizTalk allows companies to connect to the UCCnet Global Registry, synchronize accurate real-time data into existing management systems and communicate with retail, supplier and distributor trading partners. Cactus said the fact that its global data synchronization software utilizes Internet technologies, including Microsoft's BizTalk Server, makes it affordable, scalable and easy to implement.
Meeting the Mandate
Utilizing its existing Microsoft toolset, Cactus' solution successfully enabled Energizer to connect to UCCnet and meet its project goals. "Energizer has successfully deployed Cactus GDS Accelerator for BizTalk Server 2004," said John Thompson, project manager for Energizer Holdings. "As a solution that makes effective use of our existing Microsoft platform, Cactus GDS Accelerator has enabled Energizer to quickly and easily meet the global data synchronization compliance mandate, without having to invest in any additional software or hardware."
The key highlight of this solution was that it enabled Energizer to meet its specific business requirement of becoming compliant with the Wal-Mart UCCnet deadline. This also met Energizer's requirement that the technology operate with its existing Microsoft toolset.
The implementation took three months, on a part time basis, and the budget for the solution was in the range of $50,000-$100,000. As the objective of this deployment was to achieve UCCnet compliance status, the project investment was justified when compliance was achieved.
In the future, Energizer has the potential to realize additional benefits through global data synchronization with its customer retailers to gain rapid, positive, quantifiable results in the efficiency and effectiveness of its supply chain. Also, achieving effective data synchronization is widely recognized as a key step before any future collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment (CPFR) or radio frequency identification (RFID) initiatives can be properly addressed.
For more stories of successful supply chain implementations, read the "2005 Supply & Demand Chain Executive 100" article in the June/July 2005 issue of the magazine. Also watch the Today's Headlines section of SDCExec.com every Tuesday and Thursday for more in depth best practices drawn from this year's Supply & Demand Chain Executive 100.
