VAI-EXTOL Integration Benefits Customers

Published: March 27, 2007

by Alex Woodie

i5/OS B2B software developer EXTOL and VAI, a developer of ERP software for i5/OS, have entered into a partnership to co-develop and sell their products. Several VAI customers, including Dorcy International and Maple Leaf Farms, are already taking advantage of the heightened integration.

As part of the agreement, the two companies will work to ensure that their products--including VAI's S2K and EXTOL's Business Integrator--work well together out-of-the-box, with a minimal amount of configuration required by the user. S2K is now shipping with preconfigured maps between EXTOL and most major trading partners, speeding the implementation of EDI and B2B processes, and enabling midsize businesses to benefit from advanced supply chain collaboration usually reserved for Fortune 1000 companies.

Dorcy International, a Columbus, Ohio, manufacturer of flashlights and lanterns, has found benefits from using the combination of S2K and Business Integrator. "The integration between VAI and EXTOL was a blessing for us," says Macy Bergoon, Dorcy International's supply chain director. "With many details to tend to during the implementation of VAI, it was a great advantage to have a base interface to EXTOL already in place to build upon. We were able to prepare our customer maps and begin testing immediately."

Maple Leaf Farms, a Milford, Indiana, provider of duck meat, has also found reason to crow about the integration of EXTOL's and VAI's software, both of which run on its iSeries Model 810 server.

The company's EDI coordinator, Ted Gillem, previously spent more than half of his time making sure that 2,500 EDI documents per month were processed correctly. Now, Gillem spends, on average, less than an hour a day with EDI, freeing up time to spend on his other job title--application support specialist.

"One of our larger retail customers told me Maple Leaf Farms is 'light years ahead' of their other suppliers when it comes to EDI," Gillem says "This is because we use EXTOL for business integration."

Other S2K shops also using Business Integrator include Badanco Enterprises, a luggage manufacturer based in Totowa, New Jersey, and Beer Nuts, which is based in Bloomington, Illinois, and manufacturers the world famous Beer Nut-brand beer nuts.

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