Hospital Supplier Installs VAI's WebSphere-Based Portal

Corrected: June 22, 2008

by Alex Woodie

Seneca Medical, a medical surgical supply company in Ohio, has installed VAI's S2K Enterprise Portal software to deliver a fully functional requisitioning system over the Web.

Seneca Medical is $350 million distributor of medical and dental supplies, office furniture, OTC products, paper products, pharmaceuticals, and sports medicine products. The company serves hospitals and doctor's and dentist's offices from warehouses in Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

The company previously had a Web site where customers could place orders and check on orders, but it was difficult to navigate, and generally left much to be desired, according to the companies. Seneca decided to develop a new solution based on VAI's S2K Enterprise Portal, which is a Web portal solution based on IBM's WebSphere Portal Server.

In addition to taking orders, the new Web site allows customers to check order status, view account status, and reprint or export invoices. It also includes a catalog feature that allows users to search by item, description, manufacturer, manufacturer item, and customer item. "Order guides" allow customers to create lists of products for faster ordering later.

VAI's software provided a flexible framework to develop the new Web site, says John Venezia, an e-business solutions architect and Domino specialist with VAI. "By streamlining the ordering process, Seneca can grow its business without adding additional personnel and still maintain the highest levels of customer service," he says.

Keith Price, vice president of information services for Seneca Medical, says the software accomplished the company's goal, which was to put as much information as possible into customers' hands. "Data can be provided as an overview, or customers can drill down to obtain detailed order information," he says. "This information is instrumental to helping our customers get the medical supplies that they need quickly and easily."

This article has been corrected. John Venezia is an e-business solutions architect and Domino specialist with VAI, not Seneca Medical. IT Jungle regrets the error.

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