IntelliChief to Provide Document Automation for B&L

September 4, 2012 Alex Woodie

IntelliChief and B&L Information Systems have partnered to enable IntelliChief’s document management software to work with Odyssey, B&L’s ERP system for companies in the foundry and die-casting business.

The integration between IntelliChief’s document management software and Odyssey is based on the integration the two companies developed for BLIS-400, which is B&L’s IBM i-based ERP system, about three years ago, when IntelliChief was still part of Quadrant Software.

Odyssey runs on the Windows OS, and is the company’s flagship product today. In fact, BLIS-400 isn’t even listed on the company’s website under the “software” heading, although references to the IBM i product can be found with a little hunting around.

The integration with the Windows-based IntelliChief software makes it easier for Odyssey users to access document management functions–such as capturing or managing purchase orders, retrieving vendor invoices, or distributing packing slips–directly from their ERP screens.

IntelliChief document management and document workflow solutions have been seamlessly integrated with B&L’s Odyssey ERP application. This is an extension of the relationship that dates back several years centered on the similar integration of IntelliChief and BLIS-400, B&L’s iSeries-based ERP. When either Odyssey or BLIS-400 is used in conjunction with IntelliChief, it enables the creation and capture of key business documents electronically, making them available directly from a users’ desktop computer and application screens. This helps users to better, and more accurately, manage the complex business processes surrounding the receipt of unstructured data in the form of paper-based business documents generated internally or received by their supply chain partners and customers.

“The goal of this project is to provide the Odyssey community with the same deep level of integration that BLIS-400 customers have had for years,” Doug Hinman, senior vice president of research and design at B&L, which is based in Bridgman, Michigan. “As with the BLIS-400 integration, B&L has taken the lead, has written the Odyssey integration, and will maintain it as future versions are released.”

B&L, which claims 404 customers around the world, is hosting its annual user conference, called Spectrum ’12, next week in Indianapolis, Indiana. For more information, see www.blinfo.com.