Cleo has published details of how, together with ERP vendor VAI, it has helped a leading meat supplier, the AVA Companies (AVA), automate and integrate its different systems, including VAI ERP. AVA first deployed VAI in around 2012. By 2019 the company had saved $500,000 using the cloud-based ERP solution.
However, VAI ERP was not the only software in use at AVA. As the company expanded, it added new trading partners and more applications to its IT infrastructure. This brought the challenge of integration to AVA. It turned to VAI for a solution, as the ERP solution is at the organisation’s heart.
VAI has been a Cleo partner since the early 2000s and recently announced the expansion of that partnership at VAI Connect 2022. AVA turned to Cleo the Cleo Integration Cloud (CIC) to automate its daily B2B operations. Automating operations between its ERP, other solutions and third-party solutions through EDI and other B2B engagements helps improve relationships with suppliers and partners.
Domenic Capul, IT Manager, AVA Companies, commented, “CIC has a Dashboard – the CIC Cockpit — that provides users with complete visibility of orders going in and out. CIC is accessible from anywhere with a browser and easy to use.
“We can quickly and easily spot customer errors and manage all data from one location. With a point and a click, we have easy navigation and advanced search features that allow us to view pending items, invoices, purchase orders, and more. It’s a great time saver for us and our end users.”
At the heart of AVA is VAI ERP
If Cleo provides the articles that enable data to flow between different solutions, VAI ERP is the heart that enables AVA to operate. Cleo’s integrations and connections have enabled the company to automate its B2B processes, saving time and reducing inaccuracies.
Maggie Kelleher, Director of Sales, VAI, said, “Cleo Integration Cloud is the right solution for VAI ERP customers looking to automate their EDI and API transactions. Our customers want the real-time visibility of CIC, which offers more insights than any other integration platform. “
For AVA Companies, that translates to an easier, quicker, and more unified way of doing business. VAI’s ERP software combined with Cleo Integration Cloud are extremely effective in saving our customers time and money, and we look forward to many more upcoming integration successes.”
VAI expert services helped the IT at AVA to deliver the project, and AVA can now automate future B2B processes easily. Another advantage of using the Cloud-based IPaaS solution is the same that AVA identified VAI having in 2019.
At that time, Domenic Capul, a vice president at AVA, in a Newsday article, said, “AVA’s entire enterprise resource planning system, which includes financials, order processing, procurement, analytics, and warehousing, is cloud-based. Moving to the cloud has helped keep AVA’s infrastructure running smoothly in the case of power outages, which previously would have prevented it from accessing critical functions when servers were down.”
Celebrating a successful partnership
Often, when companies announce a partnership, little is heard about it after a few years. In the case of Cleo and VAI, the partnership has not only lasted, it has deepened. The two companies now have over 80 joint customers, and VAI recently joined the Cleo System Integrator partner program to further invest in the partnership.
Bob Hoch, Director of Channel Sales at Cleo, said, “Cleo Integration Cloud and VAI S2K Enterprise have always proven to be a great combination for all our customers in the food manufacturing sector, including the AVA Companies.
“We are honored to help them meet their customers’ expectations in what’s forever been a demanding industry, by helping AVA add on new trading partners to keep their business running all the more efficiently. Here’s to more growth and expansion in the years ahead.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
While some ERP vendors look to take advantage of building integration into their platform or embedding an OEM solution, VAI has taken a different approach. The relationship between VAI and Cleo is long-standing and has strengthened over time.
AVA Companies has received clear benefits from the ERP solution that VAI provides and CIC’s integration platform. As the company evolves, it seems likely that the combination will enable it to meet its future challenges as well.
