Connect Global Operations And Integrate Internal Systems For Improved Efficiencies

Dole turned to Inovis to handle its external and internal connectivity needs. BizManager™ BizLink™ is a robust data exchange solution that provides connectivity along with transaction tracking, auditing and management.

Like many consumer goods companies, Dole has a sizable investment in electronic data interchange (EDI). Dole's Packaged Foods division completes over 250,000 transactions per year ; about 90 percent of the company's order transactions are exchanged using EDI. Most of the division's customers are EDI-enabled; several, such as Meijer, exchange documents using the AS2 standard. Others, including several large retailers, have unique solutions, some of which do not include use of the Internet, opting instead for direct frame relay–based solutions. Dole has gained value in using BizManager with all of them.

The ability to support both EDI and XML, as well as vir tually any data type, has improved Dole's communications both externally and internally. "We now have greater visibility into daily operations with the ability to monitor data exchange and control internal communications, and we have significantly reduced costs through these efficiencies and through less reliance on VANs," said Kenworthy. "With BizManager we no longer have to rely on a myriad of custom FTP scripts, written in various languages, on multiple platforms, using different standards. Now everything is in one place, easily accessed and maintained." As a corporate entity, Dole is implementing multiple projects and using BizManager to pull information from around the world. Because the company is connected to a WAN, all data is sent via FTP. BizManager's versatility and its ability to send and receive all document types have greatly benefited Dole.