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Eaton Steel Bar Automates PO Delivery with Esker DeliveryWare

01/21/2009 - Eaton Steel Bar implements Esker DeliveryWare to automate the inbound routing of fax documents and outbound delivery of purchase orders and product specifications.

Eaton Steel Bar Co. has implemented Esker DeliveryWare to automate the inbound routing of fax documents and outbound delivery of purchase orders and product specifications. The company uses Esker DeliveryWare in combination with its Lotus and Domino email software, Oracle E-Business Suite applications and Cisco Voice over IP system.
 
Eaton Steel Bar was initially prompted to act when its legacy phone system became obsolete. “We decided to go from our old digital system to Voice over IP,” said Larry Helwig, Business Applications Manager at Eaton Steel Bar. “As part of this large VoIP project, we implemented Esker Fax for Notes as our solution for routing of all inbound faxes — either to a printer or to inboxes as mail attachments.
 
“With the goal of being able to send faxes directly to email instead of having to print them off, we chose Esker Fax for Notes as our solution of choice,” added Helwig. “We based our decision on our research into fax solutions that were compatible with Lotus Notes.”
 
Two years later, the company identified a need to improve delivery of its outbound purchase orders and associated documents. At that time, the company’s purchasing agents would print copies of approved purchase orders and then find product specification sheets and either re-scan and email the documents, or put all of the documents into a fax machine and send them to the vendor.
 
“We wanted to address the time it took to send a purchase order and the product specifications that go with it,” said Helwig. “Also, we had formatted custom purchase orders and we wanted a way to send out that custom format along with the specification sheets without having to print a paper copy first.”
 
Based on its requirements, the company decided to upgrade from Esker Fax for Notes to Esker DeliveryWare. Now, when purchasing agents select email or fax in Oracle for an approved purchase order, Esker DeliveryWare retrieves the specifications from a file server and the complete PO package is sent to the vendor as a single email or fax.
 
Helwig noted the system provides both faster delivery and increased document quality. “At best it took 10 to 15 minutes to find, print and assemble everything and send it off. Worst case, it could be half a day if the purchasing agent was distracted during the process. Now there’s essentially no time spent doing it because the attachments are going out automatically. Also the quality of documents received on the other end is much higher now that they’re rendered as Tiffs in the first place and sent electronically instead of being printed off and run through the fax machine. The quality with email is even better since PDF documents are being sent.”
 
As a next phase, Eaton Steel Bar will expand its purchase order automation to several outside processors. Along with product specifications, the company will send work order sheets that provide additional details for production. Other plans include automated sales order confirmation and invoicing — both outbound to customers who are not on full EDI and inbound invoicing using the data capture capabilities of Esker DeliveryWare.
 
Since 1953, Eaton Steel Bar has supplied cold-drawn and hot-rolled steel products. With approximately 550,000 square feet of production and warehouse facilities on 40 acres of land, the company has the capacity to warehouse 100,000 tons of inventory and ship up to 400,000 tons annually. Other operating units include Eaton Steel Corp., Hercules Drawn Steel Corp., Atlas Trucking Co. and Titan Metallurgy LLC.
 
Esker helps organizations eliminate manual processes, gain process visibility and control, and reduce the use of paper by automating the flow of documents into, within and out of the organization. With patented document delivery automation software and hosted document delivery services, Esker offers a total solution to automate every phase and every type of business information exchange. Customers achieve significant and immediate operational efficiencies, cost savings and measurable ROI in as little as three to six months. Founded in 1985, Esker operates globally with more than 80,000 customers and millions of licensed users worldwide. Esker has global headquarters in Lyon, France, and U.S. headquarters in Madison, Wis.