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German suppliers aim to simplify the ordering process
Published:  09 June, 2016

At the Hannover Fair, SEW-Eurodrive, Festo and Sick announced a joint initiative designed to make it easier for their customers to do business with them. They say that the Esis (Easy Supplier Integration Services) scheme will cut the time and costs of processing orders, as well as increasing reliability and integrating better with customers’ own IT systems.

At present, exchanging information and processing orders between customers and suppliers usually mean switching between the two organisations' ERP systems. For example, customers who order sensors, valve terminals or parts of gearmotors usually have to transfer a large amount of data manually between their ERP systems and the supplier’s configurators or order forms. Errors can occur during this complicated process.

Esis will allow customers to access information and place orders using two simple interfaces between their systems and the supplier’s system. The first, called Esis Inform allows parameterised access to information, while the second, Esis Comfort, allows data to be delivered back to the customer's system.

The customer integrates directly with the supplier' ERP system and can obtain the necessary information at the click of a mouse. Data – such as serial numbers for spare parts orders, or CAD data for quotations – is transferred automatically.

The Esis system will improve communications between suppliers and their customers

Confirmation e-mails will contain not only a confirmation PDF, but also an XML file with all of the necessary data, which can be imported straight to the user’s ERP system without any manual copying. The system is said to be suitable for companies of any size in any industry.