Challenge

For more than 60 years, Villa Maria has grown to become an award-winning and globally recognised wine producer. Their journey with Flow Software coincided with growing pressure in the FMCG and commerce space from customers demanding EDI connections, automatic updates, and accessible inventory information. At the same time, their own customer services team were struggling under the weight of a manual ordering process and the need to hire new staff was a barrier to growth.

Villa Maria selected Flow Software to provide an integration solution flexible enough to grow as their requirements and their business evolved.

Efficient teams

Prior to Flow Software, Villa Maria’s customer service team manually checked and rekeyed every customer order. As volumes increased, desk space to seat the extra team members needed to keep up with the work, was quickly running out.

Once Flow’s integration platform was implemented, the resulting integrations and EDI connections drastically improved the teams’ efficiency, saving multiple FTE’s and the aforementioned 160+ hours of manual work each month.

Solution

Villa Maria’s key systems are connected by Flow Software’s integration platform, automating all incoming orders. Customer orders received via the CRM system or EDI are managed, checking pricing, availability, and stock levels in other internal systems before confirming the order and recording it in the ERP. Orders are then delivered automatically to the warehouse management system to be picked and packed. All of this essential eCommerce workflow, automation and connectivity is managed by Flow Software’s integration platform.

Connecting electronically with customers, suppliers and freight provides, and automating the ordering, dispatch, and invoicing processes saves Villa Maria’s internal teams over 160 hours of order checking and data rekeying each month. Staff now have capacity to focus on high value, productive work. Meaning faster, more effective processes and a better customer experience.

Faster Delivery

Because orders are automatically checked by Flow’s integration platform, if correct, they can be released straight to the warehouse. Only orders that fail the automatic checks and validations are reviewed manually.

This ‘manage by exception’ approach has improved order turnaround times dramatically.

Orders can be dispatched the same day they are received, keeping customers happy, with bar fridges full and supermarket shelves stocked.