Plan Personnel – Taylor Gordon & Co. Limited

Synopsis
Plan Personnel needed to implement OFSCI XML based messaging with Compass Group. They wanted a solution that was fit for purpose and future proof. They did not need the full scale and expensive enterprise application integration suites being offered by some suppliers. They searched for a solution provider with an appropriately sized product, and a good record for providing customer service.

Plan Personnel chose Entity’s PRISM with Cyclone Activator and were rewarded by a solution that was delivered on time, to specification and within budget. The Solution facilitates closer integration with customers thus providing better service. It cuts out wasted effort spent on invoice queries and the result is less capital tied up in the supply chain and improved cashflow.

Background
Plan Personnel is a successful supplier of temporary staff with a strong position in the food and catering sector. The market is fiercely competitive and dominated by some large players. Plan Personnel currently exchanges EDI messages with key trading partners.

Compass Group is the world's largest foodservice company with annual foodservice revenues in excess of £11bn. It has over 400,000 employees working in more than 90 countries around the world providing foodservice and vending. It is a large and important customer of Plan Personnel.

Compass Group took the initiative to achieve closer coupling of their business processes with key suppliers by adopting the OFSCI based messages, and Plan Personnel were keen to make sure that they could gain benefits from the new technology.

OFSCI - Optimum Foodservice Supply Chain Initiative.

The Food and Drink Federation (FDF), the Federation of Wholesale Distributors (FWD) and a group of leading operators have come together under the OFSCI banner to develop a number of major industry initiatives that will provide the platform for all partners in the Foodservice supply chain to benefit by improving supply chain operational efficiencies. The key to these is the use of UK and global standards.

Business Plan and Objectives

For Plan Personnel the key objectives were to:

reduced administration costs- removing paper
improve service levels to customers
improve cashflow
reduce working capital in the chain
remove the wasted effort and cost of invoice queries

Plan Personnel established keen targets for a return on the investment and it was important that the changes to the business process could be implemented quickly.

Many solutions on the market are aimed at very large organisations with complex requirements, and Plan Personnel quickly decided that it needed a solution of appropriate size and fit.

Outline Requirement

Plan Personnel required an application to send and receive OFSCI (XML based) messages to Compass Group. The brief for the solution was that it should be sufficient to do the job, value for money, easy to use and maintain, and deliverable in a short timescale. Importantly, it must be OFSCI XML and EDIINT AS2 compliant to meet the requirements OFSCI. The application has to run continuously to provide the EDIINT AS2 always on availability to Compass, and must be secure and robust.

The Solution

Entity’s tools and components are built around the Entity PRISM Message Management software. This software can manage XML and/or EDI messages.

Using a user friendly GUI (Graphical User Interface), the tool is designed to allow the user to specify the following:

connection method, in this case the method will be EDIINT AS2; connections can be scheduled using the Windows Services
trading partners
trading partner details, e.g. AS2 address and/or EDI mailboxes, etc
messages – sending, including parameters
messages – receiving, including parameters

PRISM uses a Windows Explorer style hierarchy of folders to manage the set up and operate the trading relationships. It manages the messages and the translation of messages to and from your trading partner according to the installed message maps. It supports OFSCI XML standards as well as EDI standards.

The PRISM Message Management software does not include the function to create message translation maps. Most businesses do not want the ability to create these maps, and prefer to use specialist to undertake this infrequent activity (only required when introducing a new message type). The message map can either be purchased off the shelf as a pre-existing map, or produced externally as a specialist, time and materials task.

An audit trail is maintained with parameter settings to adjust the level to suit the activity. For example, during the testing, a high level of audit may be desirable, but for subsequent operational use you may select a lower level.

EDIINT AS2 connectivity is provided by the Drummond approved Cyclone Activator.

Entity’s Role

Entity’s role was to provide:

overall project management
analysis of requirements for creating the necessary integration with Plan Personnel’s back office systems
implementation
testing
continuing support

The Benefits to Plan Personnel

Plan Personnel has gained a solution that:

was delivered on time, to specification and within budget
allows closer integration with and thus better service to customers
provides better cashflow and reduced capital tied up in the supply chain
is robust and secure
is easy to use and maintain

Further Information

For more information about Plan Personnel Contact:

Plan Personnel
Action House
28-30 Sydenham Road
Croydon
CR0 2EF

Telephone - 0208 681 0846