3rdwave by Blinco Systems Inc.

Home

Solutions

White Papers & Case Studies

News

Articles

Awards

News Releases

Industry Commentary

Shinsho American Generates Competitive Advantages with 3rdwave Supply Chain Management Solution
UNIFACE-based Solution Boosts Productivity and Strengthens Business Relationships for Sophisticated Importer/Exporter
Compuware Magazine, September 2000

"Shinsho American now is in a position to actively pursue growth opportunities, both domestically and internationally, with significantly increased efficiency. With 3rdwave, our business information is now integrated with our business processes."
Michele Byrne, Project Manager, Shinsho American Corporation

Success in business usually means doing at least one thing better than your competitors. Shinsho American Corporation does several things exceptionally well - concurrently and flawlessly. Its secret? Superior IT.

The American trading arm of Kobe Steel Group, Shinsho is a multifaceted supplier of steel, raw materials, nonferrous metals, machinery and electronics. The company also develops market-specific products for export and import. Their mix includes automotive parts, office equipment and agricultural produce.

"We are a diverse company," says Michele Byrne, project manager, Shinsho. "We serve many different customers and run many different lines of business. Prior problems included knowing what is in the pipeline, the product pricing and current exchange rates, which is typical of the type of information we need each day. Reliable, accurate and easy-to-access information is essential for our operations."

With no formal IT department, Chicago-based Shinsho found it difficult to harness and coordinate crucial information from the five U.S. branches for reports to its Japanese parent. Shinsho needed a solution that enabled the company to operate independently while remaining responsive to a diverse customer and vendor base.

Shinsho turned to Blinco Systems Inc., a Compuware Business Partner, to develop an enterprise solution that could pull together numerous business applications, multiple users and numerous locations. Using 3rdwave, a supply chain integration ERP-style suite built using Compuware UNIFACE technology, Blinco Systems created a company-wide information system for Shinsho that provides transparency into the entire supply and distribution chain, with real time transaction processing.

Challenge: Harnessing Information Resources

Shinsho’s Chicago HQ provides financial and administrative support to the five branches, each of which operates independently and specializes in one area of business, serving unique customers and handling different product lines.

Shinsho tried to keep an eye on its widespread operations with a disparate IT architecture. Multiple elementary applications performed inventory control, vendor accounts, customer relations, currency exchange and for other business functions. None of the front- or back-office applications was integrated. And no programs were fully functional between offices, Chicago and the overseas headquarters.

To find information for a report, a manager had to physically locate a folder, find the requisition, then track down where the item was located in the supply chain. Shipping information, billing status and U.S. pricing were determined separately. Reporting daily, let alone in real-time, seemed an impossibility, Byrne recalls.

Applying the Right Technology

"We used a consulting firm to help us find the right enterprise solution, but the trick was finding something that would fit across our broad spectrum of product lines and make everybody happy," Byrne says. "We decided to go with Blinco Systems. Software from other companies seemed capable of handling our needs if we only had one line of business, while 3rdwave worked across all of our lines of business. The other significant factor in our decision was Blinco's experience with international trading companies."

For Shinsho, 3rdwave provided them with the ability to see their entire supply chain, allowing managers to identify additional costs of inventory. Our target is to help them reduce inventory by 20-30% within six months."
Ned Blinick, Vice President, Blinco Systems

Blinco Systems' 3rdwave solution integrates knowledge of international supply chain and logistics management with client-specific business requirements. Shinsho branches now receive administrative support from the head office in a seamless environment. With direct access to required information, branches are now able to focus on managing the supply chain. For example, 3rdwave's purchase order track and trace capabilities provide the Shinsho buying and logistics group with complete item status anywhere within the supply pipeline. Other system elements include procurement, sourcing, transportation, credit reporting, compliance documentation and other functionalities needed for international commerce.

Shinsho decision-makers said they were pleasantly surprised to discover how quickly Blinco Systems was able to create their enterprise solution, Byrne said. Typically, developing and deploying similar business information systems would take 18-24 months, minimum. The UNIFACE development environment enabled Blinco Systems to build and deploy the Shinsho application in just 10 months.

UNIFACE provides the ideal framework for developing, deploying and integrating business-critical applications. UNIFACE-based applications like 3rdwave can be adapted quickly to meet the needs of business in a rapidly changing competitive and technological environment.

"I am amazed by how easily we have been able to improve our new system," Byrne says. "If we need to modify a particular area or module, the programmer will usually revise the program within one or two days."

Measures of Success

"My goal was to eliminate as much manual work as possible," Byrne says. "The feedback I have received from the operators tells me that the system has lessened their workload. Upon utilizing the new software, the users were appreciative of the ease of retrieving vital information. They could see the quantity of the incoming steel on a daily basis; discover exactly where the item ordered was in transit; and know how much credit was issued on a given day.

"With this technology, Shinsho American is now able to fully support our independent branch structure. We now provide direct and responsive customer service and vendor contact. And we have centralized our administrative and accounting services. Our management now has access to accurate, synchronized information across all branches and administrative departments."

The system is designed to help Shinsho reduce inventory up to 20%, a major cost savings. Byrne also cites the strategic benefits: "Shinsho American now is in a position to actively pursue growth opportunities, both domestically and internationally, with significantly increased efficiency. Our business information is now integrated with our business processes."

Solutions Partners

Blinco Systems, of Toronto, Ontario, is recognized for delivering solutions that provide tight integration with existing business information systems. 3rdwave and 3rdwave Logistics, the Blinco Systems flagship products, are built in UNIFACE. Used by more than 400 Compuware Business partners worldwide, UNIFACE is a development environment for building, renewing and integrating strategic applications.

"The Compuware UNIFACE development environment enables us to create solutions designed specifically for each of our clients' businesses," says Ned Blinick, vice-president of Blinco Systems. "The UNIFACE business module components are quickly adaptable, which helps us design and implement a prototype system quickly.

"For Shinsho, 3rdwave provided them with the ability to see their entire supply chain, allowing managers to identify additional costs of inventory. Our target is to help them reduce inventory by 20-30% within six months."

Real-time Business Information

"Mid-size companies need complete enterprise solutions," Blinick says. "Simply taking a more robust solution and scaling it down is not the answer. 3rdwave provides a complete, robust enterprise-wide solution without compromising performance, functionality or flexibility.

"The solution we developed for Shinsho allows the company to compete against larger organizations with larger IT staffs. The demands Shinsho faces from clients are no less than their very large competitors face.

"One of the hot topics in IT today is the 'virtual close,' where a headquarters gets reports from branches and operations around the world to determine how the business is doing at the end of the day. With 3rdwave, Shinsho gets something better than a virtual picture. Shinsho gets real-time reporting. That's a true picture."

Currently, over 400 packaged application vendors have developed more than 700 solutions available for financials, human resources, workflow management, sales and marketing, distribution and more. Applications are also available supporting more than 50 different vertical markets.