Document Output Case Studies - Manufacturing

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EZeDocs-User Crossville Ceramics Expedites Business Processes With Bar Codes, eDocuments and Fax/eMail Document Distribution Directly From AS/400

THE BACKGROUND
Crossville Ceramics Company was no stranger to electronic document output technology. The four-plant company decided that its sheer volume of production, tracking, inventory and shipping documents made bar- coding a virtual necessity. Crossville, named for its home city of Crossville, Tennessee, is the nation’s largest manufacturer of porcelain stone and tile, and marketing into the decorator, construction, retail and consumer markets.

THE PROBLEM
In researching the options, Programmer David Morgan found ACOM’s EZeDocs/400 solution (formerly known as EZPrint/400). EZeDocs/400 is an electronic document generation and distribution software solution for iSeries (AS/400) environments. Morgan quickly learned that EZeDocs/400 could not only solve the immediate problem, but that, a number of other initiatives for streamlining the company’s back-office processes could also move forward -- including fax and eMail document transmission direct from Crossville’s AS/400 platform.

ACOM’s EZeDocs/400 allows companies to replace conventional preprinted business forms with customized electronic templates. EZeDocs/400 also enables iSeries (AS/400) users to:

• Deliver completed documents as laser-printed hard copies.
• Send completed documents via eMail or fax.
• Save completed documents as PDF files for attachment or archiving.
• Electronically archive completed documents for paperless storage and easy retrieval.

When documents are needed, data from the business management software is merged with the respective template. The completed document is then output by laser printer, or as an electronic file (for transmission manually via secured eMail, or as an automated fax). The process dramatically increases the versatility of the computing environment, producing cost savings on printing, personnel expense, supplies and overhead.

THE SOLUTION
As a Total Solution, the EZeDocs/400 Suite includes:

• GUI-based design tool
• Printing, faxing and emailing software
• Professional services consisting of document design, on-site implementation, and training
• Individual modules are also available as standalone utilities.

Morgan’s initial bar code effort was a successful attempt to streamline warehouse, inventory and picking activity. He devised a label approximately three inches high that can designate specific products, and which is affixed to a pallet. A forklift driver picks up the pallet and moves it to a warehouse location, where the label is read using a handheld scanner. The scanner transmits the location wirelessly to the inventory control system.

Morgan also streamlined his process by using an application that places bar codes on the forms sent to distributors with product samples. When an order comes in, the bar code is read, and the product is picked, packaged and shipped in a single relatively seamless workflow process.

Morgan began the bar code phase of the ACOM solution in mid-2000, and he says it was a simple process, working equally well with preprinted forms and with documents generated on plain paper.

“To automatically generate bar codes on our forms, we assign a bar code number to each form, EZeDocs/400 recognizes the number, picks up the information from the spool file, converts it to a bar code and positions it on the printed form. If we are generating an e-document on plain paper, such as a bill of lading, it prints the bar code and the merged data (from our business management software), simultaneously on the completed form.”

The new bar-coding capability led directly to the development of e-labels, many of which now incorporate bar codes. Morgan also, noted that the company’s four plants have a total of 16 label printers in constant use.

SUCCESS
The Crossville Ceramics’ MIS department’s satisfaction with the ACOM solution, coupled with capability, service and maintenance issues with the older system, led the company to act quickly when the EZeDocs/400 fax and eMail modules became available in the fall of 2001.

“We send out a minimum of 300 faxes a day and we have used faxing solutions for several years, beginning with a 3X/4XX Warehouse solution,” Morgan says. “That solution was replaced when we obtained the Quadrant solution, and while it was an improvement, it still involved a multi-stage approach in which the data was bit-mapped to the form in Quadrant, sent through a conversion process, and then forwarded to a PC box for actual transmittal using specified API commands. There was no facility for creating the document and sending it directly from the AS/400 platform. If the PC malfunctioned, Quadrant would send out a new one, but it still meant a day of down time and lost production.”

Where the previous system had four modems receiving and transmitting data, Crossville’s EZeDocs/400 fax solution connects directly from the AS/400 computer to high-speed modems via a v.24 cable.

“There are fewer pieces, fewer things to go wrong,” Morgan says.

Crossville Ceramics obtained ACOM’s EZeDocs/400 software for the fax and eMail modules in November 2001 and cut over to production in January 2002.

The company continues to extend its use of EZeDocs/400 with the creation of additional e-document forms for direct electronic distribution. Currently, six e-document forms are in daily use: the fax cover letter, order confirmation form, a bill of lading, a truck summary sheet, purchase orders and invoices.

“For eMail, we use the same template we used under our former two-step procedure, but we recreated it for use in EZeDocs/400,” Morgan says. “Moreover, the EZeDocs/400 solution gives us a great advantage over our previous eMail solution, which was HTML-based. EZeDocs/400 sends the data in the form of an automatically prepared and attached PDF file, which can be read by any recipient. Conversely, the HTML documents were browser-dependent and different browsers would produce different results. With EZeDocs/400, we have uniformity.”

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