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8th Avenue Food & Provisions modernized their EDI operations, cut partner onboarding time in half, and achieved significant cost savings with Orderful's cloud platform.
For 8th Avenue Food & Provisions, a leading private label food manufacturer of pasta, nut butters, and granola products, efficient EDI operations were crucial to maintaining relationships with their expanding network of trading partners. However, their legacy EDI solution had become a significant bottleneck to growth.After discovering Orderful through an industry webinar, 8th Avenue saw an opportunity to modernize their EDI operations. Orderful's modern architecture, transparency, and AI-powered Rules Engine provided a solution that simplified processes, reduced onboarding times, and gave 8th Avenue the visibility and control they needed to thrive."What attracted us wasn't just the technology," Bera notes. "It was Orderful’s ability to handle complex EDI requirements with minimal technical expertise."
"Our EDI operations weren't keeping pace with our business needs," explains Ashok Bera, Senior Director of IT Applications at 8th Avenue. The company faced multiple challenges: a lengthy 3-4 month process to onboard new trading partners, limited visibility into the application, and constant need for technical intervention. With their JD Edward ERP system at the core of operations, they needed an EDI solution that could streamline partner connectivity while reducing technical overhead.
The Solution: Gaining Full Visibility and Control Over EDI
When 8th Avenue Food & Provisions began evaluating EDI solutions, Orderful's cloud-native platform stood out for its modern architecture and intuitive approach. "The JSON connectivity and API makes it easy," notes Ashok Bera, Senior Director of IT Applications. "We have complete visibility and transparency in the platform."
The solution addressed 8th Avenue's key challenges through several core features:
Standardized Mapping with Flexible Rules
The platform enabled 8th Avenue to create one standard mapping for each customer type while maintaining the ability to create separate rules for specific customer needs. The AI Rules Engine provided intelligent suggestions for complex rules, streamlining the mapping process.
Built-in Validation Engine
"When doing migration or onboarding, we drop the files and run the validation to reduce the cycle time of testing," explains Bera. "It basically makes sure that the EDI is right the first time it's sent to partners." This capability significantly reduced the testing phase that had previously extended partner onboarding times.
User-Friendly Interface
The platform required minimal technical expertise to operate. "It's easy to use. No technical or programming skills needed," Bera notes. "End users can drop the file and use the validation engine to test." The intuitive dashboards and notifications made monitoring transactions straightforward.
Expert Implementation Support
The onboarding team helped 8th Avenue get connected, set up their systems, and standardize their mappings. "The onboarding team was knowledgeable enough to help us understand the EDI transactions and mappings," says Bera. This expertise ensured a smooth transition from their previous system.
The platform integrated seamlessly with 8th Avenue's ERP through Boomi, and has proven highly reliable. "We've had no failures or Orderful-related issues over the last 9 months," Bera reports, demonstrating the platform's stability in production use.
The Results: Cost Savings and Operational Efficiency
Results:
- 50% Faster Onboarding
- 50% Reduction in EDI Costs
- 3x Faster Time to Go Live
- 50% Fewer EDI Resources Needed
- 100% Transaction Visibility
The implementation of Orderful's EDI platform delivered significant measurable improvements for 8th Avenue Food & Provisions across several key metrics:
Faster Partner Onboarding
"One of our biggest challenges was the time it took to onboard new trading partners," explains Ashok Bera, Senior Director of IT Applications. "We've reduced that time from 3-4 months to just 1.5-2 months—about a 50% improvement. The validation engine ensures everything is right the first time, which has dramatically shortened our testing cycles."
EDI Resource Optimization
The platform's intuitive interface and automated features enabled 8th Avenue to reduce their EDI resource requirements by 50%. "The platform is so straightforward that end users can manage it themselves," notes Bera. "We don't need specialized technical skills for day-to-day operations anymore."
Complete Visibility
With Orderful, 8th Avenue achieved 100% visibility into their EDI transactions. "We can now edit and manage transaction failures on our own," says Bera. "The dashboards and notifications make it easy to stay on top of everything happening in our EDI operations."
Cost Efficiency
The combination of streamlined operations, reduced resource requirements, and modern platform architecture resulted in significantly lower platform and service costs compared to their previous solution. "Between the faster onboarding and reduced resource needs, we've seen substantial cost savings," Bera confirms.
By partnering with Orderful, 8th Avenue Food & Provisions achieved their goals of efficiency, visibility, and cost reduction. The transition to Orderful’s platform not only resolved longstanding operational challenges but also positioned 8th Avenue for continued growth and success in a competitive market. “Orderful has completely changed the way we manage EDI. It’s faster, more transparent, and easier to use than anything we’ve experienced before,” Ashok concluded.
About 8th Avenue Food & Provisions
8th Avenue Food & Provisions is a leading private label food manufacturer specializing in pasta, nut butters, granola, and fruit & nut products. As the producer of the iconic Ronzoni pasta brand, the company maintains high standards in food manufacturing while delivering quality products to customers across the country. Through strategic use of technology and continuous operational improvements, 8th Avenue Food & Provisions exemplifies modern food manufacturing excellence, combining traditional quality with innovative business practices to meet the evolving needs of today's market.
