| “Using web based solutions
has enabled us to become smarter in the purchasing function,
with the way we deal with suppliers and manage agreements.”
Kodak Limited in the UK is
the largest overseas subsidiary of the US-based Eastman
Kodak Company, and is part of the European, African and
Middle Eastern Region.
Kodak Limited markets a wide
range of imaging products and services and plays a leading
role in developing and manufacturing new Kodak products
for European and worldwide markets. The Company's sales
and marketing headquarters are located at Hemel Hempstead
in Hertfordshire. Its three manufacturing facilities are
sited at Harrow in north-west London, Kirkby near Liverpool,
and Annesley in Nottinghamshire. The largest manufacturing
facility at Harrow produces Ektacolor photographic paper
and a wide range of film materials for the printing and
publishing industry. It is Kodak’s biggest single
facility for the manufacture of photographic paper, operating
around the clock, seven days a week.
Kodak Research and Development
at Harrow is a major European laboratory employing approximately
250 people in the worldwide Kodak research and development
community. Established in 1928, Harrow R & D has key
responsibility for imaging materials and software research
and development.
Kodak’s global approach
to its operations was demonstrated when the decision was
taken to implement a single ERP system worldwide. The system
chosen was SAP. Kodak recognised that the world would be
moving away from mainframe systems technology, and that
the future lay in web technology. With this in mind, Kodak
bought the SAP business-to-business package, Enterprise
Buyer Professional. Kodak chose its operation in the UK
to pilot business-to-business integration over the web using
this package. The three key areas that were required as
part of the web solution were shopping basket requisitioning
and authorisation functionality, punchout catalogues and
the electronic transmission of purchase orders and invoices
over the Internet.
The use of punchout catalogues
was seen as the simplest option to implement, as opposed
to hosted catalogues. Punchout catalogues allow all the
supporting data, such as pictures and specification detail
to be available to end users via the supplier’s own
web site. The supplier maintains the data as opposed to
the customer if hosted catalogues are used, thereby reducing
the administration burden on the customer.
Kodak selected Fisher Scientific
as one of three suppliers to take part in the pilot, under
strict selection criteria. Comments Neil Keeler, European
Purchasing Systems Manager; “Because of the short
time scale of the pilot, we wanted to work with suppliers
who were already e-commerce capable, and could provide a
complete business solution. Fisher Scientific not only fulfilled
this criteria, but we saw their capabilities as streets
ahead of other suppliers; a company at the real forefront
of web technology.” The pilot ran for just six months,
and was deemed so successful that it has now been rolled
out across the UK, is live in China, Canada, Germany and
parts of the USA. The roll out will continue world wide,
as SAP is implemented.
The system works by allowing
users to ‘punch out’ from Enterprise Buyer into
Fisher Scientific’s own web site. From here orders
can be compiled, previous orders tracked, stock availabilities
checked etc. Once the order has been compiled it is taken
back into Enterprise Buyer where the user can code the orders
and items as necessary. A purchase order is then created
within SAP which, if below a preset spend limit, is transmitted
to Fisher Scientific in XML format. If the order is above
the spend limit it is sent for authorisation before going
on to Fisher Scientific. The order is fired directly into
Fisher Scientific’s mainframe system, without any
manual intervention, reducing processing time and the possibility
of keying errors. Once the goods are dispatched an electronic
invoice in XML format is triggered and sent to Kodak over
the Internet. This is received and automatched into the
finance system. The only human intervention in the whole
process is to pick and pack the goods themselves!
Jon Lacey, Purchasing Officer
at Kodak, uses the system first hand. “I find the
Fisher Scientific web site the easiest one to use out of
all suppliers on the Enterprise Buyer system. It is very
user friendly and straightforward to use. Functionalities
such as live stock availability are really invaluable.”
The benefits within Kodak,
however, extend further than the end users. Neil explains;
“One of the objectives of the project was to formalise
the whole buying process. We now have complete visibility
of spend and improved transaction efficiency. Using web
based solutions has enabled us to become smarter in the
purchasing function, with the way we deal with suppliers
and manage agreements. The electronic transmission of invoices
will enable us to reduce the cost of accounts payables functions,
and become more slick in our processing.”
Whilst this current system
is reaping huge benefits for Kodak, they are continuing
to look at future technology and the opportunities they
present to become even more efficient within the purchasing
function. Concludes Neil; “The way we work now is
more commodity focussed. We recognise that different solutions
are appropriate for different commodities. What our work
with Fisher Scientific has shown us is that with the right
teamwork approach between customer and supplier, all things
are possible.”
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