Dillon Supply Improves Purchasing Experience and Lower Costs for Customers While Improving Efficiency
  

                      

                      

                        

      


Dillon Supply needed to provide a better purchasing experience for their B2B customers by creating an integrated eProcurement sales process that included the ability to offer PunchOut catalogs and purchase orders.


The goal was a “one-step” purchasing process with automated data transfer between Dillon Supply and buyer eProcurement platforms, eliminating duplicate order entry and manual data entry. With TradeCentric, Dillon Supply was able to accomplish that by providing a simplified and enhanced purchasing experience to buyers.


    

                                                    
                      

                    

                                        

                      
                      

                              

        

      

    
                 

    

    

    

            

        

          
                    

                            

                                
                

                            

                                              

          

                    
          

                                    

      
Introduction


Founded in 1914, Dillon Supply sells a large selection of metal products, safety and personal protective equipment (PPE), metalworking and construction tools, manufacturing supplies and related equipment and services. Dillon Supply is based in Raleigh, North Carolina, and serves diverse customers and industries through its digital channels, which include eCommerce, Electronic Document Interchange (EDI) and mobile. The company’s eCommerce store is built on Optimizely and integrated with other platforms for channel sales, marketing and logistics.


    

                          

                                        

            
          

        

      

    

  

  
                   



    



    

  

                            
                    

                      
                      

                      

                        


                          
                                                                                                          

                            

                              

      
Our technology stack had evolved over many years, and we were looking for a solution that would offer a modern, integrated buyer experience built on our existing eCommerce store, but without the cost and time investment of custom integrations for each buyer.


    

                                

                                

      
Arnaud Le Chatelier,


    

                                  

      
Director Sales & Marketing, Dillon Supply


    

                                

                            

                                                      

                          

                      

                      
                                          
                      
                      
                      
                      
        

    

  

  
                 

      

    

    

            

        

          
                    
          

            

              

      
The Challenges


Looking to provide a better purchasing experience. Dillion Supply contracted customer experience agency Verndale to redesign the experience it offered to B2B buyers, including for sales via eProcurement. Verndale wanted to create an integrated eProcurement sales process for Dillon Supply that included the ability to offer PunchOut catalogs and purchase order automation for buyers.

Dillon Supply’s EDI-based channel posed numerous challenges:


    

  • Integrating new customers was time-consuming and expensive
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  • Catalog management and buying experiences were inferior to the company’s eCommerce store
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  • EDI doesn’t provide the flexibility, personalization and user experience modern buyers expect
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Leveraging the existing Optimizely store, Dillon Supply and Verndale streamlined the buyer journey by implementing PunchOut catalogs and purchase order automation.


The goal was a “one-step” purchasing process with automated data transfer between Dillon Supply and buyer eProcurement platforms, eliminating duplicate order entry and manual data entry. The solution had to be adaptable enough to support the different needs of Dillon Supply’s buyers while providing a frictionless path to enable buyers using any of 160+ different eProcurement, spend management and enterprise resource planning platforms.


    

                                          

            
            

              

      
“We knew that we were in safe hands with TradeCentric. Their technology and support are second to none. Dillon Supply distributes supplies to hundreds of businesses with very different requirements, and no other company has the breadth of eProcurement platform support.”


Arnaud Le Chatelier


Director Sales & Marketing


Dillon Supply


    

                                        

        

      

    

  

  
  
                   

    

    

    

            

        

          
                    

                            

                                
                

                            

                                              

          

                    
          

                                    

      
The Solution


TradeCentric provides a managed cloud Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) with connectors for many eCommerce stores, including Optimizely and various eProcurement platforms. The iPaaS translates data as it moves between supplier eCommerce stores and buyer eProcurement platforms, enabling transparent communication of data for PunchOut catalogs, requisition and purchase orders, electronic invoices, shipping notifications and more.


The TradeCentric team and Verndale worked with Dillon Supply to connect their Optimizely store to TradeCentric’s iPaaS. Once connected, Dillon Supply could enable buyers to use any eProcurement platform with PunchOut catalogs and purchase order automation. Buyers can access Dillon Supply’s eCommerce store from within their eProcurement platform. TradeCentric automatically transfers order data from Dillon Supply to the buyer’s platform. Once the purchasing organization approves the requisition order, order data is communicated back to Dillon Supply via TradeCentric.


Previously, Dillon Supply customers were forced to enter orders into their eProcurement platforms manually. TradeCentric eliminates this manual dual-entry.


    

                          

                                        

            
          

        

      

    

  

  
                   

      

    

    

            

        

          
                    
          

            

              

      
The Results


With TradeCentric, Dillon Supply can provide a simplified and enhanced purchasing experience to buyers.


    

  • Dillon supply can integrate their PunchOut catalogs and purchase order automation with any buyer – and the process has an average lead time of less than four weeks.
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  • Complete control of the customer experience for the eProcurement channel.
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  • Transition away from its legacy EDI system with minimal disruption to buyer relationships.
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  • The ability to offer superior eProcurement integration and streamlined purchasing gives Dillon Supply a competitive market advantage. Many current and potential buyers recognize the benefits of eProcurement-based purchasing.
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Dillon Supply can offer fast and inexpensive integration and automation to buyers using SAP Ariba, Coupa, Jaggaer, Oracle and many other eProcurement platforms. Because purchase orders and other B2B documents are synced with their eCommerce store, the documents can be easily communicated to the company’s Epicor P21 ERP platform via Insite’s P21 Connector, integrating end-to-end order management, stock management and fulfillment.


    

                                          

            
            

              

      
“We knew that we were in safe hands with TradeCentric. Their technology and support are second to none. Dillon Supply distributes supplies to hundreds of businesses with very different requirements, and no other company has the breadth of eProcurement platform support.”


Arnaud Le Chatelier


Director Sales & Marketing


Dillon Supply


    

                                        

        

      

    

  

  
  
                   

  

    
Benefits of Integration with TradeCentric:

    

      

        
For Dillon Supply:


    

  • Increased sales reach
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  • Faster payment turnaround due to expedited invoicing
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  • Real-time product and pricing availability with personalized catalogs
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  • Increased customer retention and satisfaction
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For Customers:


    

  • Enhanced shopping experience
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  • Reduced cycle times
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  • Streamlined ordering and approval
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  • Lower procurement costs
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  • Increased order accuracy
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Additionally, TradeCentric provides comprehensivemetrics and analytics for Dillon Supply’s eProcurement sales channel via the TradeCentric Portal. Because all procurement data flows through TradeCentric, Dillon Supply can use the Portal to monitor customer buying patterns and behavior. Sales teams can use the data to ensure that customers are using the integration to its full potential, providing targeted guidance and support. In partnership with Verndale and TradeCentric, Dillon Supply has achieved scalable buyer integrations and offers a superior procurement experience for their customers. With TradeCentric, Dillon Supply reduces procurement costs, increases buyer retention and builds robust and durable B2B relationships.


    

  


              
    
                
                      

          

            

    

            

              

                

                  

      
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