In early 2000's Univar Ltd implemented a connection to Elemica with the assistance of Rex. Since the original implementation, the number of trading partners has grown with the result that reductions in administrative costs and elapsed time savings for the whole order process are being achieved with several of Univar UK’s major principals (suppliers).
The formation of Univar N.V. led to an opportunity to capitalise on the successful UK connection to Elemica by expanding the application to cater for other European subsidiaries.
With the help of Rex, the configuration of the existing Univar UK connection has been extended to provide the capability to support delivery of business messages to and from the various ERP systems at Univar Europe locations. The UK connection will effectively act as a private eHub for Univar Europe companies.
As a result of the extension of the connectivity to Elemica, Univar Europe companies will now be able to place orders with suppliers, both for delivery to Univar and direct to their customers. Future plans for the connection include the ability to receive, match and pay invoices.
Univar is using standard Chem XML messages, managed by a Microsoft BizTalk solution, to communicate between its diverse ERP systems in Europe and the Elemica eHub. Univar Europe has used consultants from Rex to design and assist with implementing the extended solution.
Univar is a leader in the universe of independent chemical distributors. The company buys chemicals in bulk and blends and packs them for customers in the agricultural, coating/ink/adhesive, electronics, food and beverage, forestry, mining, oil and gas, pharmaceutical, personal care, pest control, polymer, waste management, and water treatment industries. Univar also offers inventory management, custom labelling, custom packaging, waste management, warehouse management, and technical support services. The company serves some 250,000 industrial end-users through about 166 distribution centres in the US, Canada, and 14 European countries.
“Having come to know Rex as our involvement with Elemica increased, I am pleased that we have chosen a company whose knowledge of Elemica, CIDX and Microsoft BizTalk is extremely useful to us.”Brian Morgan, Applications Manager IT, Univar