otis mcallister - bcerp

Beck Consulting(800) [email protected]


Otis McAllister W H O L E S O M E F O O D S

Founded in 1892, Otis McAllister is one of the oldest and most widely recognized

companies dealing in the worldwide trade of food products. Today it sells into

more than 65 countries on six continents, distributing many private-label products

as well as its own brands including Angelita, Himalayan Pride, La Sirena, Super

Lucky Elephant and Village Harvest. Otis McAllister’s products can be found on the

shelves of leading grocery retailers, including Albertson’s, Costco, DECA, Safeway

and Wakefern, among others.

Technology and Partnerships Enable Otis McAllister’s Growth

“As a distributor, Otis McAllister must provide additional value to our customers

and be extremely efficient in our operations to sustain our margins,” said James

Kochheiser, CIO at Otis McAllister. “Leveraging leading technology is one of the

best ways we’ve found to achieve these goals and thrive in any economy.”

As a part of its ongoing commitment to excellence, Otis McAllister teamed with

Beck Consulting in 2008 to improve the ease-of-use and reliability of its Microsoft

Dynamics NAV system and integrated solutions.

“Our partnership with Beck Consulting resulted in a more flexible and reliable

ERP foundation for our company to grow on,” continued Kochheiser. “Beck truly

understands how an ERP system impacts all areas of the business. They made

adjustments to Microsoft Dynamics NAV quickly and without interrupting current

workflows. In addition, Beck was instrumental in introducing Otis McAllister to

complementary solutions, like SPSCommerce.net, that could help us continue to

grow our business.”

C A S E S T U D Y

J A M E S K O C H H E I S E R

CIO, Otis McAllister

Beck truly understands how an

ERP system impacts all areas

of the business. They made

adjustments to Microsoft

Dynamics NAV quickly and

without interrupting current

workflows.”



| Otis McAllister Case Study2

J E F F B R E H M

Director of LogisticsOtis McAllister

With Beck’s expertise and SPS’

on-demand service, we were

operational in two weeks and

have been improving our EDI

capabilities ever since.”

EDI was not only a priority for Otis McAllister, but also a requirement for doing

business with its grocery customers. In 2009, Beck introduced Otis McAllister to

SPS Commerce’s EDI Service for Microsoft Dynamics NAV and the BCedi adapter

developed by Beck Consulting.

bcEDI is a stand-alone, flexible solution developed by Beck Consulting to enable

integration with external parties in an automated and cost efficient manner. For

Otis McAllister, BCedi offers seamless integration between Microsoft Dynamics NAV

and SPS Commerce’s on-demand EDI service through a single XML mapping per EDI

document. Using this integrated solution, Otis McAllister could significantly reduced

EDI management and bring trading partners online faster than ever.

Beck and SPS Commerce had successfully deployed the bcEDI solution at other NAV

accounts and Otis McAllister agreed that it would be a good fit for its EDI needs as well.

Otis McAllister chose SPS’ integrated EDI service due to the proven success of its direct integration to Otis McAllister’s ERP system for high-volume accounts and a web-based service for others. Most importantly, SPSCommerce.net had existing connections with the majority of Otis McAllister’s retail customers.

“SPS Commerce’s EDI service and interface provided us with the capabilities we needed to meet immediate needs quickly and the flexibility to scale to meet our future demands,” said Jeff Brehm, Director of Logistics at Otis McAllister. “With Beck’s expertise and SPS’ on-demand service, we were operational in two weeks and have been improving our EDI capabilities ever since.”

Integrated EDI for Microsoft Dynamics NAV






As we pursue new sales

channels for our products,

we can boldly say to

potential customers that we

can accommodate their EDI

requirements. We wouldn’t be

able to say this without Beck

and SPS Commerce working

collaboratively at our side.”

Relationship finds solutions to facilitate New Business

As the partnership between Otis McAllister, Beck and SPS advanced over time,

business opportunities emerged that required additional connections or workflows

to support new supply chain requirements from Otis McAllister’s existing or

prospective grocery customers.

For example, a grocery retailer wanted to receive more timely Advance Ship Notices

(ASNs), so Otis McAllister, Beck and SPS found a way to enable the supplier fulfilling

the order to directly send the ASN to the grocery retailer using SPSCommerce.net.

By empowering its suppliers and streamlining the transaction flow from vendors

directly to grocery customers, Otis McAllister can reduce its costs and improve

customer service.

“As we pursue new sales channels for our products, we can boldly say to potential

customers that we can accommodate their EDI requirements,” stated Kochheiser.

“We wouldn’t be able to say this without Beck and SPS Commerce working

collaboratively at our side.”






Beck was instrumental in

introducing Otis McAllister to

complementary solutions, like

SPSCommerce.net, that could

help us continue to grow our

business.”

About Beck Consulting

For over 20 years, Beck Consulting has been providing enterprise software and

professional services to clients of all types and sizes throughout the world –

from startups to multi-billion dollar companies. Its approach to recommending

software solutions is thorough, professional, and designed to meet its customers’

expectations. To help assure these expectations are met, Beck’s unparalleled

professional staff helps organizations through all aspects of implementation, training

and support – and continue to do so as long they use the software.

Beck’s software solutions are based on

the most modern ERP (Enterprise Resource

Planning) system available today –

Microsoft Dynamics™ NAV. This offering

is highly configurable, feature-rich, and

provides the flexibility to grow and

change with any business. The company’s

goal is to assure that the software reflects

the way its customers do business.

About SPS Commerce

SPS Commerce is a leading provider of on-demand supply chain

management solutions, providing integration, collaboration,

connectivity, visibility and data analytics to thousands of

customers worldwide. We deliver our solutions over the

Internet using a Software-as-a-Service model to improve the

way suppliers, retailers, distributors and other customers manage and fulfill orders.

Our SPSCommerce.net platform features pre-built integrations used by current and

new customers alike, spanning 3,000 order management models across 1,500

retailers, grocers and distributors, as well as integrations to over 100 accounting,

warehouse management, enterprise resource planning, and packing and shipping

applications. More than 40,000 customers across more than 40 countries have

used SPSCommerce.net, making it one of the largest trading partner integration

centers. SPS Commerce has 41 consecutive quarters of increased revenues and is

headquartered in Minneapolis.

otis mcallister - bcerp

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