Case Studies
Rockline
Industry
Manufacturing
ERP
Oracle JD Edwards
K-Rise Solutions Helps Rockline Industries Automate PO Lifecycle And Pricing Management
Rockline Industries is a family-owned business that has been at the forefront of innovation in the wet wipes industry since its founding in 1976. Headquartered in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Rockline manufactures coffee filters and consumer, health care, industrial, and institutional wet wipes globally.
In 2017, Rockline Industries made a strategic move by acquiring Iatric Manufacturing Solutions — their sixth facility in North America — located in Morristown, Tennessee. With nearly 2,500 employees across other manufacturing facilities in Wisconsin, Arkansas, New Jersey, Tennessee, England, and South China, Rockline has established itself as an innovator of product design solutions to meet consumer demands.
To ensure efficiency and accuracy in operations across such a significant global presence, Rockline sought a way to streamline their procurement process while ensuring accuracy and visibility. Their current ERP solution, Oracle JD Edwards, needed built-in PO management capabilities, and the process for purchase order accuracy was manual and costly.
Rockline Industries sought an easy pre-built apps solution that could automate the PO lifecycle, simplify pricing management, deliver the correct price the first time, and provide visibility into the entire process. After researching various solutions, Rockline decided to partner with K-Rise Solutions.
Pricing Management to Manage Pricing Submission, Approval, and Flow into JDE Price Catalog
The Pricing Management module was developed as a workflow process to help manage customer pricing submissions and approvals, and flow into the JDE Price Catalog. It ensures customer pricing information is accurate, up-to-date, and compliant with corporate policies.
The application allows for greater control over customer pricing by centralizing all activity in one place. It also helps to streamline the process of creating multiple versions of pricing documents and tracking changes from version to version.
The workflow begins when suppliers submit price changes via the K-Rise Portal based on effective dates. A Rockline Sourcing Manager then analyzes the pricing and approves or denies it through the K-Rise Portal.
Once approved, K-Rise pushes the new pricing into the JDE Price Catalog for new POs. Additionally, a planner can update existing Blanket Orders and Purchase Orders with the latest pricing as well. Workflow-generated emails are sent between each step in the process to ensure visibility and accuracy.
Easy Home Page Navigation on Vendor Self-Service Portal
Making navigation easy on a vendor self-service portal is key to streamlining the workflow. Rockline’s Home page offers a simple and intuitive user interface, with shortcut links for each step in the process. With convenient links along the top of the page, customers can quickly find what they need – from Open POs to Ship Confirm Orders, Closed POs, Invoices, and more – without having to navigate away from their current page.
My Price Requests
Sourcing Managers and Suppliers now have access to an enhanced price request process that allows them to view the status, total cost, and other related information for all price requests in one central location. This streamlined process makes it easier and faster to compare prices, approve requests, and move products from source material to inventory. Simplifying the process, saves time for those involved and results in the more efficient management of materials.
Pricing Inquire And Review Item Changes
Suppliers can easily submit a price change to all their current active items with the Pricing Inquire page. The pricing change can be done either via an Excel download/upload, a percentage (%), or manual entry. The manual entry allows the supplier to enter the new prices for each item and submit it for review by JDE Process Catalog. Once approved, the new prices will be reflected on the catalog for customers to view and place orders with those updated prices.
Review Item Changes
The Review Item Changes page is where suppliers can complete the pricing submission process. On this page, they can review any changes they have made to their items, such as making a new price change or adding a new item. They then can submit their completed form for review by the Sourcing Manager, and if approved, the new prices will be reflected on the catalog for customers to view and place orders with those updated prices.
PO Management
The PO management application provides visibility into the entire PO process, making it easy to track PO acknowledgment, revisions, truck requests, and ship confirmations. This application allows for real-time updates, updating all information to the appropriate JDE tables.
Suppliers can review and approve POs for quantity, date, price, and other information. Additionally, they can create and send truck requests to 3rd party logistics providers. Suppliers also send ship confirmation/ASN when the product leaves their facility.
When suppliers change quantities or dates beyond the tolerance level, they select a Reason Code to explain the change. All truck requests and ASN/shipment records are updated with the proper PO information, which makes it easy to track in-transit POs and performance metrics such as pick-up and delivery dates, on-time shipments, and quantity accuracy.
Finally, the system provides a detailed view of all invoices associated with activities that are tracked and visible on the PO Management page for easy access and review.
Overall, K-Rise Systems’ Pricing and PO Management workflow portal provides a centralized, streamlined platform for Rockline Enterprises to manage their POs and suppliers with ease. With this automated process, Rockline can expect to increase efficiency in their purchasing process, gain better visibility into their inventory levels and supplier performance, as well as improve the accuracy of PO information. This new system also allows for increased collaboration between Rockline and its suppliers, making it easier to manage and track orders.
