AMADA uses AEB’s software suite ASSIST4 to enhance quality of service and supp

LEAMINGTON, U.K. - March 11, 2013 - PRLog -- • ASSIST4 Customs Management, ASSIST4 Transport & Freight Management and ASSIST4 Visibility & Collaboration Platform
• Result: improved picking capacity and customer service

AMADA GmbH, the German subsidiary of a leading global manufacturer of machines, tools and equipment for sheet metal fabrication, now manages its entire supply chain with AEB’s software suite ASSIST4. As a result, the picking capacity has increased by between four and six per cent, and AMADA runs its supply chain pro-actively, providing even better service to its customers.

The comprehensive shipping and customs process in the AMADA GmbH headquarters in Haan, Germany, is managed with AEB’s ASSIST4 software. ASSIST4 Customs Management and Transport & Freight Management solutions have been used in AMADA’s logistics and global trade operations since September 2011, and the ASSIST4 Visibility & Collaboration Platform was implemented in September 2012.

Prior to the introduction of ASSIST4, the entire packing process was very time consuming. Shipping orders had to be created manually, and freight charges had to be laboriously calculated and then carried over to the invoice. Today, integrated packing stations serve as centres for packing, weighing, and for printing carrier and parcel service labels and packing lists. All data is scanned into ASSIST4, which then automatically generates the required documents. The loading lists are automatically transmitted to the transport service providers.

With ASSIST4, transparency has been introduced to the goods-issue process, enabling simple consignment searches to reveal key information including who picked and packed the order and when; whether the labels have been printed; and whether the goods have been issued. This significantly improved the previous process where printing a delivery note did not necessarily mean that the goods had left the warehouse.

But AMADA went one step further to achieve comprehensive transparency throughout the supply chain. AEB’s Visibility & Collaboration Platform now ensures that all status updates are transferred to the online platform – including both internal milestones such as “ready to ship” or “goods issued”, and external updates such as tracking & tracing information from carriers or customs clearance messages from the authorities. Providing all sales, service, and logistics staff with round-the-clock access to the status of a shipment allows them to respond to possible delays before it is too late, which in turn enables AMADA to offer its customers a further improved quality of service.

Sabine Mertens, Logistics & Purchase Manager and the project manager who coordinated the implementation of ASSIST4 at AMADA, said: “We needed too much time to create delivery notes and forwarding orders. There was no overarching logistics system to generate all the documents required for our shipping and export processes. Today we use an integrated logistics system, and the processes are standardised and harmonised. Now we work much more efficiently, and our picking capacity has increased by between four and six per cent.”

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Contacts
For the full case study, further information, photos or interview requests, please contact Andrea Krug, Krug Communications Ltd, tel. +44 (0)7740 245 867, email: andrea@krugcomms.com. To find out more about AEB’s software solutions please visit www.aeb-international.co.uk.

Notes to Editors

About AEB GmbH (www.aeb-international.co.uk)  
AEB is one of Europe's leading providers of supply chain logistics software and has been delivering solutions to customers for over thirty years. The company has over 6,000 customers worldwide and is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, supported by offices in the UK, Switzerland, Singapore and the US. AEB’s core product - ASSIST4 - is the comprehensive solution suite for all logistics processes in global business. ASSIST4 offers a complete set of business services for end-to-end logistics, including international goods movements, making it possible to standardise and automate business processes in supply chain execution. ASSIST4 also creates transparency and provides a reliable basis for making the right decisions about the planning, monitoring, control and continual optimisation of supply networks, even beyond the boundaries of the business. The ASSIST4 suite offers full functionality via a wide range of modules including Visibility & Collaboration Platform, Order Management, Warehouse Management, Transport & Freight Management, Customs Management and Compliance & Risk Management.

About AMADA (www.amada.com)
The AMADA group is a leading manufacturer of sheet metal fabrication equipment with a complete portfolio of cutting, bending, punching, and laser technologies complemented by modular automation components, software applications, and a wide array of tools. The AMADA group was founded by Isamu Amada in Japan in 1946; its German subsidiary AMADA GmbH was founded in 1973. In 2011, the AMADA group generated revenues of US$1.98 billion. In September 2009, AMADA GmbH opened its new “Solution Center” in Haan, near Düsseldorf. The 7.1 hectare site is home to the solution centre with its large showroom and offices, the AMADA School for customers and employees, and the 1,500 square meter logistics centre, where 13,000 articles are stored. Respect and responsibility for nature and the environment are an important part of the corporate philosophy. That’s why the AMADA site includes one of the largest geothermal facilities in the state of North Rhine – Westphalia and some 4 hectares of the site are landscaped.