Oracle Integration and EDI Enablement Provided with DiCentral's Managed File Integration Solution

Company Profile:

Based in San Francisco, California, Solazyme Inc. is a leading biotechnology company in the renewable oil and bioproducts industry. In March 2011 Solazyme launched Algenist, a line of luxury skin care products that soon proved to be very successful.

The Challenge:

With the launch of the Algenist line of skin care products in 2011, Solazyme needed to become EDI capable in order to supply retailers and meet trading partner demands. The company needed an EDI provider that could supply a solution that would integrate with their Oracle applications, and that would free them of the burden of managing an in-house EDI operation.

Wanted: EDI Capability, Visibility, Control

After introducing Algenist, Solazyme received distribution arrangements with Sephora and QVC to bring the skin care products to the market, making Algenist available at Sephora's retail locations throughout the US, Sephora.com, and QVC.com. In order to connect and trade with Sephora and QVC, though, Solazyme needed to become EDI compliant. It was critical that the EDI provider chosen by Solazyme provide a solution that could be rapidly implemented while being compatible with their Oracle applications.

The Solution:

DiCentral's Managed File Integration solution, along with DiAnalyst, provide Solazyme with the automation, visibility, and control necessary to grow their business through new avenues, while leveraging their investment in Oracle by automating transactions with both big box and internet retailers.

Managed File Integration

DiCentral's Managed File Integration solution allows Solazyme to meet the unique EDI requirements of each EDI trading partner. This is made possible through DiCentral's ability to translate data into Solazyme's required format for each trading partner. DiCentral analyzes the EDI guidelines provided by Solazyme's trading partners, and tailors their data format to fit with their Oracle E-Business Suite accordingly. In addition, DiCentral sends a test file, and when approved, maps the file layout using our proprietary technology. Once mapping is completed, DiCentral tests the map for compliance until it passes certification.

The DiWeb interface, which is deployed alongside the integration solution, allows maximum visibility of data. Because the inbound and outbound files exchanged with the ERP application are all reflected within the DiWeb interface, Solazyme has 100% visibility into the status of their transactions. Nothing is more helpful than being able to prove to an EDI trading partner that your data was sent because you can see it and know that it is accurate.

Complete Oracle Integration

Because DiCentral is a certified Oracle partner, our solutions are 100% compatible with Solazyme's Oracle applications, simplifying the implementation process and helping to leverage their Oracle investment by providing complete mapping, integration, visibility, control, and communication.

Under the cloud EDI integration model, DiCentral assumes responsibility for mapping data connections with Solazyme's trading partners, alleviating them of the need to maintain a large, full-time staff devoted to managing the EDI connections. Also, since the connections are conducted via a web interface, Solazyme doesn't need to maintain hardware dedicated specifically to EDI connectivity.

DiAnalyst

In addition to Managed File Integration, Solazyme also leverages DiAnalyst. DiAnalyst provides automated, user-friendly sales activity reports when Solazyme needs them. DiAnalyst is a hosted reporting solution which maintains a set of standard reports for product and inventory analysis. With DiAnalyst, DiCentral was able to quickly accommodate Solazyme's reporting demands.

Additionally, there was no need for additional IT resources to assist in the setup, installation and maintenance of weekly reporting. One member of Solazyme's IT department provided the information needed for setup, and training was completed in less than an hour. There were no additional resources required, and the system is now continually maintained by DiCentral. It is user-friendly and provides automatic alerts to changes in the bulk data, and all reports are automatically available on a scheduled or on-demand basis.