Determining the best integration strategy with a business process review

The key to this project's success was the seamless and tight integration between the IBM i and Synapse warehouse management system. As a result, Watson's has experienced improved business efficiencies. With the integration of Synapse and IBM i, the inventory processes are much more structured and organized. Watson's is also prepared to integrate their IBM i ERP with Magento Commerce to further grow their business. 

Each integration point also resulted in added benefit:

• Item Master: This integration point eliminates the need to maintain item masters on both the IBM i and Synapse programs
• Purchase Order: Watson’s no longer needs to enter POs in two systems
• PO Receipt Confirmation: Receipt confirmations give visibility to in-transit inventory as well as control of Accounts Payable processes
• Sales Order: This integration point prevents the Watson’s team from needing to enter orders in two places
• Ship Confirmation: This integration gives the Watson’s customer service team visibility into the statuses of orders that have been shipped
• Advanced Ship Notice: The ASN integration point notifies customers when their order has been shipped, keeping them informed
• Item Availability/QOH: The ERP is now updated with the correct quantities on hand through cycle counts and adjustments performed in Synapse, then pushed through to the ERP

• Undergo a business process review to identify a clear strategy for the integration project
• Discuss the original functionalities of the integration points and how they were configured, as well as what we thought they would look like with the new WMS and the potential technical implications of data flowing between the two systems
• Flushing out those touch points to gain a better idea of inventory movements and the overall business processes, which would allow for a better architecture for the integration
• The integration points identified for the solution were Item Master, Purchase Order, PO receipt confirmation, Sales Order, Ship Confirmation, Advanced Ship Notice, and Item Availability / Quantity on Hand
• Document an integration strategy specific to those identified integration points to suggest specific timing and movement of everything
• Integrate Synapse and IBM i to create streamlined internal processes
• Implement the use of RF guns to track inventory movement on the floor, providing more accurate inventory and transaction information