Case study · EDI and custom software
From paper checklists to scanned, EDI-ready shipments.
An automotive parts supplier was labelling, loading trucks, notifying customers and invoicing largely by hand. We built an operations app that ties the production floor and the dock to their EDI customers, inventory and accounting.
- automotive customers connected over EDI
- 10automotive customers connected over EDI
- customer plants served across the United States and Mexico
- US · MXcustomer plants served across the United States and Mexico
- in daily production use since, and still evolving
- 2023in daily production use since, and still evolving
- Client
- Plastic parts manufacturer supplying the automotive industry
- Region
- North America
- Our role
- Custom software and EDI integration, with a US implementation partner
- Connected to
- Fishbowl Inventory, QuickBooks, PLC-driven label printers, X12, EDIFACT and XML trading partners
The challenge
Busy docks, demanding customers
The client ships plastic parts to ten automotive manufacturers and Tier-1 suppliers, with receiving plants across the United States and Mexico. Each customer expects precise deliveries and exchanges forecasts and shipping notices over EDI, in its own format and with its own rules.
Labels were prepared by hand, loading was checked manually, and shipping notices and invoices were assembled separately from what had physically been loaded. That took time every day, and every manual step was a chance for a mismatch the customer would notice first.
The solution
One flow, from order to invoice
Truck loads from sales orders
Each shipment starts from its sales order. The app knows which parts and quantities should go on the truck, and tracks the load from new to invoiced.
Scan to load
Workers build pallets and load trucks with Android 2D barcode scanners. Every scan is checked against the order, so shortages and extras show up before the truck leaves, not after.
Labels that print themselves
When a production machine finishes a carton, its PLC sends the part and quantity over the network. The app assigns a serial number and prints the label on the right printer, with no one at a keyboard.
EDI in both directions, per customer
Forecasts arrive as EDI 830 or EDIFACT DELFOR and become tracked demand. Shipping notices go out as EDI 856, DESADV or XML, each in the exact variant that customer requires.
Inventory overview
One grid combines stock by location, weekly demand and what was actually shipped. Colour coding flags under-shipments and shortages weeks ahead, so planners act before a customer has to ask.
Inventory and invoicing in sync
Sales orders, parts and stock come from Fishbowl Inventory, and the invoice is generated for QuickBooks when the truck ships. Nobody retypes a shipment.
In use
The office, the dock and the planner’s view
Illustrations with invented data. The client’s real screens stay confidential.
| Load | SO | Ship to | Status | Cartons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 318 | 1042 | Seating plant · Ohio | New | 0 |
| 317 | 1039 | Interior systems · Michigan | Loading | 48 |
| 316 | 1037 | Seating plant · Ohio | Invoiced | 216 |
| 315 | 1036 | Door modules · Ontario | Invoiced | 24 |
| 314 | 1031 | Interior systems · Michigan | Invoiced | 170 |
Load 317 · SO 1039
Interior systems · Michigan
| Part | Order | Scanned |
|---|---|---|
| 4410-A | 448 | 448 |
| 4410-B | 448 | 224 |
| 5120-L | 96 | 0 |
| Part | On hand | Shipped last wk | Wk 44 · now | Wk 45 | Wk 46 | Wk 47 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4410-A | 1,340 | 448 | 448 | 448 | 448 | 448 |
| 4410-B | 610 | 224 | 448 | 448 | 448 | 448 |
| 5120-L | 2,880 | 192 | 96 | 192 | 96 | 192 |
| 7302-R | 0 | 0 | 120 | 0 | 120 | 0 |
Integrations
What flows where
- EDI 830DELFOR
Forecasts from customers
Turned into tracked demand per part and week, with firm orders protected from later forecast changes.
- EDI 856DESADVXML
Shipping notices to customers
Generated from the scanned load and sent over SFTP or HTTP, so what the customer is told matches what is on the truck.
- PLCUDP
Production machines
Part and quantity arrive the moment a carton is full, and the matching label prints automatically.
- Fishbowl
Orders, parts and inventory
Sales orders and stock read from the ERP, and inventory reflects what was actually shipped.
- QuickBooks
Invoices
Created from the shipped quantities and the agreed unit prices.
AI where it helps
A planning expert next to the numbers
From the inventory overview, a planner can ask an AI agent for a production plan. It works only from the data on screen: stock by location, open demand, last weeks’ shipments and work orders.
It ranks the risks, proposes what to run in the next 48 hours and the next two weeks, groups parts by press to limit changeovers, and states its assumptions and confidence. Parts on hold or in scrap are never counted as available, and it never suggests bypassing a quality control.
On the floor, an in-app assistant answers operators’ “how do I…” questions from the user guide.
- P1
7302-R · No stock and 120 due this week. Run first on press 6; confirm material before the shift.
- P1
4410-B · Under-shipped 224 last week, short from week 46. Schedule after 7302-R on the same press to avoid a changeover.
- P2
4410-A · Covered this week, partial in week 46. Plan a run in the next 3–14 days.
The outcome
Fewer surprises at the dock and on the customer’s side
- Every carton is scanned against its order before the truck leaves.
- Labels print at the machine, with serial numbers no one has to type.
- Shipping notices and invoices come from the same scan, with no retyping.
- Ten customers, each with its own EDI rules, handled by one system.
- Shortages show up weeks ahead in one view of stock, demand and shipments.
- Planners get a ranked, explained production plan on demand, from the same data.
Shipping, EDI and accounting that don’t agree?
Tell us how your orders move today. We’ll show you where the manual steps can go.