Learn How to Integrate Your Systems to Streamline Your Workflow
Welcome to our webinar, everyone. My name is Terri Happe and I’m in charge of marketing here at SOS Inventory. Today, we’re delighted to share some helpful tips to help you streamline your workflow processes by integrating highly successful applications in the complex web sales arena.
Your presenters and information specialists today are Dale Lathrop, our lead trainer at SOS Inventory and Mike Meyer, Sales Manager of ConnectPointz.
Dale is one of the leading experts in SOS Inventory. Drawing upon 38 years of experience in information systems, technology, and training, he empowers clients with the tools and knowledge to manage their growing inventory and manufacturing needs working together with QuickBooks Online. Before SOS, Dale had a successful 25-year career in the United States Air Force working as an officer in the Communications and Computer Systems career field and uses that to SOS Inventories advantage to make the product even better.
Mike has been the driving force in leveraging ACT Data’s expertise in traditional EDI wholesale services into cloud based iPaaS integrated services called Connectpointz. ACT’s 35 years of structured transaction processing is paying big dividends in today’s loose-wire world of coders for hire by consistently delivering repeatable bullet-proof solutions. By partnering with other solid, core focused systems providers, Connectpointz clients realize automated Order-through-Cash processing. Mike continues to enjoy expanding Connectpointz’ reach and helping clients prosper.
Together, these gentlemen will demonstrate how your inventory and ecommerce platforms can easily share information to open new sales channels while managing all inventory from a single platform.
So, let’s get started.
When working with online applications, the solution ends up being an application ecosystem that, when integrated successfully, enhances your ability to manage your data. Whether it be to allow you to combine all your sales channels into one point which you will get with ConnectPointz or to manage your sales as they affect your inventory stock levels as with SOS Inventory. Today you’re going to hear both sides of the equation from Mike and Dale so you can see just how easy it is to expand your sales and make your overall workflow easier.
Since the sales are the key element, I’m going to turn this over to Mike to explain what ConnectPointz can do for you.
Thanks Terri.
Hello everyone and thank you for attending today’s webinar. I am really excited to speak today about a terrific partnership we have with SOS.
Our Connectpointz service has integrated thousands of brands with nearly 600 retail partners and marketplaces presenting sales orders from every point of sale in a hosted site.
Connectpointz also connects to over two-hundred third party applications such as Shopify, BigCommerce and many more to collect your internet sales, enhancing your ability to reach people anywhere in the world.
If you are using SOS Inventory, adding Connectpointz or replacing your existing 3rd party with Connectpointz gives you visibility into end-to-end automation with every incoming sales order as you can see in this screen-shot.
Dale and I will show you today how our partnership with SOS seamlessly integrates orders-through-cash for all your orders from any source in any format from all big box retailers like Walmart to all marketplaces like eBay to your own online stores like Shopify or Big Commerce. Sending and receiving all of your orders is a key component but, to fill those orders you need to have inventory, accounting and logistics to ship them. Here is where integration with SOS saves the day right Dale?
You can say that again Mike.
Let me first say that SOS Inventory is an inventory management, manufacturing, and end-to-end workflow management application that is primarily used with QuickBooks Online for the majority of our customers.
It also is integrated with ConnectPointz from ACT Data using the SOS Inventory API structure to push sales into SOS Inventory either as sales orders or sales receipts. But that is only the tip of iceberg. Our API provides the full capability of our application so that you can pass the data you are needing either to be placed into SOS Inventory or to get data back out. But I get ahead of myself.
Many of our SOS Inventory users are wanting assistance with EDI type orders. These are the orders coming generally from a retail partner such as Walmart that Mike has already mentioned.
So, Mike, how does ConnectPointz consolidate the EDI sales channels?
That is a complex task Dale and easily accomplished. As you see in the top layer of this slide, ConnectPointz standardizes the orders from all sources for display purposes and presents those orders as sales orders directly to SOS Inventory as you can see in the middle layer, making sure that all required information for that sales partner is included. Then Connectpointz updates the status of the order as “Sent” to SOS.
Hey Dale, tell our audience what happens after you receive the sales in SOS Inventory.
As you see from this overall workflow using our API model, as sales come into SOS Inventory they are already formatted as sales orders which can then be processed against your existing inventory in many flexible workflows.
You can process them from the sales order list one at a time to ensure that all details are captured, and any additional processing can be done, such as the manufacturing of finished goods, before the goods are shipped to the customer.
SOS does support both discrete and complex manufacturing. It can handle assemblies and any number of sub-assembly levels, as well as, performing manufacturing processes for more complex finished goods. This can be done as a work in progress style as well since not everything may be built in the same day.
I do want to point out that as sales orders enter SOS Inventory, they affect the available for sales quantities to show goods as set aside for that sale. Those new available inventory stock quantities may need to be used to update your external sales points. This is where ConnectPointz comes in again.
Yessir Dale, we automatically pick up inventory quantities on regular intervals and distribute that info to all of the client’s sales channels so inventory is synced across the client’s entire community.
I’m really excited that your product takes care of that aspect with the sales channels to save those using our systems so much time.
Since this webinar is all about enhancing your workflow, I want to mention that there are tools built into SOS Inventory that can further enhance this basic workflow such as Automated Order Processing rules. A rule can check for orders coming in from a specific sales channel and then take actions based on triggers in the rule. Actions such as notifying someone in the company about the new sale or even create follow-on transactions for you such as shipments which remove finished goods stock levels while processing the order. This can entail either full or partial shipments depending on the stock on hand. Shipments can produce packing slips and bills of lading in SOS Inventory, but their shipment transactions can also be retrieved by ConnectPointz.
Hey Mike, what can you do with shipment data once its retrieved?
Now that SOS has finished preparing the orders to ship, Connectpointz retrieves the ship orders from SOS. From here Connectpointz utilizes the client’s preferred shipping partners. Wholesale orders typically use our integrations with the WMS of large 3pls like Tailored, DSV, ProductFulfillment or Geodis, whoever the client contracts to physically ship these LTL or trailer loads.
For these wholesale shipments, the workflow with a logistics partner can include Bill of Ladings, Manifests, UCC-128 carton or pallet labels generated by Connectpointz or the WMS at the logistics partner.
Once the order has shipped, Connectpointz sends the ASN back to the point of sale and exchanges the shipment info with SOS.
So Dale, isn’t there more to a sales workflow? The order flow often is not finished without invoicing.
You are correct Mike.
Once an order has been shipped, the invoice is generated for that order in SOS and that would complete the order processing. Then ConnectPointz can pull that invoice transaction to complete the EDI process with the sales channel it originated from. Of course, this doesn’t have to be one at a time; the process can be done en masse by taking transactions in combined files.
On another note, with EDI processing, sometimes there is data that SOS Inventory does not have a field for normally that is critical to the EDI order such as requested shipping methods or even tracking information to be included on the invoice. SOS can handle a good amount of this additional data by using custom fields which are easily added to the system by a user on the SOS account and are then available as additional fields for this data being passed back to ConnectPointz.
Hey Mike. I know that at this point you would pick up the invoice, but I know you do some more magic to process the invoice on your end.
Yes, now that the order has been processed and applied to all systems, new inventory levels are communicated and ASN transmitted to the sales channel. Many sales channels want an invoice transmitted, as well. Connectpointz picks up the finished invoice info from SOS and sends the invoice to those sales channels.
Well Mike, that pretty much sums up the overall high level view of the workflow. Is there anything else you would like to let our attendees know about today?
Thanks Dale. An important point to cover is that the process flows we discussed today are optimal. However, we know that no two clients are the same. Connectpointz has built in flexibility to integrate with product info management systems like Channel Advisor, CRM like SalesForce, other intermediaries like CommerceHub and Radial and other accounting systems like SAP, Netsuite, Acumatica or many others. So, really integrating everywhere along the supply chain and customized to each client’s needs. Connectpointz ultimately is an integration and compliance service, connecting and complying with each party as directed by you, our client.
Mike, your robust integration solution of ConnectPointz partnered with SOS Inventory’s inventory management and more can really help companies not only streamline their workflow for multiple eCommerce sales channels but can provide them avenues to expand their companies reach farther than ever.
Thanks Mike and Dale for that very insightful information for our attendees today.
Both SOS Inventory and ConnectPointz would like to thank all our attendees with promotions to get you started.
New SOS Inventory customers can save 15% off their first year with coupon code Connect15.
New ConnectPointz users integrating with SOS, please use promo code “SOSINVSYNC” to receive Free Inventory Syncs on All Sales Channels up to 1,000 SKUs.
Be sure to take advantage of these great webinar specials while they last.
Both Mike and Dale have shown us how you can save time and increase sales by connecting all your workflows together with SOS Inventory and ConnectPointz. On behalf of our entire team, thank you for attending our webinar.
