BUSINESS DRIVERS AND GOALS

The Detroit Public Schools (DPS) is the 15th largest school district in the country, and the largest public school system in Michigan. The DPS has 255 schools that provide services to 150,415 students in the Detroit metropolis. Economic factors and budgetary cuts spurred the school system to adopt a comprehensive technology plan to automate processes and procedures to increase accountability and enable the administrative system to become less paper-intensive. As part of its technology plan, the DPS installed an enterprise-wide business management solution that included PeopleSoft Financials Management System, Human Capital Management System, Contracting and Procurement module and an Enterprise Performance Management module.

To spur vendor compliance with its technology infrastructure, DPS offered Vedasoft's client (a division of $2 billion manufacturer of chemical and janitorial cleaning products) the option to become an exclusive supplier if the company could facilitate access to the supplier's online product catalog, and the use of Punchout techniques to select and purchase goods. The application required the following features:

   Online access to the supplier's product catalogs, along with pricing and availability
   Customized content, incorporating negotiated pricing and contractual agreements
   Confirmation of order received, and tracking of items procured through the DPS procurement system
   Seamless interface between DPS procurement system and the supplier's e-commerce infrastructure
   Use of Punchout techniques using CXML guidelines and standards

BUSINESS SOLUTION

Since the supplier did not have a sufficient in-house expertise, the project was outsourced to Vedasoft, who applied the Veda Punchout application to enable the seamless integration between the supplier's catalog and the buyer's procurement system. DPS buyers were able to access customized products and pricing information on the the supplier's website in a tree catalog format. Once they selected and added products to the shopping cart, they could checkout the entire transaction, without ever having to leave their own procurement infrastructure. The ordered information was the sent to the supplier's e-commerce application for order and shipping confirmation. This seamless integration helped users to view information from only one source. Buyers had instant access to whether the product was backordered, and if available, tracking numbers provided information on the shipment of their orders.

APPLICATION DETAILS

Vedasoft chose the Microsoft .Net framework to design the catalog. Web services were used to integrate the legacy application to send orders and receive confirmations. The use of CXML standards enabled the seamless integration between the two systems.

BUSINESS RESULTS

   DPS saved time and reduced its administrative costs since it no longer had to manage the catalog content.
   The seamless integration between the DPS PeopleSoft Procurement System & the supplier's legacy applications 
     reduced the supplier's customer support costs and reduced errors and omissions, if any.
   Instant access to current catalog and pricing information reduced any miscommunications between the buyer and
     supplier.
   The scalable solution is available to any buyer who wants to procure products from the supplier. In addition to the
     Detroit Public Schools System, the supplier also secured exclusivity from the Chicago Public Schools System.