Digital order process at wasserneutral: EDI connection to retail in just a few days

About Wasserneutral

Hamburg is not only located on the water, but is also home to a company that has set itself the goal of using this resource sparingly. Since 2013, wasserneutral has been manufacturing and distributing sustainable care products under its own brand, HYDROPHIL. Since then, they have become the market leader in the sustainable dental hygiene segment.

With over 6 million toothbrushes sold, 139 tons of plastic have been saved. In 2020, sales of $5 million were achieved and the team now comprises almost 30 employees. wasserneutral's products, which are always produced in a "water-neutral, vegan, and fair" manner, are now sold in 28 countries.

Particularly worthy of support: 10% of profits go to Viva con Agua de Sankt Pauli e.V. (https://www.vivaconagua.org)

The problem: Meeting trade requirements for EDI

Following a successful launch and strong growth in the B2C and e-commerce business, wasserneutral soon reached another milestone: permanent listing in the core product range of Edeka, Budni, Alnatura, Müller, and other retailers.

However, this presented the team with a challenge. Numerous retail partners demanded a digital connection via EDI (electronic data interchange) in order to be able to transmit orders, delivery notes, and invoices digitally.

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For large food retail partners, this digital ordering process is an absolute must. It avoids time-consuming manual data entry and makes the purchasing process more efficient. In the case of wasserneutral, there was even the risk of potential delisting by one of its largest food retail customers if the EDI requirements were not met. A smooth EDI connection is therefore critical to business. However, brands such as wasserneutral have so far had great difficulty implementing EDI. This is because it is usually associated with high costs and significant IT effort:

• High initial investment: EDI service providers often charge five-figure sums per trading partner connection.
• Time-consuming: Setting up a trading connection often takes 6-8 weeks.
• IT complexity: Direct integration with the ERP system is either impossible or very difficult for EDI service providers to implement.

As a result, brands must choose between two unfavorable options. If EDI is ignored, there is a risk of delisting or penalties. If EDI is implemented, high investments and valuable resources are required. This represents an enormous barrier, especially for startups.

The solution: fast and easy EDI with the Procuros Integration Hub

Procuros has set itself the task of enabling digital connectivity to all trading partners more smoothly than ever before. A brand's ERP system is connected to the Procuros network once using the Procuros plug-and-play connector. This enables direct access to all important EDI interfaces in the retail sector and significantly reduces IT complexity. In addition to low IT complexity, this resulted in the following decisive advantages for wasserneutral:

• No or low upfront costs and no IT resource usage: There are no or only very low connection fees, and no IT resources are required on the customer side.
• Fast and customer-oriented trading partner support: In just a few weeks, all partners were connected with their desired data format.
• Scalability: Thanks to the Hub architecture, additional trading partners can be easily connected via plug & play.

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Procuros enabled us to meet the EDI requirements of all trading partners, thereby avoiding impending penalties and possible delisting.

Wanja Weskott Managing Partner

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The result: focus on core business instead of manual processes or expensive IT projects

Following rapid and successful implementation, wasserneutral can now receive and send order documents digitally—directly in its own ERP system. The team was able to meet the requirements of the retail sector and can now guarantee professional, digital processes using EDI.

Since manual steps for data entry and document dispatch have been digitized, wasserneutral has also been able to become significantly more efficient in its own operations thanks to Procuros.

In figures, this means:

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• 4 hours of time saved per person per week in processing
• 90% reduction in errors through automatic data processing
• A few hours of total time spent on meetings with Procuros during implementation

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The Procuros Integration Hub is a real revolution in my daily work. I send and receive order documents automatically in the ERP system, allowing me to focus on the things that really matter. Ronja Kowalke, After Sales Manager

Important water neutral trading partners:

• Budni
• Edeka
• Flink
• Flaconi
• Müller
• Bio Company
• Alnatura
• Biogarten
• and more...

Increase your level of automation and customer loyalty now with Procuros

Procuros digitizes your ordering process so that you can concentrate on your core processes again. Do you want to comply with retail requirements and minimize manual data entry? Arrange a free consultation appointment with one of our experienced digitization experts here or write to us at [email protected].

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