CTSI Recognized for SAP Implementation Excellence

CTSI, a world leader in supply chain technology and services, was recognized for SAP implementation excellence by W.W. Grainger, Inc. - grainger.com at their recent Technology Summit in Lake Forest, IL.

The Summit reviewed the 2-year process that Grainger undertook to implement 20 SAP modules at one time. This is the largest number of SAP modules ever implemented at one time on a worldwide basis. The vendors that played a major role in the implementation effort were recognized for their efforts. Because supply chain management plays such a critical role throughout Grainger's entire operations, CTSI's contribution was cited for special recognition.

"We are especially appreciative of this honor and our relationship with Grainger", says J. Kenneth Hazen, CTSI President and CEO. "Grainger has set the standard in the facilities maintenance products industry with over 1.7 million customers, $5.5 billion in annual sales, and by providing the quality level of service that has made them a perennial member of Fortune Magazine's Most Admired Companies list."

Grainger asked CTSI to receive bill of lading and purchase order files from their SAP system along with other new files containing shipment type, origin, destination and vendor ID.  With these datasets, CTSI was able to confirm all required distribution center, branch, and client coding logic.  CTSI then created a final GL code file to Grainger's specifications and compliant with SAP's IDOC format.

"The real advantage CTSI provides Grainger and other SAP clients" says Bill Fredrick, CTSI VP of IT Process Management "is our ability to act as middleware with the flexibility to accommodate the unique requirements for over 13,000 carriers. Transportation is a very fragmented industry which causes data quality to be inherently difficult to process, analyze, and manage. Our ability to receive, normalize, cleanse, audit, code, and pass the resulting quality data directly into ERP systems like SAP is one of our core strengths."