Ewals develops European-wide Integrated Information Platform with Cordys

Ewals Cargo Care is an integrated logistics company, operating on a global scale.

The Company provides a wide range of logistic services. It operates from 45 locations in 13 countries, from where it services 3,500 customers. Ewals not only provides traditional transportation services but also manages the full supply chain for its customers.

The Challenge:
Over the years Ewals has always been a frontrunner in its industry in using IT to support its activities. “We have always been early adopters in this field,” say Renaat Sohl, who is responsible for corporate IT at Ewals. An example is the iCare system, which has been developed in-house and supports all administrative activities of the companies. It has been in use for years now. Ewals has reoriented its business strategy to ‘Move, Store, Manage’ and as IT is the key enabler in improving and managing all processes, the IT strategy has to be aligned accordingly.

Renaa Sohl: “In recent years we have added new services to our portfolio, including warehousing and full logistic services. Still our IT system and business processes are mainly based on administrative support. Recently we have undertaken a strategic reorientation as part of which we have taken a closer look at our business processes and the impact on information management that we provide for our customers. Next to the objective of this reorientation ‘Move, Store, Manage’ we would like to provide our employees with new tools, which will help them perform better.

IT is the key enabler in achieving the objective and streamlining the processes. Additionally our aim is to leverage our existing investments, but at the same time create new and flexible process orientated functionality. We want to move from an administrative approach to a proactive approach, while maintaining the flexibility we are known for and without extensive investment in new information systems.”

The Solution
Together with its partner Ordina, Ewals started a project to determine its business processes and search for a solution that would support the company in reaching its new objectives. Renaat Sohl: “Our study of the business processes in our European locations showed that different offices have different ways of working. In order to work more closely together it was obvious we should adopt a more standardised way of working. Still out client appreciated our flexibility and agility in doing business with us. Therefore we needed a solution that would enable us to standardise processes to remain flexibly. We looked at several different EAI and Business Process Management Solutions but none of those convinced us.”

Sohl continues: “Ordina then advised us to take a look at the Cordys platform and Cordys’ Enterprise Services Bus. Ordina and Cordys developed a proof of concept in which one of the core processes was simulated. Our objective of this proof of concept was to determine whether both technologies and the two partners were in the right place.”

Sohl adds: “As a matter of fact the proof was a great success and convinced us of the power of the Cordys solution. We will use it to develop a European-wide portal for all locations, which will serve as the central point of information. The Cordys solution will streamline the business processes and integrate data from our existing iCare system, our Quintiq planning system and other systems into the portal. By using the Cordys solution we are able to do this within our own time frame and pace. In addition, our core systems remain intact, leaving data as they are.”

The Benefits
The new portal not only allows for a transport information delivery across all Ewal locations, but will also provide additional features. Renaat Sohl: “We can, for example, add intelligence into the portal, including client recognition. Our client is recognised, only relevant data fields are shown to the user. This will improve efficiency and speed when entering data. In addition, we can easily create business process driven screens which will enable us to align IT with business requirements.”

Sohl concludes: “One of the most important advantages of the Cordys platform is that it is a technology, and not a fixed package. As a technology it provides us with the necessary tools to build a new IT environment which does not affect existing systems and data and which is very adaptable to changing business needs. With the new portal and the Enterprise Service Bus, which will integrate all of our information systems, we will be able to improve our efficiency and better serve our customers.”