Service Point Solutions, has executed an agreement with EFI, the leading vendor of B2B E-commerce software in the graphics sector, in a bid to boost its E-commerce channel and raise the group's operational efficiency.
The collaboration between both companies takes effect from May 2010 and will run through the end of 2012, entailing capex on the part of Service Point in the amount of €2.1 million throughout the period. EFI will supply and install the technology for Service Point in its electronic commerce channel in architecture that is seamlessly integrated with the new ERP system, covering all group subsidiaries. By streamlining and improving production processes, this project will generate annual savings of €3 million.
SPS will install EFI's Digital Store Front technology in an ERP platform called PACE, also developed by EFI, on a staggered basis over the next two years in all the group's operations. This will optimise and automate orders in a platform that is seamlessly integrated within the group's operations. The software will have a positive impact on ongoing cost control and management.
With this investment, Service Point will enhance the service provided to customers using its electronic commerce channels as well as ensuring full operational integration, thereby unlocking further improvements in production cost management. The company also believes that this agreement will enable it to expand its customer base.
The E-commerce B2B channel is already up and running between SPS' main clients, the 140 production centres open across the company's eight operating markets and the 400 production centres reached through the GlobalGrafixnet network operational in another 40 countries. The company's target is to generate 30% of revenue over the B2B channel within three years' time, compared to 5% today.
The products and services available through this channel range from a comprehensive file transfer tool to a business-oriented solution for storing important customer data and allowing for periodic printing, a process controlled directly by the customer, as a function of their storage requirements and real time needs. The new Ecommerce platform fully integrated within the new ERP system will enable improved internal management, automating production processes and order generation, planning and allocation as well as driving ongoing cost and operational margin improvements.
The B2B E-commerce channel enables printing "anytime, anywhere" using SPS' extensive service network which provides coverage 24 hours a day, seven days a week by leveraging its proprietary network of production centres, complemented by the GlobalGrafixnet network in more than 40 countries. Service Point is wellpositioned to become the leading B2B E-commerce player in the information management and print industry. According to Joan Carles Peiro, COO of Service Point Solutions, "This marks another step in our strategy to strengthen our E-commerce channel by ensuring seamless online integration with operations and business production, ultimately enabling us to continue to capture economies of scale across the group".