Anchor Yeast: Meeting Retailer EDI Requirements Without Disrupting Operations
Anchor Yeast, part of the Lallemand group, is a leading manufacturer of yeast, enzymes, and specialty ingredients in Southern Africa. The company supplies both industrial producers and major retail chains across the region.
The Challenge
Retailer-Mandated EDI with Tight Timeline
When one of its largest customers, Pick n Pay, required all suppliers to transition to an EDI-based purchase order process, Anchor Yeast needed to act quickly. The change meant the company had to reliably accept EDI orders, translate them into sales orders inside SYSPRO, and notify stores about delivery dates.
Previously, much of this work was handled manually by the call center, including order processing and customer updates, creating delays and errors. The company also had to contend with complex pricing agreements that made manual reconciliations even more difficult.
Why Flowgear was chosen
“Flowgear had already done integrations with Pick n Pay and could cater for our diverse projects,” commented Margareta Theron, IT Manager at Anchor Yeast.
SYSPRO Automation
Inbound EDI orders create SYSPRO sales orders, trigger delivery notices, and the call center team has full visibility
The Solution
EDI-to-ERP Order Automation
Flowgear’s integration platform was used to automate every step of the order process. Inbound EDI orders in XML format are automatically imported and passed to the SYSPRO ERP system, which generates sales orders. Stores immediately receive text messages with the expected delivery information.
The call center team now has the ability to link EDI orders to ERP order numbers, making ship dates easier to track. Errors dropped sharply once manual re-entry was eliminated, and complex pricing discrepancies could be addressed directly inside the system rather than after the fact.
The Results
Faster Processing and Fewer Errors
With the new process in place, Anchor Yeast achieved significant operational improvements:
- Customer communication moved from manual updates to automated notifications.
- Errors dropped thanks to direct EDI-to-ERP integration.
- Price discrepancies associated with retail contracts are easier to address.
- Ship dates can be identified more quickly by linking EDI orders to ERP records.
Faster, cleaner orders
Automated notifications replaced manual updates, and each team has access to a live, single source of truth.
Expanding retail connections
With Pick n Pay’s initial use case sorted for Anchor Yeast, they plan to extend the same digital order flow across their other partners.
The Future
Looking Ahead
After successfully handling Pick n Pay’s requirements, Anchor Yeast turned to Shoprite, the continent’s largest retailer, and integrated their electronic orders as well. The company now plans to extend the process to Spar and wholesaler Shield, ensuring that its digital order management can support each new retail partner.
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