Photo: Google Gemini · AI-generated
The Challenge
A 100–150 employee manufacturer in Germany was managing a vendor network spanning multiple countries through a combination of email, spreadsheets, and manual ERP entries — slow, error-prone, and opaque. The in-house sourcing team had no unified view of open orders, shipment status, or delivery times. Chasing updates from vendors consumed time that should have been spent on sourcing decisions. The existing Sage 100 ERP handled finance and inventory — but had no meaningful purchasing workflow. The team needed a system that extended Sage 100 capabilities without replacing it.
What We Built
A Purchasing Portal built as a structured add-on to Sage 100 ERP — extending the system’s data and logic into a purpose-built interface for the sourcing team and their vendor network. Vendors access the portal to receive orders, confirm acceptance, update shipment details, and log delivery information. The sourcing team has a live view of every open order — status, location, expected arrival — without chasing a single email. Order and delivery data flows back into Sage 100, keeping finance and inventory aligned automatically. The system is hosted on-premises, consistent with the company’s infrastructure setup, and designed to handle the volume and geographic spread of a global vendor base. Delivery runs through an Azure DevOps CI/CD pipeline, with dev, QA, test, and live branches mapped to their own environments — every change moves through the same gated path before it reaches production.
What It Delivers
- Single view of all open orders, shipment status, and delivery timelines — updated by vendors directly
- Vendor communication structured through the portal — no more order management by email
- Sage 100 ERP stays current without manual re-entry — orders and delivery data flow back automatically
- Sourcing team freed from status-chasing to focus on supplier relationships and cost decisions
- Audit trail of every order, change, and delivery confirmation — accessible for finance and compliance review
- Azure DevOps CI/CD pipeline with dedicated dev, QA, test, and live environments — changes ship through the same repeatable path every time
Facing a similar challenge?
The problems above are specific — but the patterns are common. We would be glad to talk through your situation.