May 2023

A Growing Business with Disjointed Processes

Over the years your organisation has put in place bulletproof business processes that assist in the smooth running of day-to-day operations.

Steadily, as time goes by the company has grown, you have employed more staff, increased the number of departments and the number of software applications and business processes have multiplied.

Suddenly you are seeing:

• A lack of communication between departments and business partners.
• Time delays between processes.
• Repetitive bi-directional data entry.
• Increased running costs with no sign of improved ROI.

Sounds messy doesn’t it?

For many, today’s business environment requires systems and applications that integrate and ‘talk’ with each other to eradicate process bottlenecks, remove repetitive data entry and improve the visibility of critical data.

However, this can be a costly and time-consuming approach to take which is why businesses are looking towards integration and business process automation software such as SAP Certified, BPA Platform.

SAP Business One integration with BPA Platform can reduce development costs and time frames through its SAP Certified code-free integration tools enabling businesses of any size to seamlessly link finance and accounting, sales and marketing, customer services, HR, Inventory and purchasing functions together with their associated operational processes.

• Reduce integration time frames and development costs.
• Eradicate process bottlenecks.
• Improve visibility of critical data.
• Remove repetitive data entry.
• Reduce operational costs and increase ROI.

Tailoring an integration or automated process when using BPA Platform can be achieved by anyone with a basic understanding of your database structures by using an easy-to-use interface providing a code-free environment for practically any number of integrations and automated processes.

This ties up any loose ends within your organisation to ensure that the business runs more effectively with data seamlessly synchronised between systems and automatically distributed to whoever needs it at the most relevant time, set to the business rules you define.

KFA Connect are Codeless Platforms Partners – authorised to sell BPA Platform and have in-depth knowledge of developing integration and Process automation using the solution.

Integrate Shopify Plus with Xero Using BPA Platform

Organisations that sell their products or services online commonly use powerful eCommerce platforms such as Shopify Plus.

Unfortunately, for many businesses, this still requires employees to manually extract their data and re-key it into their business software. Information is also frequently manually extracted from business software, for example, Xero and then re-keyed into the eCommerce web store.

The Downsides of Manual Bi-Directional Data Processing are:

• Extremely time-consuming.
• Highly prone to errors.
• Costly.

Businesses are now turning to solutions which automate the flow of information between their webshop and business software.

So, What are the 4 Most Common eCommerce Integration Scenarios?

• Automatic insertion of eCommerce orders into an accounting solution.
• Automatic transfer of order status, current stock levels and/or images from accounting systems to web store.
• Automatic consignment of an order with a selected courier service(s).
• Automatic synchronisation of customer information between an eCommerce application and a CRM system.

Organisations that are automating these common scenarios are eradicating repetitive data entry and the associated human errors, significantly decreasing dispatch times and cutting operational costs.

Automating the synchronisation of information between business systems and an eCommerce application is an affordable and quick process by utilising drag-and-drop integration tools such as Codeless Platforms’ BPA Platform (business process automation) solution.

What eCommerce Applications Can BPA Platform Integrate?

• Magento integration
• Shopify integration
• PrestaShop integration
• BigCommerce integration
• Amazon Seller Central integration / Amazon FBA Automation
• eBay integration
• PIM eCommerce integration
  

For more information on how BPA Platform can be used to automate the flow of information between your business systems and applications to streamline your business processes, contact us to arrange a demonstration.

KFA Connect are Codeless Platforms Partners – authorised to sell BPA Platform and have in-depth knowledge of developing integration and process automation using the solution.

Jim Maddison – Business Analyst

The Only Way is Up

I grew up in the 80s; the decade that truly brought computing into the home.

Our first home computer was a rubber-keyed Spectrum 48K which lived proudly in the living room.

We were encouraged to play text-based adventure games designed to teach us how to type but my favourite “typing” exercise was playing Daley Thompsons Decathlon where to make the small, pixely Daley run the player had to hammer the left and right keys as fast as humanly possible. 

My first computing light-bulb moment came when I was studying A-level art, and the art department took delivery of an Acorn Archimedes computer. It was (back then) a 32-bit graphical powerhouse of a machine. My eyes glazed over as I gazed upon the thousands of colours in the drawing app palette.

My course was clear. I was going to become a graphic designer and use computers to make wonderful images because computers are the future!

I left school clutching an Art and General Studies A-Level and signed up at Plymouth College of Art & Design. This was where my future begins!

Only, it didn’t. There were no computers in sight. No hint of 3D graphical design, just odd people in chunky knitwear and dungarees. And they were the teachers!

This wasn’t what I had in mind at all. I decided it wasn’t for me and dropped out… of art college. I was on the lowest rung of academia with no useful qualifications to my name. So I did what any self-respecting art school dropout did and got a job in a record shop; Plymouth’s new Virgin Megastore.

The store had a strange computer terminal at one end of the counter. It didn’t have a mouse, or graphics, just text. I didn’t know it at the time, but I had met the AS400. It ran a system aptly named ELVIS, which stood for “EPoS Linked Virgin Information System”. (I later learned that AS400s love Acronyms, they’re everywhere!).

Not All Heroes Wear Capes

After a while, I decided I needed a change from working in retail and started a part-time course at evening school learning basic Pascal programming. This knowledge was enough to get a job as a trainee developer at a company called JBA, who wrote a warehouse management application.

On the first day, we were shown the system on which we would be trained and I instantly recognised the plain green text on a black background. It was an Elvis! Or rather, it was an AS400!

How ironic that I had left school planning to create the next “Money for Nothing” video and here I was starting a career on a system that had no graphical prowess whatsoever.

No time to dwell though, as the world needed me. I had joined JBA to help prepare their systems for the dreaded Y2K bug. An impending doomsday that would plunge the world back into the dark ages!

After only months of training, this plucky band of trainees were unleashed into the code to add century flags to dates. Before we knew it Big Ben was heralding the arrival of a new century.

This was it.

The world waited.

I waited.

Nothing happened.

The lights stayed on. Planes didn’t fall from the sky. Phones still worked.

I had done it… I had saved the world! (Well, me and about 30 seasoned developers… but mainly me)

That went straight on my CV!

Past to Present

JBA ultimately was bought out by a company called Geac who closed the Plymouth Hero Office making most of the team redundant. After a brief stint in Teddington, I moved to a small company in the depths of Dorset who also coded on the AS400 – Kingfisher Associates (now known as KFA Connect).

I worked as a developer and on the support desk. The support desk role seemed to fit particularly well with me. It was nice to speak to people who were stuck and needed help, and I liked helping people.

I’d only been with the company for 2 years when I decided I needed a break from this whole “working” thing. I took a step away from the rat race and moved back to Plymouth where I met my wife. I worked in various IT helpdesk roles over the next few years including a company in Exeter that wrote software for Epos systems and a company in Plymouth that handled EDI transactions.

It was 2008 before the siren song of Kingfisher called to me again.
I came back to Kingfisher in 2008 working on the support desk, then as a developer, and now as a business analyst.

Oh, and who says the AS400 can’t do graphics?

Jim Maddison

Business Analyst – KFA Connect

26th May 2023

Want to know more? Get in touch with our team today.

Mental Health First Aid

During Mental Health Awareness Week, (15th – 21st May 2023) it is crucial to emphasise the importance of mental health first aid.

Just as physical first aid helps address physical injuries, mental health first aid provides essential support and assistance to individuals experiencing mental health challenges. This week serves as a reminder to educate ourselves and others on recognising the signs of mental distress, offering empathetic listening, and connecting individuals to appropriate resources.

By prioritising mental health first aid, we can create a more compassionate and supportive society for all.

What is first aid?

A First Aider provides initial assistance to someone in need of help, this initial help is given either in place of professional help or before professional help is accessed.  The principles for Physical and Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) are similar in that both give support to someone in need of assistance before professional help is on-hand.

What is mental health?

Mental health is our state of mind, our emotional and psychological well-being. It determines how we cope with day-to-day issues.

Mental Health is complex and changeable, it needs to be acknowledged and looked after.

What is mental ill health?

Mental ill health by its very definition is when we are mentally unwell, we can feel unable to cope with stress and anxiety which can lead to depression and addictive behaviour. Mental ill health can lead to a feeling you cannot see a way forward.

In contrast, people with good mental health are capable of setting goals and being able to achieve them.

Why mental health first aid?

• 1 in 6 working-age adults have symptoms associated with poor mental health.
• 1 in 4 people experience poor mental health each year.
• Poor mental health accounts for 72,000,000 (72 million) working days lost in the UK per year.
• In 2020, 1,752 people died in road accidents but 6,749 died by suicide.

Mental health first aiders are required because:

1. Poor Mental Health is common
2. There is so much stigma associated with poor mental health
3. Professional help is not always available immediately

Self-Care

To be an effective Mental Health First Aider you need to be mentally well yourself.

You need to engage in activities that look after your own mental health and actively manage your own illness if/when it occurs.

You may need to seek professional help and support in addition to practising self-care.

What influences our mental health?

There are many factors that can cause poor mental health including:

• Alcohol and drugs
• Poor parenting
• Illness and disability
• Abuse
• Traumatic events
• Poverty
• Unemployment
• Poor housing
• Poor education
• Stigma
• Discrimination

There are protective factors that can contribute to positive mental health including:

• Positive Parenting
• Confidence
• Physical activity
• A balanced and healthy diet
• Loving and respectful relationships
• Values and beliefs
• Stable home
• Rest

The 5 main actions for Mental Health First Aid

ALGEE

Approach the person, assess the situation and assist with any crisis

Listen and communicate without judgement

Give Support and information

Encourage the person to seek the appropriate professional help

Encourage other support

Mental health first aid for a panic attack

Panic attacks develop quickly and normally reach their peak within 10 minutes. Common indicators of a panic attack are:

• Sweating, trembling and shaking
• Chest pain or discomfort
• Fear of dying
• Feeling dizzy
• Palpitations or increased awareness of heartbeat

Ask the person if they know what is happening and if this has happened before, do not assume you know what they need, ask them if they know what might help them.

If the person is not known to you then introduce yourself and try to get them to a safe comfortable place to sit down.

Panic attacks can resemble a heart attack so try and determine if the person has had a panic attack before and if not administer or seek help for physical first aid.

Always communicate effectively, and reassure the person that the thoughts they are experiencing will pass. Acknowledge that their thoughts do feel real but they are safe. It is important you remain calm yourself.

Use distraction methods to try and move the person’s focus, and encourage them to think about things they can see, hear, smell and touch. Try to help them to take slow deep breaths to slow down their breathing.

Once the panic attack has subsided try to encourage the person to seek professional help to manage the attacks.

Mental Health First Aid for traumatic events

Traumatic events are the exposure to actual or threatened death, violation or serious injury. A person may be a witness to an accident and not directly involved but it would still be a traumatic event.

• Individual traumas can include accidents or assault which can be physical, emotional and sexual.
• Ongoing traumas can include abuse, neglect, bullying and torture.
• Mass traumas can include natural disasters, acts of terror and pandemics.

Most people will recover from experiencing a traumatic event within 2 to 4 weeks but some people will develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Sometimes memories of traumatic events can re-occur suddenly often weeks, months or years after the actual event.

A person may experience trauma immediately after experiencing an event but there may be a delayed reaction. If you are assessing someone you know has experienced a traumatic event you will need to look for signs of distress over the weeks following the trauma.

Let the person know that everyone deals with distress from trauma at their own pace.

If you are helping someone unknown to you then be sure to introduce yourself, try to create a safe space and give them water.

Try and use the focus technique to calm someone in distress.

DO NOT encourage the person to share the traumatic event with you, let them talk to you and do not share your own experiences or interrupt.

Mental Health First Aid for Suicide

Suicide is where a person has suicidal thoughts or behaviours. Thoughts are where the person feels they can no longer continue to live. Suicidal behaviour is the planning, preparation and acting on suicidal thoughts. For many years there has been a stigma around suicide; to counter this we must be careful with our language.

The phrase ‘commit suicide’ is not appropriate, this dates back to the time when suicide was a crime, it was in fact de-criminalised in 1961. When someone has died the terms ‘died by suicide’ or ‘took their own life’ are the appropriate terms to use.  We should never refer to an attempted suicide as successful or unsuccessful, the outcome is ‘life’ or ‘death’.

1 in 15 people have suicidal thoughts and 1 man dies every minute from suicide worldwide.

You are more likely to meet someone having suicidal thoughts than you are to meet someone having a heart attack.

Signs and symptoms of suicidal thoughts and behaviour include:

• Expressing an intent to hurt or kill themselves
• Talking or writing about death, dying or suicide
• Engaging in reckless activities
• Withdrawing from friends, family or society
• Seeking ways to kill themselves such as access to pills, weapons or other means

When helping a person who you believe is suicidal or having suicide thoughts, do not be afraid to ask the question – Are you having suicide thoughts? It is not a question that should be avoided. Ask them if they have a plan and how detailed the plan is, have they attempted suicide before? Have they told anyone else how they are feeling?

If the person requires immediate help then call 999, if they are not imminently in danger then seek help through organisations such as the Samaritans or text SHOUT to 85258.

Work with the person to create a plan to keep them safe.

As a Mental Health First Aider, you are not a qualified councillor or a professional trained to deal with long-term mental health illness, but you will be able to recognise when someone is experiencing poor mental health, provide initial support and point them in the right direction for more professional assistance.

Being a good listener, having empathy and understanding stigma and positive language around poor mental health are the qualities required to be a good Mental Health First Aider.   

Richard Austin

KFA Connect – Director

18/05/2023

Want to know more? Get in touch with our team today.

Mandy Goddard – IBMi (AS400/iSeries) Support & Developer

Starting Out…

My ambition was to be a Police Officer and having successfully applied at 17 years of age for the Police Force, they advised me to get some life experience and apply again in a few years.

I was determined to get these skills and find a job that would provide me with this.

Not having a clue what I wanted to do… I just knew I did NOT want to work in an office sitting at a desk all day looking at a computer screen…

…and so here I find myself 35 years later, sitting at a desk, looking at a computer screen, the idea of joining the Police Force a distant memory.

Office Work!

In 1987, I joined the Cooperative Society as an Office Junior, where I was inquisitive about the locked, noisy room at the end of the Office.

The Data Processing Suite was used for running applications on System 36 – a large system, running backups, printing stock reports and updating stock levels.

I became a Data Operator and was known for my incessant questions about how and why the systems worked. 

A year later I found myself at a local firm called Sweetheart International as a Computer Operator and then become proficient at CL Programming, I decided to move into programming using RPG. This role, in a small company, meant I could still run applications, loading software and looking after hardware.

Sadly after 31 years, they made me redundant and I thought my time working with the AS400 (IBM i) was over until… 

Starting at KFA Connect

In June 2019 KFA Connect came into my life, based in Ringwood – about 45 miles from my home, a place we only visited during the summer holidays.

How did I feel about commuting? 

The driving to and from work before going home to the manic mayhem of family life was great and OMG! They even let you take dogs to work.

My interview was a blur – my black trousers were covered in dog hairs from a lovely dog called Jazz who came and sat in on the interview – personally, I think she helped me get the job but she never let me forget it – hounding me daily for treats on her arrival to work. We all work remotely now since Covid – and I do miss the office, well the dogs anyway!  

Every day is literally a school day, learning how processes work in other companies and then resolving their issues is both satisfying and rewarding.

I am lucky enough to work on new innovations, recently working with other team members to set up a Customer with IBMi in the Cloud backing up to our server with minimal effort.

Work-Life Balance

Travelling, reading and shopping are three things I like to do.    

Want to know more? Get in touch with our team today.

How Can You Achieve More From Your Integration Projects?

Undertaking a new integration project to streamline business processes can be a daunting task for some businesses.

Development timeframes can eat into everyday activities and on occasion, projects can be outsourced to ease the workload.

Unfortunately, as the project grows, modifications often require the same software development team to make the necessary changes making the process time-consuming and costly.

From this, and other hidden factors such as delays, or compromises and automated data queries caused by ‘fault lines’ between integrated systems how can businesses looking to become more efficient improve IT performance in a timely and cost-effective manner?

Luckily, SAP Business One has been designed to provide a flexible and easy-to-use framework with clear functionality for integration with third-party software.

This flexible framework enables SAP Certified integration solutions such as BPA Platform from Codeless Platforms to remove the need for complex coding by providing a selection of tools that enables anyone with a basic understanding of their database structures to build integrations and practically any number of automated business processes between SAP Business One and other business systems, applications and web services no matter how complex the requirements.

Highlights of BPA Platform include:

• SAP Certified integration solution
• Data integration and synchronisation
• Workflow
• Report and document automation
• Notifications and alerts (including External notifications)

Primarily, SMEs are looking for business software and integration tools to be easy to install and simple to use – but they also want to see working examples of how other organisations in their industry have maximised business software and applications to their advantage. They know it can help them they just want to see how.

Integration projects no longer need to be complex, time-consuming and costly – BPA Platform has over 6,000 customers globally utilising its integration and automation tools to significantly reduce operational costs and improve business performance.

If you would like to discuss how you can automate your business processes to help your business achieve more, please contact us to arrange a demonstration.

KFA Connect are Codeless Platforms Partners – authorised to sell BPA Platform with in-depth knowledge of developing integration and Process automation using the solution.

How are SAP Business One users staying ahead of the competition?

Having a clear view on all areas of your business operations and managing customer expectations is becoming a necessity that companies need to achieve to stay one step ahead of the competition.

Understanding the day to day business processes throughout an organisation helps to explore new ways to strengthen relationships and introduce a new customer base to a business’s products and services and assists with streamlining everyday processes.

Independent systems and applications achieve what is asked of them for a specific purpose; the only downside is that they work in isolation. This means that organisations are turning towards solutions that can provide the dynamic synchronisation of data between business software and applications such as an eCommerce store (Magento, PrestaShop, Shopify etc.) or an integration between a data service (Creditsafe, Companies House, VIES).

Common processes that can be achieved through SAP Business One integration include:

• Automated entry and processing of web shop orders (Magento, Shopify, BigCommerce etc).
• Automatic creation and distribution of reports including attachments (manufacturing reports, marketing campaigns, financial reports, sales reports).
• Automated SMS / email notifications for inventory reorder points etc.
• Multi-level workflow approvals such as credit limit increase requests, discount authorisations and purchase order.

Including business systems and applications in an environment where they are empowered with added functionality to seamlessly integrate and synchronise information can ensure that business software and applications are used to their capabilities improving day to day processes and performance.

SAP Business One has been designed to provide a flexible and easy to use framework with clear functionality for integration with third-party software. This well designed platform gives BPA Platform the opportunity to offer code free data integration and synchronisation across practically any online or on-premises information system or database store across sales and marketing, customer services, finance and accounting departments and warehousing to increase company performance and efficiency to increase profit margins.

How is your business planning to grow?

Growing a business can bring a multitude of questions and associated challenges – do your systems and applications do what you want them to do? Do they provide full visibility of business processes? Can they provide a 100% audit trail?

To grow in line with your strategic goals, these questions and many more must be answered. In fact, ensuring that your business systems and applications meet your exact business requirements presents a clear goal to achieving your businesses potential.

As your company grows, business processes evolve over time and having the ability to streamline administration tasks and receive real time information when it’s needed the most can play a major part in improving your ROI. But how do organisations running SAP Business One achieve this?

SAP Business One has been designed to provide a flexible and easy to use framework with clear functionality for integration with third-party software enabling organisations to explore possibilities such as the SAP Certified integration solution BPA Platform.

BPA Platform provides:

• Code free drag and drop integration tools to reduce costly development time frames
• Ensures systems and applications ‘play nicely’ no matter how complex the requirements
• Automation for practically any business process
• Automated reporting set to business rules you define
• Real-time data for improved decision making
• Protection against future upgrade paths

If your company is planning to grow, BPA Platform can assist in helping you to achieve your long and short-term strategic goals.

KFA Connect are Codeless Platforms Partners – authorised to sell BPA Platform and have in-depth knowledge of developing integration and Process automation using the solution.

The Future of IBM i Application Modernisation 

The idea of modernising IBM i applications is not a new one.

The green screen 5250 application has long given the platform and the applications that run on it an image problem.

Evolving Architecture for Modern Applications

The perceived problems with the terminal application led to the creation of client-server architectures to provide graphical user interfaces (GUIs).

In turn, problems with management of client-side distributed code were then solved by browser-based applications. The growth of mobile and plethora of devices meant that the front end couldn’t be designed for a predictable size of screen. Our applications’ front ends became responsive.

The idea of what modern means is constantly changing.

As the industry evolves, so does our concept of a modern application. New architectures, development and delivery paradigms and demands for different types of integrations rise and fall, present new challenges and require new solutions.

Today, a modern application may need to interoperate and integrate with multiple front ends, with messaging hubs, with APIs and different kinds of data-interchange. It may run in the cloud (IBM i in the Cloud), freeing us up from the management of the hardware.

The Evolutionary Process of Modernisation

The logic, the real business value that the applications hold, that has been invested in, refined, adapted, and customised over thousands of hours. Where it was once entwined with screen handling and data access, in a modern application it has broken free and is able to be discretely accessed in different ways, by different clients and composed as parts of different services.

Databases no longer a massively shared single resource, but part of dedicated, encapsulated units. All of this implementable today on the modern IBM i, with the tools and languages that have served us well for decades complemented by the growth of open-source technologies offered on the platform.

While businesses may need to undertake a modernisation project to pay off significant amounts of technical debt incurred over years and play catch-up – modernisation should not be thought of as a project that you implement and walk away from.

Today’s modernised application is already legacy code. Rather, modernisation or transformation should be an ongoing evolutionary process that is as much a part of the regular maintenance of applications as regulatory changes, operating system upgrades and security reviews.

Continuously refactoring code to improve its design, break it down into smaller, functionally cohesive units with true separation of concerns and that are testable and accessible will help to make our software more adaptable and ready for the next wave of challenges that it needs to solve. 

Stuart Bramley

KFA Connect – Technology Manager

9th May 2023

Want to know more? Get in touch with our team today.

Integrate Magento with SAP Business One using Codeless BPA Platform

E-commerce has brought an unprecedented ability to connect vendor and customer, with even small companies and startups being able to present a global ‘shop window’ with their websites.  And when everything is going well this can quickly translate into large numbers of orders and so business growth.

But taking an order and fulfilling it are two very different things, likewise, taking a payment, and entering it into an accounting system, or having stock on a shelf and running an efficient website.  Often to cope with this new growth manual processes are used, taking information from one system; the eCommerce site, and entering it into others; spreadsheets, accounting tools, and warehousing systems.  This might be viable when orders are few, but very quickly these manual processes become an impediment to future growth making for a busy rather than an efficient company.

Magento and the closely related Adobe Commerce are eCommerce frameworks which contain all the functions necessary to create and maintain a superb eCommerce website, however businesses usually have other systems in place, vital to their smooth running.  One of the most universal is an accounts package or ERP.   

The remainder of this blog discusses how a Magento website can be comprehensively linked to an ERP system common in medium-sized companies; SAP Business One.

The best solutions have a plan behind them, so rather than leading on how let’s understand why it’s important to integrate Magento with SAP Business One.

Efficiency and Accuracy

Integration means that orders, customer records, invoices, and payments (which we’ll refer to as data) can transfer between systems without being re-entered manually.  To better reap the benefits of this integration, it would usually also be automated, so that no human intervention is required.

Consequently, delays are minimised, errors are reduced, and staff time can be freed up.

Improved Customer Experience

An integrated e-commerce system and ERP mean that orders arrive quickly, contain the right items, and go to the right doorstep, all hallmarks of a happy customer journey.

With stock being updated in real-time 24 hours a day selling items which are out of stock becomes a thing of the past.

How could Magento be integrated with SAP Business One?

There are broadly two ways of approaching an integration such as this.  If an integration is unusual or particularly complex, then it might be that the most effective way of approaching it is with bespoke software development.  Both Magento and SAP Business One are incredibly customisable and so sometimes this will be the most appropriate course of action. 

Many Magento sites and SAP Business One systems are broadly similar, the same data is being passed between systems so isn’t there a simpler way to connect them?

Using a tool which has the capability to connect the systems in a simple way can pay dividends by enabling much of the software development to be side-stepped so that the focus can be on the business requirements.

BPA Platform from Codeless platforms acts like an integration ‘Swiss Army Knife’, it packages together many functions ideally suited to delivering an integration quickly and reliably.  With business processes being designed using a simple drag-and-drop interface designing and maintaining an integration doesn’t need to involve software developers.

Using connectors which are available for numerous e-commerce, ERP, and delivery platforms BPA is an ideal way to integrate Magento and SAP Business One.

A Typical Integration Using Codeless BPA Platform

First, the BPA software is installed along with the SAP Business One toolset, and the Magento connector.

Planning What Needs to be Integrated

Then, before any development is started a high-level plan needs to be made detailing what should be integrated between the Magento site and the SAP Business One ERP system. 

Typically, this might be the integration of orders coming in from the website into the SAP system and frequently some sort of stock-level functionality.  However, using BPA, it becomes possible to integrate customer information, product data, despatch details and so much more as the specific business requires.

Building the Integration with BPA

Next, BPA is used to realise the plan, the exact path taken will obviously vary but typically:

Connectors will be configured to the SAP Business One and Magento systems.  Because these connectors are tailored to their specific platforms, they need the minimum of set-up.

Now tasks are created in BPA which relate to the process that is being designed, an example would be getting new orders from the eCommerce site.

It will often be necessary to manipulate data from one system to meet the requirements of another, in other cases simply mapping fields from one system to the other will fit the bill.  BPA makes this understandable with a visual system.

For an integration between Magento and SAP Business One it is highly likely that several tasks will be required.

Ensuring that Most Eventualities are Covered

Before using an integration in production it’s important to check that it matches the plan that was created at the beginning of the process.  Checking that the integration works functionally is vital too and tests should be devised to cover as many potential situations as possible.

Reaping the Benefits

Finally, the integration can be moved to production and data will begin to flow between Magento and SAP Business One.  As new requirements become available, BPA is well positioned to meet them allowing the business to react quickly to an evolving market.

Bringing in Expert Help

It’s not essential to bring in expert help to write tasks to integrate Sap Business One and Magento using BPA Platform (depending on the technical ability of your in-house IT team of course) – although you will need engage with a BPA Partner to procure the annual licence.  

Whilst BPA removes much of the need for extensive software development, the integration process can be daunting.  Engaging a partner who has a high level of knowledge of BPA, Magento, and SAP Business One is certainly an option and that expert help can help you get the best ROI from the product.

Conclusion

Integrating a Magento e-commerce site with SAP Business One offers easily demonstrable benefits with regards accuracy of orders, stock levels, customer records and more.  In addition, replacing manual processes with automation means that reactivity increases and orders can flow 24/7.

Customer satisfaction increases and staff within the business can be deployed doing work which promotes growth and the business’s interests, rather that performing data entry, re-keying information, and other drudge work.

Using a tool such as BPA Platform can reduce the requirement for investment in bespoke software development but does not mean that development needs to be handled internally; finding a partner who can work to deliver the business requirements can be a great choice.

Joe Vavasour

KFA Connect

For more information on how BPA Platform can be used to automate the flow of information between your business systems and applications to streamline your business processes, contact us to arrange a demonstration.

KFA Connect are Codeless Platforms Partners – authorised to sell BPA Platform and have in-depth knowledge of developing integration and process automation using the solution.

6-Step Guide to SAP Business One Credit Control Automation

Consistent cash flow is one of the key heart beats of an organisation. Credit control teams work tirelessly to ensure that a business adheres to its processes and procedures so that cash flow remains consistent and the cost of debt recovery is reduced.

Unfortunately, this is a time consuming, error prone and costly process – how can this be improved so that your debtor repayment cycles are reduced?

Here is a 6-step SAP Business One credit control automation process that practically any business can benefit from implementing:

1 – Order Confirmation

An order confirmation is automatically created and sent to the client on the receipt and input of a sales order within your accounting system. Internal checks ensure that the sales order contains a valid Purchase Order (PO) number. If no PO number is found an internal email is automatically triggered to the employee who processed the order, requesting them to find an associated PO reference. When the PO number has been added to the sales order an order confirmation will then be distributed.

2 – Pre-Invoice due reminder

A payment reminder is scheduled before the invoice is due for payment or before a customer’s payment run eradicating the issue of misplaced or lost invoices and ensuring that it has been received by the customer. Early settlement discounts can be included within the payment reminder.

3 – First overdue reminder and internal notification

An overdue reminder notice is automatically created and distributed to the customer one week after the invoice due date triggering an automated notification to internal personnel stating that the client has been informed.

4 – Second overdue reminder and internal notification

A second, stronger overdue reminder notice is dynamically created and distributed 2 weeks after the overdue payment with an internal communication escalated to include key decision makers.

5 – Notice of the addition of penalties

The notice of additional penalties is automatically sent out 3 weeks after the invoice payment due date. This template notifies the customer that you will be applying penalties to the invoice total providing a deterrent for continuous late payers. This email can also be accompanied by an internal email to accounts personnel or even the customer account managers to prompt them to try to bring the account up to date.

6 – Notice of Account Suspension

The notice of account suspension is automatically sent out 4 weeks after the invoice payment date. This template notifies the customer that their account will be suspended in the next 7 days if full payment is not received. Internal personnel can be sent emails listing impending suspensions.

So now that you know the 6 steps to credit control automation, how can you put it in place?

The business process automation solution, BPA Platform from Codeless Platforms, provides the ability to automate credit control processes ensuring that procedures are adhered to, cash flow remains consistent and the cost of debt recovery is significantly reduced.

BPA Platform users that have automated their credit control procedures claim that debtor repayment cycles have reduced by at least 2 weeks and the costs associated with this activity have been slashed by around 80-90%.

KFA Connect are Codeless Platforms Partners – authorised to sell BPA Platform and have in-depth knowledge of developing integration and Process automation using the solution.