Religious organization Editoriale San Paolo simplifies commercial systems improving efficiency

The Società San Paolo is a religious organization established at Alba, Italy in 1914, and is dedicated to spreading the Christian message throughout the world, to “evangelize with the modern tools of communications” including books, cinema, music, television, multimedia and data transmission. The members, known as Paolini are made up of both ministers and lay people, and have established an active presence in 32 different countries.

Gruppo Editoriale Multimedia San Paolo is the commercial arm of the organization, responsible for sales, marketing, distribution and accounting. Products are divided into 120 different categories and include books and magazines, cards, software, altar requisites, statues, icons, church service literature and vestments. This multitude of merchandise is distributed through a variety of channels to churches, shops, religious organizations and individual consumers via agents located in the five continents of Africa, North and South America, Asia, Australasia and Europe.

Overcome complexity by improving integration
The size and complexity of this sales structure lead to considerable inefficiencies resulting from communication and system breakdowns between departments causing delayed and mislaid orders and overdue accounts. Editoriale San Paolo realized they desperately needed to simplify their order management system, improving integration between the sales, warehousing and shipping departments to satisfy the orders, and the administration, accounting and legal departments to receive payments.

Working with IBM Business Partner, IDM Consulting, an organization with considerable experience in enterprise content management, Editoriale San Paolo were able to overcome their challenges with a cost-effective solution based on IBM Content Manager OnDemand that integrated with their existing ACG customer relationship management (CRM) system.

The overriding challenge for Editoriale San Paolo was to take control of the ordering and accounting processes out of the hands of the agents, and to confirm that overdue accounts were followed up, and legal procedures instituted in the case of insolvent clients.

Editoriale San Paolo needed a system providing both their commercial office and the external country agents with full monitoring and reporting capabilities of all aspects of the sales process, from order acceptance and confirmation through to dispatch and then invoicing and payment.

Secure and precise information with an 80 percent time savings
Editoriale San Paolo staff and their external sales agents now have instant online access to all documentation (including orders, invoices, statements and reports), and can track order progress throughout the system. Gone are the days of unaccountable orders, customer misunderstandings and untraceable communications. E-mails are viewable by all departments and agents aiding customer service efforts.

The system offers comprehensive security authorization, setting levels of user access based on document request; agents can follow orders, accounting can verify payments and legal can validate claims against insolvency.

The solution includes:

• IBM Content Manager OnDemand, which provides comprehensive enterprise report management, offers high-performance online document capture, storage and retrieval of computer output, and organizes and stores printed output, such as reports, checks, statements or invoices, e-mail and image documents.

• IBM DB2® data server is a highly cost-effective database platform, ideal for on demand applications, offering deep compression that enables fast access to data and reduced storage requirements.

• IBM WebSphere® Application Server delivers the secure, scalable, resilient application infrastructure providing a JavaTM 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) platform for assembling, deploying and managing applications.

IDM Consulting’s implementation of the IBM Content Manager OnDemand for System i^® took only five weeks to complete. All files are data based using IBM DB2, and the application performs on an IBM WebSphere Application Server platform.

This collaborative network solution delivered by IDM integrated perfectly with the existing ACG management software. Little training was required to get the Editoriale San Paolo staff up to speed on the application, and the user interface.

“The ‘Collaborative Network’ solution of IDM Consulting, based on IBM Content Manager OnDemand and ACG, allows authorized users to continually monitor information regarding orders, integrating the processes of the different branches,” says Paolo Ghivarello, sales manager, IDM Consulting.

Fast and easy access to information
Editoriale San Paolo describe the solution as having “remarkable benefits” including:

• Simple and fast online access to all information
• Data fully integrated with existing ACG customer relationship management (CRM) system
• Customized user interfaces reflecting different departments and agents needs
• User access controls for effective multi-level security
• Efficient large capacity archiving of historical records
• Ability to integrate various documents forms (.doc/.xls/.pdf) for rapid search and retrieval

The solution enhances the relationship between Editoriale San Paolo and their agents, by helping to ensure the sales cycle is fully transparent and that all departments have instant access to the order process.

Clients are better served, agents are fully informed and Editoriale San Paolo has control over accounting, payments and legal procedures. Improved performance has meant fewer mistakes resulting in cost savings, and a solid foundation with which to grow the business and help spread the Christian message.

“IDM’s solution ‘Collaborative Network’ integrates our ACG CRM with office documentation to allow access to information in a safer, easier and faster way,” says an IT Department representative for Editoriale San Paolo.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Contact your IBM sales representative or IBM Business Partner. Visit us at:
ibm.com/software/data/ecm

You can get even more out of Information Management software by participating in independently run Information Management User Groups around the world. Learn about opportunities near you at: ibm.com/software/data/usergroup

For more information on IDM Consulting, visit: www.idmconsulting.it

For more information on Editoriale San Paolo visit: www.paulus.net

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