Brushstrokes Fine Art Inc.
Brushstrokes Fine Art Inc. masters the art of e-business integration with Microsoft BizTalk Server
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Company Overview
Brushstrokes, a fine art reproduction company based in Toronto, found that partnering with leading retailers like Sears, Ikea and K-mart required it to master the finer points of e-business systems integration. The company had recently branched out from its catalogue sales business model, and formed retail partnerships to reach a broader market of art enthusiasts.
Business Challenge
“With our catalogue business, we had succeeded in building a strong reputation as a leading provider of fine art reproductions,” says Grant Weltman, Chief Financial Officer, Brushstrokes. “Expanding our business through retail partnerships provided more business opportunity, but it also presented major IT challenges.”
The company quickly realized that distributing to large retailers would require compliance with each retailer’s electronic trading system to automate the ordering, shipping and invoicing processes. Brushstrokes needed to create an e-business gateway that would allow it to comply with Sears and K-mart mandates for distinct versions of EDI, provide the foundation to comply with electronic requirements from future partnerships, and allow it to integrate directly to its existing SYSPRO ERP application.
At risk of losing valuable business agreements with retailers, Brushstrokes consulted Microsoft® Business Solutions partner CSB Systems for an affordable and versatile e-business solution. The company needed to put in place the infrastructure that would allow it to integrate with a wide range of trading partners and accommodate a variety of different e-business formats.
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Solution
CSB Systems recommended Microsoft BizTalk® Server 2004 for its affordability, versatility, and ability to integrate with Brushstrokes’ existing Microsoft infrastructure as well as to its SYSPRO ERP application.
“We knew that BizTalk Server would provide the functionality Brushstrokes needed to maintain its trading partnerships,” says Grant Barkman, Director Consulting and Systems Integration, CSB Systems. “We also knew that automating the trading process through BizTalk would increase employee productivity and reduce inaccuracies in the distribution and invoicing process.”
Designed to work easily with existing Microsoft desktop tools, BizTalk Server 2004 helps businesses integrate internal and external systems, automating business interactions in a highly flexible, automated manner. Deploying the solution helps to increase employee productivity and reduce human error in the ordering and invoicing process.
BizTalk Server 2004 helps enable connectivity across a range of legacy and emerging e-business formats, including EDI, Extensible Markup Language (XML), and much more, while providing direct connectivity to a large array of internal applications. This complete end-to-end capability is critical to providing the infrastructure for Business Process Automation across the extended enterprise.
Working with CSB Systems, Brushstrokes deployed BizTalk Server in under six weeks. The system easily integrated with Brushstrokes’ existing Microsoft SQL Server™ infrastructure, and enabled Brushstrokes to begin filling orders from its retail partners on demand.
“We were able to deploy BizTalk Server with surprisingly little disruption to our daily business activities,” says Weltman. “The quick deployment enabled us to receive orders and begin shipping product within the date required by our partners.”
Business Benefits
Implementing Microsoft® BizTalk® Server 2004 has helped provide Brushstrokes with a range of business benefits, including the retention of retail partners and increased staff efficiency.
Meeting the Needs of Business Partners and Creating Additional Revenue Opportunities
Implementing BizTalk Server has enabled Brushstrokes to comply with the different e-business systems used by its retail partners. As a growing business, these newly formed partnerships represent a critical avenue for business development.
“Without BizTalk Server, we simply would not have been able to expand our business into the retail market,” says Weltman. “Other systems were far too complicated and expensive to provide us the flexibility we needed.”
Besides allowing Brushstrokes to comply with existing partner systems, BizTalk Server 2004 provides the technology foundation that will allow Brushstrokes to develop partnerships with even more retailers in the future.
Increased Efficiency
By automating the exchange of data between internal and external systems, BizTalk Server reduces the amount of manual data input needed during the order, manufacturing and fulfillment process. Brushstrokes has noticed a marked increase in the speed and accuracy of business transactions since the BizTalk Server implementation. The Microsoft system also provides Brushstrokes with robust monitoring capabilities that help provide more visibility into daily transactions.
“BizTalk Server integrates with all our systems, streamlining and improving the accuracy of the payment process and other critical transactions,” says Weltman. “With our employees free from manually inputting data, we’ve also been able to reallocate their resources to other key tasks.”
Microsoft Windows Server System
Microsoft® Windows Server System™ is a comprehensive, integrated, and interoperable server infrastructure that helps reduce the complexity and costs of building, deploying, connecting, and operating agile business solutions. Windows Server System helps customers create new value for their business through the strategic use of their IT assets. With the Windows Server operating system as its foundation, Windows Server System delivers dependable infrastructure for data management and analysis; enterprise integration; customer, partner, and employee portals; business process automation; communications and collaboration; and core IT operations including security, deployment, and systems management.
For more information about Windows Server System, go to: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem
For More Information
For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to: www.microsoft.com
For more information about CSB Systems Inc. products and services, call (204) 480-4165 or visit the Web site at: www.csbsystems.com
For more information about Brushstrokes Fine Art Inc. products and services, call (416) 821-6903 or visit the Web site at: www.brushstrokesart.com
