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Case Studies

 National Association for Convenience Stores

An industry trade association representing more than 2,000 retailers operating over 100,000 stores worldwide.


Client: National Association for Convenience Stores
Technology:
Windows  Server
Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft Commerce Server
Microsoft Sharepoint
Industry: Non-Profit
Service: Enterprise Portal


The Challenge
The association wanted to revolutionize their overall business processes and, in particular, improve their ability to provide up-to-date information on fluctuating market prices to their members. In addition, they wanted to create a marketplace to support collaboration between retailers and suppliers of the industry by improving the quality and timeliness of information exchanged between stakeholders.


The Solution
Ironworks implemented an automated system that allows the association to connect retailers with suppliers using several Microsoft Enterprise Servers, including Content Management Server. Ironworks provided end-to-end solutions to help the association streamline their business processes and align their business strategy with technology to achieve their business goals in a short timeframe. The system functions as a marketplace for suppliers and retailers who need to exchange product information and to make product purchases.


The Results
The association has found that the deployment of Content Management Server has dramatically reduced the workload associated with publishing content to their web site. Manually converting and publishing content created by other teams, on average, required 60 person-hours per week. Now, with Content Management Server, all contributors can edit and publish their own content. Workload has been reduced to 10 hours per week - an 80 percent reduction even though there is significantly more content being created.

Content Management Server, in addition to other Microsoft Enterprise Servers, provides the association with an automated and efficient mechanism for integrating data among their operations to increase transaction rates, improve control, and lower transaction costs while accommodating more business volume. The automated system provides customers with a high quality of service while simultaneously increasing revenue and profitability. In addition, suppliers for the industry now have a neutral marketplace to allow brokers, vendors, and retailers to match product purchasing needs quickly and effectively. This new marketplace is creating new business opportunities while providing retailers with a greater selection of news and information on product-purchasing options.


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