BRADENTON, FL, January 10, 2020 – Genius Central has been named as the preferred EDI service provider for KeHE’s Digital Transformation Initiative. This partnership allows for the digital exchange of critical order information, creating more transparency and accessibility across the supply chain.
Genius Central has experience with providing EDI in the natural, specialty, and organic product industry and has been a long-time tech partner with KeHE. “It was just a natural fit for us to work together,” says Angie Jula, Executive Director of Product Management at Genius Central. Having worked extensively with KeHE in various roles at Genius Central over the past few years, Jula has served as the Project Manager for the design and specifications of the EDI program – working cross-departmentally and across both companies to design a program specifically for KeHE and their vendors. She continues, “We at Genius Central understand KeHE’s business, as well as the suppliers and their pain points. This allows us to work with them to make this program as effective as possible for all parties.”
Taking lead for the program rollout along with a team of Genius Central sales, operations, and technical development staff, Tony McQueen, VP of Sales & Business Development, consults with KeHE’s suppliers to determine the best EDI setup for their businesses and coordinates operational tasks across the sales, customer service, and operations departments. In this role he is able to provide feedback and recommendations to KeHE and other stakeholders in the program. McQueen comments, “A lot of vendors will really welcome this initiative by KeHE because they’ve been asking for it for some time. It’s an opportunity to increase their order volume with KeHE, and to increase the accuracy of those orders. We give suppliers options and help determine the best fit for them based on their technical capabilities and capacity. That’s where our flexibility and expertise come into play.”
KeHE’s Digital Supplier Ordering Program is a key pillar of KeHE’s overall Digital Transformation Initiative. “Digital exchange of data with suppliers is foundational to reducing errors, improving fill rates, and taking waste out of the supply chain,” says Brian Wilkinson, Chief Information Officer at KeHE. “Partnering with Genius Central on this initiative was an obvious choice given their history in the natural and specialty food industry coupled with their flexibility to collaboratively design technical solutions for large and small suppliers.”
KeHE’s Digital Supplier Ordering Program was launched in June and the system is now live for almost 400 vendors with another 250 in the queue for set up. KeHE’s goals are to onboard all their vendors in 2020. To support this objective, Angie Jula and Tony McQueen will be attending KeHE’s New Supplier Summit on Friday, January 17, and can meet with suppliers during the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco throughout that weekend.
In October, Genius Central marked their twenty-year anniversary in the natural, organic and specialty market, connecting trading partners with digital ordering. The expansion of service to support KeHE’s Digital Supplier Ordering Program continues their mission. To find out more about KeHE EDI through Genius Central, please contact KeHEEDI@geniuscentral.com.
About Genius Central
Founded in 1999, Genius Central is a leading provider of enterprise retail and supplier order management, automation, and promotional software platforms. The company’s mission is to provide effective, high-quality, and affordable supply chain technology and services to buyers and sellers. Genius Central serves a large network of independent and natural retailers, supports the largest natural product database in the industry, and processes close to $2 billion in ordering transactions annually. Contact us for more information at info@geniuscentral.com.