Berlin Packaging, a leading full-service supplier of plastic, glass, and metal containers and closures, has announced a major upgrade to its PeopleSoft Enterprise business software that delivers industry-leading operational capabilities. The company first deployed the system in 2001 in a multimillion-dollar implementation that is one of the most advanced of its kind in the packaging sector and has helped propel the business from $160 million in annual revenues to more than $700 million in 2012.

The PeopleSoft Enterprise system equips Berlin Packaging with robust customer service and supply chain management powers, including the ability to manage complex inventory stocking programs that eliminate customer carrying costs and overhead expenses by guaranteeing an adequate just-in-time supply of finished packages. Built-in forecasting algorithms allow company personnel to proactively monitor and manage inventory flow to ensure continued 99+% on-time delivery performance, which Berlin has maintained every month for 96 months in a row as of May 2012.

The upgrade to the most recent release of the software adds new powers including the ability to provide:

– More precise management of customer inventory to ensure that sufficient stock is available and ready to be shipped at all times. System upgrades increase flexibility and visibility into warehousing and fulfillment information while also better tying incoming products to specific orders for immediate updating of inventory levels.
– Proactive alerting of customer service to conditions that require attention such as reorder points and customers approaching credit limits. The new system handles standard triggers as well as custom triggers that can be programmed to fit unique customer needs.
– Prompt, accurate advice and responses to customers’ and suppliers’ questions through a new business analytics engine that provides instant access to a comprehensive array of reports and information.
– Streamlined and enhanced credit card processing for smaller and urgent customer orders.
– Further enhancements to customer service through a wide array of back-end improvements.

As an active participant on Oracle’s Customer Advisory Boards, Berlin Packaging helped provide direct input into many of the enhanced features in the newest PeopleSoft edition.

The upgrade to the company’s customized PeopleSoft deployment is the latest in a series of technology enhancements that have earned Berlin Packaging two innovation awards from CIO Magazine since the system was first deployed more than a decade ago. These include a 2006 award for turning a system upgrade into a complete business improvement project that fully involved the company’s end users, plus a 2007 award for a contact sync program that linked the company’s PeopleSoft system to end users’ Outlook and Blackberry accounts.

“We handle more than ten thousand orders every month, and PeopleSoft helps us accurately manage them all and get them to customers with near perfection,” said Cherie Kizer, Chief Information Officer of Berlin Packaging. “This latest upgrade ensures that we have state-of-the-art tools to support our operations and deliver the best possible customer experience.”

“Over the years, we have customized our PeopleSoft system to meet our business needs and those of our customers in a way that no other packaging company in the industry can do,” said Larry Rydzewski, Chief Operations Officer. “It’s a strong competitive advantage that reinforces our commitment to operational excellence and benefits our customers and suppliers by keeping the package supply chain running smoothly at all times.”

The upgrade was executed on May 21 with no disruption to customers or suppliers.