BevChain (a joint venture project between Linfox and Lion Nathan) was formed to provide specialized logistics services to the alcoholic beverage industry in Australia.  In implementing its new distribution application, BevChain selected Brown Brothers for their pilot.  Brown Brothers, a family owned icon of the wine industry, enlisted the expertise of SysTalk to implement an interface to this major industry-specific logistics service.

Overview of need
In order to use the industry-specific logistics solution provided by BevChain, customers are required to transfer data to and from BevChain in a defined xml format.

Brown Brothers, utilizing their JD Edwards ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system to process orders, required a means of extracting, transforming and sending data from their system to BevChain.  Data received back from BevChain also need to be applied to the JD Edwards system to avoid any need for manual data entry and ensure quick processing times.

Solution Delivered
Brown Brothers were already using BizTalk in a limited capacity for internal data transfer.  SysTalk architects designed a BizTalk application with the stability and maintainability required to interface necessary data with BevChain.

A number of orchestrations were created to facilitate the transfer of Inventory and Procurement data required at different intervals. The BizTalk work flow engine was used extensively to handle exceptions and errors in a consistent and visible manner, while the flexible Business Rule engine allows configuration changes to be applied to the system without necessitating down time. 

 As part of Brown Brother’s first business critical BizTalk implementation, SysTalk have provided both the fundamental building blocks as well as overall guiding principles of best practices for a world class BizTalk application.  Both Brown Brothers technical staff and their BizTalk application are now ready to expand.  Brown Brothers are looking forward to further streamlining their business with the expansion of their BizTalk application. 

Value of solution
• A solid and standards-based means of transferring necessary data to/from BevChain to utilize their specialist services.
• A fully automated system that avoids any need for duplicate data entry past the entry of the initial order.
• A consistent and visible means of error handling that allows maintenance of the system to be performed by non-BizTalk specialists.
• A scalable, robust and high-performance platform on which further business process automation can be easily and quickly achieved.