SUCCESS STORY
Nichirin U.K. LimitedIndustry• Automotive• Manufacturing

Solution• OpenText™ Freeway,
Professional Version

Results
OpenText knowledge of trading
partner message formats
enables fast configuration tomandated standards

ODETTE compliant labelling
Helping to meet JLRQ
quality standard
Reliable, flexible, easy-to-use
EDI solution

Nichirin U.K. relies on OpenText for
crucial exchange of EDI messages

OpenText Freeway Professional provides reliable messaging and labeling“The team at OpenText is very
knowledgeable, approachable,
and was very helpful during thesetup and since in providing
support. We also feel assured that
due to its global reach and scale,
OpenText will be there today,
tomorrow and well into the future
to support us.”Richard Nuttall

Senior Plant Manager
Nichirin U.K. Limited

Nichirin U.K. relies on OpenText for crucial exchange of EDI messages

Nichirin U.K. Limited (Nichirin) is a subsidiary of the Japanese
Nichirin Group that manufactures and sells automotive hoses toglobal vehicle manufacturers. From its U.K. base in Manchester,
it assembles and supplies automotive hoses in the U.K. andthroughout Europe.
When Nichirin began supplying Jaguar Land Rover in the U.K. thetwo companies used an existing web-based Electronic Data
Interchange (EDI) tool to exchange messages. However, Jaguar Land
Rover then mandated the use of the Global Materials Management
Operations Guidelines/Logistics Evaluation (Global MMOG/LE), astandard for managing logistics and warehouse operations. Also, inorder to continue to be a supplier to Jaguar Land Rover, suppliers had
to meet its quality standard, JLRQ, which requires a full EDI solution.
As the existing web-based solution did not meet the requirements
and the tool provider had no experience of working with Jaguar Land
Rover, Nichirin decided to seek an alternative solution.

Seeking recommendations for a new solution
Nichirin approached Jaguar Land Rover to establish which
EDI provider they used, and whether the company would offer
any recommendations.
Richard Nuttall, Senior Plant Manager at Nichirin U.K. Limited
explained, “In order for Nichirin to continue to do business withJaguar Land Rover, we had to ensure we had the right EDI solution
in place. Failing to configure the various message types to their
specification would result in us being penalized and eventually
dropped as a supplier. They recommended that we look atOpenText, who provide their EDI services. Knowing that OpenText
already had experience with the message configurations gave
us the confidence to pursue dialogue with them.”

Following evaluation and negotiations, OpenText™ Freeway
Professional was implemented. The on-premises solution fromOpenText was configured for the various message types required
for Nichirin to continue to supply Jaguar Land Rover.
The OpenText solution provides seamless integration to Nichirin’s
bespoke back-office platform, eliminating the need for manualre-keying. Standard Freeway integration formats are used,providing a reusable configuration for future trading partners.
“OpenText consultants, using their experience and knowledgeof Jaguar Land Rover, configured the Freeway Professional
solution for the inbound messages for order call-offs anddelivery forecasts, plus the outbound dispatch advice message.
The team at OpenText is very knowledgeable, approachable,
and was very helpful during the setup and since in providing
support. We also feel assured that due to its global reach andscale, OpenText will be there today, tomorrow and well into
the future to support us,” said Richard.

Using the OpenText™ Business Network
As Nichirin continues to work towards being awarded the JLRQ
quality standard, it is important that any problems that occur withthe messages sent via Freeway Professional are captured, so that
action can be taken to rectify the problem.
“We send and receive messages via a single FTPS connection tothe OpenText™ Trading Grid™ Messaging Service (TGMS). The
advantage of this is that Nichirin only needs to maintain a single
connection, reducing the risk of communication errors with ourpartners. The TGMS network can connect with multiple third-party
networks and support other connectivity protocols such as OFTP
and AS2,” said Richard.

“You don’t need to be
an IT specialist to use
it, meaning we canconcentrate on what wedo best.”
Richard Nuttall

Senior Plant Manager
Nichirin U.K. Limited

Nichirin U.K. relies on OpenText for crucial exchange of EDI messages

Using OpenText also provides a complete audit trail of inboundand outbound messages. Reports can easily be prepared, andshould further investigation be required, the comprehensive audit
trail provides the necessary detail if any transmission error occurs.

User feedback: ease of use, intuitive interface
Once the set-up was complete, feedback was wholly positive.
The solution is stable and reliable and users find it easy to use.
“The Freeway Professional screens are intuitive and easy touse. Data comes in and users find it easy to run that data into
our other systems. Equally, sending the outbound messages
is straightforward. Basically, you don’t need to be an IT specialist
to use it, meaning we can concentrate on what we do best,”
said Richard.
The ease of use and reliability of the solution has helped Nichirin toalways deliver on time and on quantity to Jaguar Land Rover.

Meeting new requirements with OpenText:ODETTE labels
Nichirin provides a number of hoses or parts that will be used on
multiple vehicle models. Orders are therefore often for a limited
number of part numbers, but could be for many thousands of thesame part, 15,000 or more. With 15 hoses per pack, and multiple
packs per pallet, tracking of parts is a key requirement at Jaguar
Land Rover’s warehouses.
When Jaguar Land Rover adopted a labelling standard set out by theThe Organisation for Data Exchange by Tele Transmission in Europe(ODETTE), a group that represents the interests of the automotive

industry in Europe, the equivalent of the Automotive Industry
Action Group (AIAG) in North America, the company again turned
to OpenText for assistance.
“Our customer mandated ODETTE labels and once again, OpenText
used its experience to configure the Freeway Professional solution
to provide what we needed. OpenText completed this in a very
short timeframe, ensuring we were able to meet the aggressive
deadline laid down by Jaguar Land Rover for a new warehousethey had just opened,” said Richard.
Without the new labelling, once again the supplier status of Nichirin
was at risk. By being able to quickly conform to the new standard
set by the customer, Nichirin has showed its commitment to therelationship and continues to be well placed to meet the requirementsof JLRQ.

Confidence for the future
The trading partnership with Jaguar Land Rover is a key relationshipfor Nichirin. With Freeway Professional, it has been able to protectthat relationship and therefore, revenue.
“We know from the positive experience of working with OpenText
that should Jaguar Land Rover require any changes to themessaging or labels, OpenText will quickly make those changes,
with little or no disruption,” said Richard. “Also, should anyother customers mandate the use of EDI or ODETTE labels, wewill turn to the knowledgeable experts at OpenText once again.”

About OpenText
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through market leading information
management solutions, on-premises orin the cloud. For more information about
OpenText (NASDAQ: OTEX, TSX: OTEX)
visit opentext.com.
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