Manner

From Neapolitan wafers to a global brand

Austrian confectionery manufacturer Manner was founded in 1890 by Josef Manner in Vienna. Manner is particularly well-known for its pink Neapolitan wafers, consisting of ultra-thin wafer layers and a delicate hazelnut cocoa cream. These wafers, in their distinctive pink packaging, can be seen everywhere in Austria.

Over the years, Manner has developed into an internationally known brand and distributes its products all over the world. In addition to their famous wafers, the company also manufactures other confectionery products, including slices, cake corners, and chocolate bars.

Although Manner employs modern production processes, the company places great emphasis on tradition. Manner is also known for its social responsibility and sustainability efforts, and participates in various social projects and environmental initiatives.

Over the decades, Manner has established itself as one of Austria’s leading confectionery brands, enjoying an excellent reputation both nationally and internationally for its delicious and iconic products.

Project scope

Manner and ecosio began their collaboration in 2021 following a tender. This tender was initiated due to various developments, including the planned migration of Manner’s SAP ERP system and the need for a new EDI solution (thanks to the changing of licensing for the existing EDI tool).

Manner’s old EDI solution involved in-house hosted software managed by a partner. Another partner took care of the VAN connections, and a third was responsible for supplier connections. This resulted in a very complex landscape in which responsibilities were often poorly defined. As a result, problems were tackled differently by different partners.

Manner opted for ecosio’s EDI as a Service solution as it was decided that this approach would enable significant improvements in efficiency.

The critical criteria for collaboration

In addition to being able to improve efficiency, there were several key conditions that Manner required their new EDI solution to meet:

The EDI integration timeline must align with that of the wider ERP migration project
The solution must have sufficient implementation capacity, so as not to jeopardise the wider migration project
The solution provider must have a good knowledge of Manner’s customers

ecosio was selected as it was able to meet all these conditions while providing a fair and transparent pricing concept.

A sweet outcome

Thanks to ecosio’s pragmatic and proactive Project Management team, the collaboration was simple. Problems were approached in a solution-oriented manner and resolved promptly. Consequently, ecosio was able to support the main ERP migration project by implementing EDI successfully within the planned two year time frame.

Customers were very satisfied with the outcome of the project. Meanwhile internal teams were also pleased with the results, as the speedy integration of ecosio’s EDI solution played a large part in the successful restoration of Manner’s delivery capability in the shortest possible time. For Manner’s IT department, not having lost a single order due to technical reasons was particularly significant.

Reflecting on the collaboration, Enterprise Architect Daniel Wagner notes his appreciation of ecosio’s human touch:

“The support of Matthias, our dedicated ecosio Integration Engineer, was perfect. I was initially sceptical that the project could be completed successfully without direct communication with the developers, but ecosio proved that the concept works. Also, the fact that all parties involved were working remotely thanks to Corona didn’t derail the project at all.”

In addition, Daniel also praises the transparency and openness of ecosio’s communication, noting “We appreciated having a partner that communicates at eye level, questions things, and sometimes says no to requirements where appropriate.”

The picture today

Since the changeover in April 2023 a lot has happened at Manner. In particular, Manner now enjoys…

Outsourcing EDI tasks to ecosio, allowing internal teams to focus on more value-adding tasks
A much simpler EDI process landscape in terms of both software and partner communication
Hassle-free management of daily message exchange
Swift resolution of EDI errors
Direct access to EDI information for specialist departments via ecosio’s powerful EDI dashboard (the ecosio.monitor)
Ongoing development of the ecosio.monitor based on feedback from Manner

Asked if he would recommend ecosio or not, Daniel Wagner’s answer is clear: “Definitely! Particularly if you don’t want to operate EDI in-house from an IT strategic perspective. Those who opt to outsource to ecosio’s EDI experts are in the best possible hands.”

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