Koopman: ready for the future with OMS' EDI solution

About Koopman

For more than a century, logistics service provider Koopman has been a trusted name in autmotive and cargo logistics. The family business, now led by the fourth generation, continues to innovate. Continuous improvement and growth, with a strong focus on customer satisfaction and efficiency, are central to this.

To streamline the supply chain and gain full insight into the logistics process, Koopman is working with OMS. A key role in the project is played by Robert Jager. Robert has worked at Koopman for some14 years and, as IT manager, is responsible for IT management, development and security.

The challenge: looking for a future-proof solution

Robert: ‘For years, we had been working with a fully customised EDI system, which met our needs but was not future-proof. So we started looking for a more effective and flexible standard solution. On our shortlist of possible solutions, there was also OMS. A party we already knew because of our ODEX server.’

Initially, Koopman opted for an Azure self-built solution, but this soon proved to be quite costly. So: back to the shortlist and again in talks with OMS.

A complex puzzle

Arthur Dekker, sales & marketing manager, remembers this phase well: ‘This is partly because Koopman was one of my first customers at OMS, and they had quite a complex question in this respect. A real puzzle. And I like that.’

Robert: ‘In the beginning, it was difficult to define the scope. Our system was a ‘black box’: we knew what went in and what came out, but not exactly what was happening internally. OMS made this transparent via reverse engineering. This gave us full control over the process again. OMS then set everything up on the basis of existing ODEX EDI software so that the systems connected seamlessly.’

Unique collaboration

The cooperation went smoothly from day one. Robert: ‘As a technician, you talk directly to another technician and that works nicely. There is no noise: you speak the same language. We have fixed contacts.

There is no bureaucracy, we just get down to work pragmatically. With weekly calls, we tackle the project in collaboration step by step, at our own pace.’

Arthur: ‘We have been able to do a lot in a relatively short time. Indeed, every week there is a call to go over the status. That way, you get to know each other better and that definitely benefits the cooperation. It is sometimes a challenging puzzle, but thanks to direct communication, open consultation and clear input from Koopman, we have already been able to develop many mappings that fit well with the requirements.”

Arthur Dekker (OMS) and Robert Jager (Koopman)

On to the future

OMS is getting Koopman to know the system as well as possible so that they can do the management themselves. A conscious choice. ‘At Koopman, we have a history of doing things ourselves. This gives our company flexibility and ensures we can respond quickly to customer demand. This is important in the logistics world. For creating mappings, we will definitely continue to turn to OMS.’

Currently, the system is largely in place and the first customers have already transferred. But the process is not yet complete. Robert: ‘Before we can fully deploy the old system, we still need to carry out a major migration. We are tackling this per business unit so the migration will take at least another year.’

With OMS, Koopman not only has a future-proof EDI solution, but also a partner who continues to think along with us. The next step? The full migration as well as new optimisations. We will be happy to tell you more about that soon.