Strategic Transformation with JD Edwards

Client

Founded in 1969, Upper Canada Soap (UCS) has been a trailblazer in delivering exquisite and high-quality soap and beauty products to the gift industry. Today, UCS stands as a leading innovator in the bath, beauty, and wellness sectors, boasting renowned brands like Danielle, Erase Your Face, and Aroma Home.

Business Challenges

UCS faced significant challenges in comprehending its periodic operational results due to the disparity between the base currency, Canadian Dollars, in their accounting records and the operational currency, U.S. Dollars. With a primary focus on the U.S. market and vendor relationships, UCS opted to transition their books of original entry to be denominated in U.S. Dollars for better operational insights. Additionally, the company addressed issues related to the standard cost basis for inventory valuation, opting to switch to a weighted average cost method.

The complexity of the chart of accounts further hindered management's ability to analyze periodic results and communicate effectively with company ownership.

Oracle JD Edwards Modules 

This transformative project did not require the introduction of new JD Edwards modules. Instead, all necessary functionality and configuration changes were seamlessly integrated into the existing modules.

ennVee Solution

While conventional methods involve an out-of-the-box JD Edwards process for changing the base currency, UCS, in collaboration with Oracle partner ennVee, pursued a unique approach. ennVee crafted a solution that involved configuring new companies, establishing organizational structures, and executing a "mini re-implementation" to convert essential historical data. This approach allowed UCS to achieve the desired changes in base currency and inventory cost method efficiently. Design, development, and implementation of existing or new customizations, including modifications of existing and new reports. 

ennVee Solutions for Specific Requirements:

• UCS, in consultation with ennVee, determined that converting only one year plus the current year's data to the new base currency was sufficient. The focus was on converting open Purchase Orders and Sales Orders, updating the cost method at the item level, and transferring inventory from old branch plants to new branch plants in the new company.
  
  
• For open AP and AR, UCS opted to continue working off the old company's balances, gradually moving them to "conversion" accounts in the new company as transactions were closed out during 2024.
  
  
• New Purchase Orders, Sales Orders, and Inventory receipts would be processed in the new company in the normal course of business post go live, so all new AP, AP, and Inventory transactions would reside there while working the old transactions off the old company.

Application & Reports:

ennVee developed two applications to streamline the conversion of open Purchase and Sales Orders. These applications selected orders and seamlessly converted currency codes and values based on the change in base currency. ennVee Development team worked closely with UCS to incorporate feedback during development to prevent the need for re-work. The development phase was completed on time and within budget, with immediate user acceptance during all testing phases. UCS successfully executed the applications independently at the go-live stage, underscoring the user-friendly and efficient nature of the implemented solution.

This strategic transformation facilitated by Oracle's JD Edwards implementation, in collaboration with ennVee, empowered Upper Canada Soap to overcome complex challenges and optimize their processes.