Power Cooperative Sends Email and Fax To Multiple Destinations from Oracle EBS

The Company

Founded in 1940 to generate electricity during the Depression era, Minnkota Power Cooperative today serves 11 member-owned distribution cooperatives and the Northern Municipal Power Agency, which serves 12 municipal utilities in North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota. With more than 400 employees on staff, Minkota Power can meet the energy needs of more than 125,000 customers over 34,500 square miles of eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota. With future growth expectations, Minnkota Power realizes the importance of cutting costs and improving productivity within its business processes.

The Problem

Over ten years, a satisfied Minnkota Power utilized a legacy document delivery solution on their IBM System 390 mainframe. Though automating and batching a modest volume of 200 purchase orders and requests for quotation per day, Minnkota Power became interested in utilizing Oracle’s BI Publisher to format their PO data easily. Their goal was to better communicate with customers via email and fax using Oracle reports.

While upgrading the company’s server and software to accommodate Oracle E-Business Suite, Minnkota Power learned that their legacy solution could not integrate with BI Publisher output. Tim Sanger, IT Manager, reported problems with documents being held in the queue despite having the correct fax number and contact information. Additionally, he was told that the solution might only allow for one fax per print stream, which would not meet users’ needs. After Minnkota Power repeatedly attempted to salvage its investment with a 3rd party reseller, Sanger reports, “Our management was getting upset with their approach of selling us more add-ons that did not work.”

The Solution

After learning of STR Software, Sanger called to inquire about AventX’s integration with BI Publisher output and robust feature set. Impressed with what he learned, Sanger presented STR Software’s AventX for Oracle EBS to Minnkota Power management.

Ben Bruno, CEO of STR Software, explains, “STR Software has years of experience integrating with BI Publisher and properly bursting batch documents. We have created sample templates of Purchase Orders, Request for Quotation, Sales Orders Acknowledgements, Invoices, and Statements to accelerate the use of this technology.”

Just two days after viewing a web demo of AventX, Minnkota Power issued a purchase order to STR Software. Since then, Sanger reports, “Our PO and RFQ templates are working without a hitch. AventX is integrated extremely well with Oracle; AventX for Oracle EBS takes data directly from the Oracle database, so we know what we’re sending is automatic and accurate.”

Using AventX to automate the delivery of critical procurement documents has assisted Minnkota in strategically structuring its purchasing process to keep small amounts of inventory on hand. Sanger cites the ability to get materials quickly and efficiently as the top benefit it has realized after implementing the solution. “We needed exceptional reliability, and with AventX, we got it! When we send something with AventX, we know it’s been sent.”