Portena Logistiek
Portena Logistiek is a Dutch transport and warehouse specialist. Founded in 1932, this family business has grown into one of the largest distributors and warehousers in the Northern Netherlands. For their customers they take care of total goods flow control, stock management, storage and transhipment, transport and distribution. Portena is mainly active in the Food, Non-Food and Machine parts & semi-finished products sectors.
One integration platform for all data flows
Portena was working with an integration platform that was no longer technically maintained. In the search for a new integration platform, there were a number of requirements that had to be met. Folmer Schotanus, Head of IT & Automation at Portena explains:
“It was very important that the new platform was built with modern techniques, so that it can facilitate all our data flows. In addition, the integration platform must be robust and secure, but above all offer a future-proof solution. In addition, we were looking for a partner who offered us excellent service. We wanted short lines, adequate support and the possibility to outsource the work. We used to do the complete management independently, but we wanted to be able to outsource that from time to time in our new situation.”
Niklas integration platform detects issues immediately
Portena found the answer to their search for a new integration platform in Niklas and they opted for the dedicated variant that gives them full control over their Niklas environment. With this extra control and insight, they can immediately see if Niklas detects an error. For example, a transport message may have been delivered incorrectly. If this is the case, Niklas will try to resend the message. If this message continues to cause problems, Portena will receive an automatic notification from the integration platform. This allows them to solve the incident independently before the problem escalates.
"At Copernicus they act quickly, they treat customers in a friendly way and the support system fits Portena's wishes exactly"
DESADV-data streams for electronic packing slips
Before the initial migration could start, there was an acute request from Portena, which ultimately resulted in the project consisting of 2 phases. “We received a request from a potential customer if we wanted to provide the DESADV messages (EDI) for their trading partners. Unfortunately, this was not possible with our previous integration platform. At our request, Copernicus quickly set up the DESADV data streams that met all specifications. This enabled our new customer to exchange electronic packing slips with all its trading partners without any problems. Then, together with Copernicus, we started transferring the entire electronic data exchange with our customers. ”
Safe environment to build connections yourself
“By choosing the dedicated version of Niklas, we have our own safe environment in which we can build connections independently. For this we attended a two-day course at Copernicus and we received instruction in both the use of Niklas and the building of mappings. We are now perfectly capable of building simple interfaces between the shippers and our trading partners. And if there is a complex interface, we pass it on to Copernicus. They are always ready to assist us.”
