Global Packaging Company Streamlines Order Processing With Sterling Commerce Integration Solutions

Huhtamaki Americas Reduces Order Processing Time by 75 Percent and Improves Customer Satisfaction With Sterling Fax Conversion Services


SAN ANTONIO, TX--(Marketwire - April 28, 2009) - Sterling Commerce Customer Connection - Sterling Commerce, an AT&T Inc (NYSE: T) company, today announced that Huhtamaki Americas has implemented Sterling Fax Conversion Services to streamline its order processing and reduce purchase order processing time by 75 percent.

Huhtamaki Americas, part of Huhtamäki Oyj, is a specialty packaging organization offering foodservice and retail tableware products, consumer packaging, and packaging machinery, with 14 facilities across North and South America. Huhtamaki is one of the first customers to implement Sterling Fax Conversion Services, announced today as part of Sterling Business Integration Suite, a comprehensive suite of industry-leading integration solutions to provide a holistic approach to integrating business processes inside and outside the enterprise. (See related release, "Sterling Commerce Delivers Comprehensive Solution for Seamless and Secure Business Process Integration Inside and Outside the Enterprise," at http://www.sterlingcommerce.com/CNXrelease/Suite.)

"With the help of Sterling Fax Conversion Services, we have increased customer satisfaction by being able to deliver shipments on time with fewer errors," said Suzanne Dobbs, senior programmer/analyst, Huhtamaki. "By streamlining the order process, we are now able to improve order accuracy, ship orders within the committed timeframe and meet all customer expectations while involving fewer staff members."

Huhtamaki works with companies of all sizes, many of which are smaller and still place their orders manually via fax. Sterling Fax Conversion Services converts incoming faxes into electronic data interchange (EDI) or extensible markup language (XML) documents and reverses the process for outgoing documents. The new streamlined process enables Huhtamaki to focus on meeting and exceeding customer expectations. Customers do not have to change their fax format with the new system, and now their orders are more accurate and delivered within the customers' expected timeframe.

Sterling Fax Conversion Services is a new service offered as part of Sterling Collaboration Network (SCN), the company's hosted service that provides secure connectivity and collaboration between businesses. As a hosted service, Sterling Fax Conversion Services manages the order conversion process for Huhtamaki, which reduces the workload for the Huhtamaki information technology team so they can focus on other areas of their business, such as quality of customer data.

"It's estimated that up to one-fourth of a data entry person's time can be spent correcting errors when information is rekeyed. Sterling Fax Conversion Services allows Huhtamaki's customers to continue to interact with the company in the manner they are most comfortable but it allows Huhtamaki to automate the order process, ensuring faster turnaround and 100 percent accuracy," said Phil Smith, vice president, Sterling Collaboration Network Product Line, at Sterling Commerce. "Huhtamaki is a great example of how companies can leverage the seamless and secure integration of key business processes to enhance the way they do business."

About Sterling Commerce

Sterling Commerce, an AT&T Inc (NYSE: T) company, helps companies optimize and transform their Business Collaboration Network to accelerate revenues and reduce costs. More than 30,000 customers worldwide use Sterling Commerce applications and integration solutions to connect, communicate and collaborate inside and outside their enterprise. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Sterling Commerce has offices in 24 countries. More information can be found at www.sterlingcommerce.com.

Contact Information: For more information, contact: Julie Redard Sterling Commerce (978) 513-6386 julie_redard@stercomm.com Jamie Leicht Fleishman-Hillard (619) 237-7711 jamiemarie.leicht@fleishman.com