Distributor Simplifies Ordering with AS400 Integration

The Operational Challenge

Inside the company, the systems supporting digital ordering didn’t reflect how the business actually operated. Pricing rules lived inside AS400. Customer-specific SKUs structured how enterprise buyers placed orders. Payment terms, credit approval, and account relationships were managed directly through the ERP.

But the online experience existed outside those workflows. As a result:

• Customers browsed online but placed orders offline

• Sales and service teams manually entered routine orders

• Procurement teams couldn’t manage their buyers digitally

• Quote and order processes depended heavily on internal staff

The business had the data and systems to support digital ordering. What it lacked was an online experience designed around those systems.

Diagnosing The Real Problem

Leadership partnered with The B2B eCommerce Agency to understand why digital ordering had not taken hold.
Rather than beginning with a platform decision or feature list, the work started by mapping how orders actually moved through the organization — from enterprise buyers to pricing logic and fulfillment inside AS400.

That diagnosis revealed the core issue: The website had been layered on top of the business.

But for customers to trust digital ordering, the online experience needed to reflect the same pricing structures, product identifiers, and workflows that buyers and internal teams already relied on. In other words, the ERP needed to be extended outward to customers — not bypassed.

Designing a Safer Path to Digital Ordering 

Once the operational reality was clear, the focus shifted to designing a B2B buying experience that mirrored the structure of the ERP and the way enterprise customers actually ordered. The goal was not to replace AS400 or disrupt existing operations. It was to extend those systems directly to customers in a way that felt:

• Familiar to repeat buyers

• Accurate to internal pricing and terms

• Reliable enough for teams to trust

With the operational foundation defined, The B2B eCommerce Agency implemented the digital experience and integrations required to support it.

How the Digital Channel Was Rebuilt Around AS400

The resulting B2B portal reflected the business rules already operating inside the ERP. Customers could now:

• See real-time, customer-specific pricing pulled directly from AS400

• Order using approved payment terms such as Net 30

• View inventory availability tied to ERP data

• Manage company accounts with multiple buyers and permissions/p>

• Register new accounts validated against existing AS400 customer records

• Reorder products using enterprise order guides tied to their own SKU structures

The experience also supported operational realities common to enterprise food preparation product distribution:

• • Built-to-order products moved through structured quote workflows

• Procurement teams could manage purchasing across multiple buyers

• Customer service teams could assist with orders using secure account access

Product content continued to flow from the external PIM, while pricing, order logic, and account structure remained grounded in AS400. For customers, the portal now reflected the same structure the business used internally.

What Changed for the Business

Once the system mirrored real workflows, customer behavior began to shift. Routine orders moved from phone and email into digital self-service. Enterprise customers reordered faster using their own product identifiers and purchasing structure.

Internally, the operational impact was immediate:

• Sales and service teams spent less time entering routine orders

• Procurement teams managed buyers and permissions directly

• Pricing updates inside AS400 appeared online automatically

• Quote turnaround times improved

The portal stopped being an additional system to maintain. It became part of how the business actually operated.

Why This Approach Worked

This project succeeded because the work didn’t start with features or technology.  It started with sequence.  By first understanding how AS400 supported pricing, ordering, and customer accounts, the digital experience could be designed to reflect the real structure of the business.  Only after that alignment was clear did implementation begin.

For leadership, this reduced the operational risk often associated with digital initiatives. For customers, it created a buying experience that felt predictable, accurate, and easy to adopt.

Operational Impact

Within months of launch, the distributor saw:

• Higher adoption of online ordering

• Reduced manual order handling across service teams

• Faster enterprise reordering through structured order guides

• Greater internal confidence in the digital ordering system

Most importantly, the portal reflected how the company already worked. And that made it sustainable as the business continued to grow.