Our People
Michael Reynaud and Pete Antunes
December 2020
Automation Technical Specialist and IT Senior Product Manager
San Jose, CA
Michael Reynaud, Automation Technical Specialist and Pete Antunes, Information Technology Senior Product Manager are based in the San Jose, CA office. Together they were successful in gaining new business for Valin by offering a complete digital e-procurement solution making it easier for customers to do business with Valin electronically.
Following up on a quick campaign from a large-scale battery manufacturer Michael discovered a customer was buying components directly from Japan and experiencing many challenges with lead time and support. By asking the right questions and finding the best way to serve the customer, Michael found that they would prefer to purchase domestically. After providing a proposal, Michael was told Valin’s pricing was not competitive and ultimately secured the three orders salespeople dread…get out, stay out, and don’t come back. Undeterred Michael pushed forward and asked if they would be interested in a purely digital transaction experience. This piqued the purchasing manager’s interest as they were also looking to streamline procurement.
Michael enlisted the help of Valin’s IT department to explore a “punch out” option. Pete Antunes jumped at the chance. E-procurement software was something that Valin had wanted to do for a long time but never had a willing participant until now. Using this technology allows a customer’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to interact directly with Valin Online (VOL) without having to do double entry. Double-entry meant a customer entered order information into their ERP system and then had to enter the same information into VOL. With PunchOut, VOL becomes integrated into the customer’s ERP system so when demand is created for a Valin item a purchase order is automatically generated in VOL eliminating the requirement for double entry.
After many conversations with the customer about their needs, Pete Antunes did research and found an appropriate solution to link VOL and the customer’s ERP. Because time was critical, Pete and his team made this task a priority and had Valin set up for PunchOut within a week. Numerous issues arose from getting the customer’s side setup. Pete helped coordinate communication to resolve the issues promptly by making sure the right people from each side were on the phone so decisions could be made, and fixes done immediately.
Ultimately by streamlining the customer’s procurement process Michael and Pete were able to differentiate Valin from our competition and lock in the business. The customer views Valin as a valued supply chain partner, opening many new opportunities that we would not have been privy to previously.
Michael and Pete’s efforts furthered the quest to make it easy for customers to do business with us using Valin’s eCommerce website. Eliminating double entry, simplifying order entry, and increasing efficiency and accuracy are just a few of the benefits of having this e-procurement solution. This gives Valin an advantage over our competition by providing a better end-user experience, especially when needed during the current pandemic.
After many conversations with the customer about their needs, Pete Antunes did research and found an appropriate solution to link VOL and the customer’s ERP. Because time was critical, Pete and his team made this task a priority and had Valin set up for PunchOut within a week. Numerous issues arose from getting the customer’s side setup. Pete helped coordinate communication to resolve the issues promptly by making sure the right people from each side were on the phone so decisions could be made, and fixes done immediately.
Ultimately by streamlining the customer’s procurement process Michael and Pete were able to differentiate Valin from our competition and lock in the business. The customer views Valin as a valued supply chain partner, opening many new opportunities that we would not have been privy to previously.
Michael and Pete’s efforts furthered the quest to make it easy for customers to do business with us using Valin’s eCommerce website. Eliminating double entry, simplifying order entry, and increasing efficiency and accuracy are just a few of the benefits of having this e-procurement solution. This gives Valin an advantage over our competition by providing a better end-user experience, especially when needed during the current pandemic.