CoolSpools Case Study – J F Renshaw Foods

From crisis to cakewalk: How J F Renshaw (a major UK food manufacturer) used CoolSpools to connect their AS400 to Microsoft Office 365 – without the headache of using IBM’s SMTP server.

The Client: J F Renshaw
Renshaw is a British food manufacturing company established in 1898. Based in Liverpool, it prides itself on a largely local workforce, as well as a Royal Warrant from Queen Elizabeth II.

Business Sector: Food Manufacturing
Renshaw is the leading British manufacturer of icing, marzipan, frostings, caramel and mallows, with customers ranging from specialist sugarcraft shops to food manufacturers, bakery wholesalers and major supermarkets, and a network of distributors spanning 30 countries worldwide. If you buy a pack of ready-to-roll icing from your local supermarket, chances are it’ll be Renshaw who made it.

Background
Renshaw’s INFOR System21 ERP generates a range of key daily reports, which are distributed via email, both within and outside the company, for urgent action.

The Challenge
With migration from AS400 to Microsoft Office 365 at the heart of their new IT strategy, Renshaw planned to replace Lotus Notes with Microsoft Exchange. But there was a problem: without Lotus Notes, they would need to set up another mail server on the AS400 to distribute those vital daily reports via Office 365. And IBM’s SMTP engine is highly complex to configure and troubleshoot…