Since its founding, BlueLotus 360 has built enterprise software for companies worldwide in a variety of industries ranging from manufacturing, construction, trading and services industries. By following a modular design philosophy where companies can utilise the exact features to meet their unique needs, Blue Lotus 360 helps them be flexible and adapt to changing market conditions. The most significant and ongoing disruption, of course, is the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lives of people worldwide have taken a complete change in direction as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyday activities such as grocery shopping have now changed to accommodate strict safety protocols to minimise the spread of the virus. In addition, the phenomenon has resulted in an increase in eCommerce through the digital integration of business processes to keep customers and employees safe.
Recognising these trends, cricket Legends now reputed investors, Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara, are part of the founding team of Providore, which aims to be the future of grocery shopping. By leveraging digital technology, the company offers a wide range of quality products alongside safety and convenience to its consumers. Underneath the hood, helping make this possible, is Blue Lotus 360 and its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software.
Providore – Groceries at your fingertips, brought to your doorstep.
“While the process of eCommerce is pretty straightforward, when it comes to food, customers need to know how it is stored, handled, transported, and finally delivered with the peace of mind that all necessary safeguards are in place. Unfortunately, this was often lacking, and so we created Providore to fill in this gap,” stated Mahela.
Providore carries a portfolio of 1,200 imported and locally manufactured products in their dedicated fulfilment centre in Rajagiriya, which ensures delivery to the customer’s doorstep within 2 hours. The platform also enables the customer to schedule deliveries to their convenience up to four weeks in advance, with six slots available daily from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm. So spending time searching for items on the shelves of supermarkets and long checkout queues are now a thing of the past with Providore.
Enterprise Resource Planning with BLUE LOTUS 360
The mobile application and website (providore.shop) are only the tip of the iceberg. Beneath its surface, the founding team at Providore, together with Mahela and Sanga, needed a solid backend to work the magic of the platform. “This required a robust Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system which not only accept orders of from the eCommerce system but a platform that enables real-time stock management, automated purchase orders, and also helping them to reconcile finance with the unique DFCC bank integration” expresses CEO of Blue Lotus 360, Uthayakumar Nadarajah.
Furthermore, through a partnership formed with John Keells Logistics (JKLL), Providore provides end-to-end services (warehousing, fulfilment and delivery of goods) which guarantees the quality of products and delivery, and ensures unparalleled customer experience. The Blue Lotus 360 ERP is in the process of being seamlessly integrated into the JKLL Infor Warehouse Management System (WMS). Thereby, it ensures everything operates smoothly and efficiently from start to finish. “Acting as the bridge between a customer’s screen to their goods delivered through JKLL, it is one of our greatest accomplishments that we were able to go live with this state-of-the-art system for Providore in under three months,” adds COO of Blue Lotus 360, Nithushan Uthayakumar.
The ERP developed by Blue Lotus 360 seamlessly integrates all components of the grocery supply chain into one centralised platform. The process starts when the team at Providore places an order with the supplier. Simultaneously, the WMS is also notified of a pending purchase order via email. Once the supplier sends over the goods, a Goods Received Note is raised, which updates existing stock levels.
Customers may browse the online collection of goods through the website or mobile application and fill their virtual shopping cart for checkout. Finally, customers can conveniently pay for their order through the DirectPay payment gateway and then the order is shipped to their doorstep.
“The WMS handles the delivery of goods completely, and customers may choose whether to have it delivered within 2 hours paying a fee through the express option, or free of charge at an allocated time slot,” explains Hirash Huzair. As customers checkout, a purchase order is generated automatically when stock levels reach a threshold level for reorder. “The team at Providore may then review the purchase order and confirm it with the suppliers at the push of a button,” he adds.
How has Blue Lotus 360 created an impact in Sri Lanka?
Blue Lotus 360 was part of the John Keells X Startup Accelerator program and has now grown to be the developer of over 200 ERP systems for numerous clients in Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom. Their local clientele includes the country’s largest fast-food chain together with leading boat, packaging, shoe manufacturers in Sri Lanka and a few of the biggest real estate and road contractor companies.
“With the pandemic, we saw numerous businesses shift to digital with ERP systems. Another milestone we recently achieved was that Blue Lotus 360 was contacted by a renowned businessman in Sri Lanka to help him manage his otherwise physical business from a hospital bed as he recovered from the virus,” Nithushan states. Showing a 223% growth in the company over the past 12 months and its team has doubled in size, highlighting the demand for skilled IT professionals in a time when other industries are still adapting to disruptive times. As it grows rapidly, Blue Lotus 360 continues to help companies digitise themselves with their systems, creating a new era of business operations in a post-pandemic Sri Lanka.