Cleo, VAI Collaborate to Accelerate Trading Partner Onboarding for the AVA Companies

RONKONKOMA, NY – August 8, 2023 -- Cleo, the pioneer and global leader of the Ecosystem Integration software category and provider of the Cleo Integration Cloud (CIC) software platform, along with longtime system integrator partner VAI, a leading independent mid-market ERP software developer, are helping one of the New York’s top meat producers to do business better. 

The AVA Companies, based in New York and a leading supplier of pork and beef products to customers across the U.S. and around the world, prides itself on running a customer-centric, relationship-driven business. As such, the company has grown steadily since sinking its roots in New York’s Nassau County back in 1984. 

With continuous company expansion comes additional pressure on IT to add new trading partners, systems, and applications into AVA Companies IT architecture. To offset rising complexity, costs, and extra strain on IT staff, AVA Companies turned to Cleo and CIC, its ecosystem integration platform, to outsource their daily B2B operations. As a one of the world’s top producers, processors, and distributors of meat and meat products, AVA Companies was seeking more clear and precise visibility for its business managers into all of its core B2B processes, mindful of their impact of on customer relationships. 

“CIC has a Dashboard – the CIC Cockpit -- that provides users with complete visibility of orders going in and out. CIC is accessible from anywhere with a browser and easy to use,” said Domenic Capul, IT Manager, AVA Companies. “We can quickly and easily spot customer errors and manage all data from one location. With a point and a click, we have easy navigation and advanced search features that allow us to view pending items, invoices, purchase orders, and more. It’s a great time saver for us and our end users.”

Making it all go is VAI, the expert services partner who is managing the AVA Companies’ integrations in the Cleo cloud. VAI specializes in supply chain and business management solutions for hardgoods, food, and pharmaceutical companies, serving customers using its flagship ERP Software Suite across myriad vertical markets.

“Cleo Integration Cloud is the right solution for VAI ERP customers looking to automate their EDI and API transactions,” said Maggie Kelleher, Director of Sales, VAI. “Our customers want the real-time visibility of CIC, which offers more insights than any other integration platform. For AVA Companies, that translates to an easier, quicker, and more unified way of doing business. VAI’s ERP software combined with Cleo Integration Cloud are extremely effective in saving our customers time and money, and we look forward to many more upcoming integration successes.”

Cleo serves over 4,100 customers worldwide with its Cleo Integration Cloud platform, which is uniquely capable of bringing any-to-any integration to supply-chain-driven businesses by supporting API, EDI, and/or File-based integrations to complement VAI’s powerful ERP solutions.  

VAI and Cleo have been partners since the early 2000s. While the relationship originally revolved around VAI serving as a reseller for Cleo’s traditional on-prem integration solutions, VAI has since joined Cleo’s rapidly expanding System Integrator partner program to begin assisting the duo’s more than 80 joint customers leveraging VAI ERP software in their migration to add the Cleo Integration Cloud (CIC) platform, a cloud-based B2B integration solution.  

Bob Hoch, Director of Channel Sales at Cleo, said, “Cleo Integration Cloud and VAI S2K Enterprise have always proven to be a great combination for all our customers in the food manufacturing sector, including the AVA Companies. We are honored to help them meet their customers’ expectations in what’s forever been a demanding industry, by helping AVA add on new trading partners to keep their business running all the more efficiently. Here’s to more growth and expansion in the years ahead.”   

About AVA Companies

AVA Companies has been in business since 1984, when founder Albert Girgenti started servicing the New York City market with high-quality Canadian pork. Starting from a regional van load a week, AVA today is one of the leading companies in quality pork distribution, servicing customers across the nation and around the world. 

About VAI

VAI is a leading independent mid-market ERP software developer renowned for its flexible solutions and ability to automate critical business functions for the distribution, manufacturing, retail, and service sectors. VAI's software solutions are backed by a wealth of experience and a reputation for excellence that countless companies rely on. With specific ERP solutions for hardgoods, food, and pharmaceutical companies, VAI has helped some of the most recognized companies address key industry requirements and deliver bottom-line results. VAI continues to innovate with new solutions that leverage business intelligence, analytics, mobility, and cloud technology to help customers make more informed business decisions and empower their mobile workforce. For more information, visit www.vai.net.

About VAI Cloud LLC 

VAI Cloud, LLC is the primary provider for cloud deployment of VAI’s S2K Software Suite. VAI Cloud enables businesses to have a disaster recovery plan and high availability in place without all the complexities and expense. VAI Cloud infrastructure spans multiple data centers with full synchronization between redundant systems. Customers in VAI Cloud can add additional resources and updates are done without the need for downtime. For more information, visit www.vaicloud.net.

About Cleo Integration Cloud

Cleo Integration Cloud (CIC) is a cloud-based integration platform, purpose-built to design, build, operate and optimize critical ecosystem integration processes.  The CIC platform brings end-to-end integration visibility across API, EDI and non-EDI integrations that gives technical and business users the confidence to rapidly onboard trading partners, enable integration between applications, and accelerate revenue-generating business processes.  On the platform, businesses have the choice of self-service, managed services, or a blended approach – ensuring complete flexibility and control over their B2B integration strategy.

About Cleo

Cleo is an ecosystem integration software company focused on business outcomes, ensuring each customer’s potential is realized by delivering solutions that make it easy to discover and create value through the movement and integration of B2B enterprise data.  Cleo gives customers strategic, “outside-in” visibility into the critical end-to-end business flows happening across their ecosystems of partners and customers, marketplaces, and internal cloud and on-premise applications.  Our solutions empower teams to drive business agility, accelerate onboarding, facilitate modernization of key business processes, and capture new revenue streams by reimagining and remastering their digital ecosystem through robust application, B2B, and data integration technologies. For more information, visit www.cleo.com or call +1.815.282.7695.