Method Creates a Clean Path to Growth with OpenText B2B Integration

Method is a manufacturer of non-toxic and biodegradable naturally derived cleaning products. Together with its sister brand Ecover, method offers a portfolio of products that includes laundry, home cleaning, hand and body wash, and air care products. The company’s mission is to run its business in a values-driven manner, building social and environmental benefit into its products and everything it does.

Addressing B2B Challenges of First Manufacturing and Distribution Facility
People Against Dirty Manufacturing, the organization formed by method, regards its manufacturing plant and distribution center in the Pullman Park District of Chicago as a tangible realization of the company’s commitment to sustainability and community. The ‘South Side Soapbox’ meets strict Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) benchmarks for ecological facilities. It is the only LEED-Platinum certified plant in its industry and only one of two in the United States. It also supports revitalization of an area rich in manufacturing history by being the first new factory to be built on the South Side of Chicago in nearly 30 years.

Among other standout features, the facility is surrounded by solar tracking trees and a refurbished 230-foot wind turbine that generates half of the building’s annual electricity consumption. Additionally, more than half of the 150,000-square-foot facility is topped with a commercial scale greenhouse, the world’s largest hydroponic rooftop farm, equipped to produce up to one million pounds of produce every year for local stores, restaurants and markets.

Priorities for B2B Experience
People Against Dirty Manufacturing professionals focus on the production, warehousing and distribution of planet-friendly, design-driven home-care products. To help keep that focus, they needed an experienced partner to integrate electronic data interchange (EDI) for efficiency in line with the plant itself and overall company mission. “We’ve never had our own distribution center, so we had no existing systems to leverage,” says method EDI Analyst Susan Karr. “We were looking to find a vendor with EDI capabilities to hit the ground running and make the transition as seamless as possible.”