HighJump Helps Triple S Sporting Supplies Optimize Operations
Minneapolis, Minnesota (PRWEB) October 31, 2016 -- Company achieves 99.9+ percent shipping accuracy in multichannel environment while reducing costs and improving customer satisfaction
HighJump, a global provider of supply chain network solutions, has announced a new case study showing how Triple S Sporting Supplies, a leading wholesale sporting goods distributor, has optimized its business processes through TrueCommerce EDI and AccellosOne WMS integration with SAP BusinessOne. Using the HighJump integrated platform, the company has achieved best-in-class shipping accuracy, reduced operational expenses and brought customer satisfaction to a new level.
Company:
Triple S Sporting Supplies is a family-run wholesale sporting goods distributor that provides affordable hunting, fishing and outdoor merchandise to dealers and retailers of all sizes worldwide. Triple S distributes products from over 300 manufacturers, as well as popular specialty products including Challenger fishing lures and Sheffield fishing rods and tackle.
To scale warehouse operations and support the company’s continued growth, Triple S turned to warehouse technology to streamline order processing and increase efficiencies. Seeing the benefit of one vendor for all supply chain needs, Triple S then implemented HighJump TrueCommerce EDI to satisfy EDI requirements of major retail customers while automating entry of EDI orders into SAP Business One.
EDI implementation:
According to Cliff Harris, Triple S vice president, the company had a compelling reason for the EDI deployment: it was mandated by major sporting goods retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods, Gander Mountain, L.L. Bean, and Bass Pro Shops.
“We originally used different third-party EDI systems that didn’t integrate with our SAP Business One ERP system,” said Mr. Harris. “As our EDI order volume grew, it got to the point where there was no benefit to us to do EDI if it wasn’t integrated with SAP.”
“Our customers run the gamut from the smallest to the biggest dealers,” noted Mr. Harris. “Many of them are small, independent businesses—some don’t even have fax or email yet.”
As a result, Triple S must enter most of its orders into SAP manually. “We get orders from salespeople, phone, fax, email, eCommerce… Only about 5% of orders come in via EDI,”Mr. Harris said.
Even so, EDI more than pays for itself at Triple S. “EDI saves us a ton of time,” Mr. Harris said. “We sell a lot of inexpensive items, so we can get as many as 300 to 400 line items on an EDI order.”
EDI becomes especially useful in peak seasons.
“When we hit that busy time of year and we’re getting hundreds of orders and hundreds of line items, the time saved and also taking human error out of the equation for those orders—EDI is absolutely worth it,” said Mr. Harris. “It was a great move for us since we got it up-and-running.”
Besides enabling the company to comply with the EDI mandates of its largest customers, Harris estimates that Triple S would have to hire one additional person to perform order entry if they didn’t have EDI.
EDI and WMS working in concert on SAP Business One:
In addition to using TrueCommerce EDI, Triple S is also a long-time HighJump AccellosOne WMS customer.
Mr.Harris explains: “Both EDI and warehouse management are integrated with SAP. We pull our advance ship notices (ASN) information from SAP Business One. The packaging by carton is done in AccellosOne WMS. The reason we pull our ASN information from SAP is it gives us the ability to dropship directly from a vendor to one of our customers. We also do all our pack-by-box in AccellosOne WMS, and then send that data up to SAP. We then pull the data out of SAP and into TrueCommerce EDI. Wherever they originate, once orders hit our WMS they’re processed and out the door.”
Triple S is making the most of other AccellosOne WMS functionalities. The company relies on the WMS solution to help manage back orders, handle order consolidation and other order management complexities.
While the initial investment in WMS is significant, “it definitely pays for itself,” Mr.Harris observed. “We ship 99.9-something percent correct and my inventory is spot-on—it’s invaluable.”
A solid support relationship makes the process more efficient. “I probably haven’t talked to HighJump support in over two years, knock on wood,” noted Mr. Harris. “Not that we’re being antisocial or anything; but as long as it’s running, I don’t need to get on the phone.”
At Triple S, the AccellosOne WMS and TrueCommerce EDI combo integrates smoothly with the business-to-business eCommerce platform.
“For eCommerce, we use a B2B mobile platform,” said Mr. Harris. “It allows customers to just ‘walk the walls’ in their store and scan barcodes with their smartphones to create orders on-the-fly. About 5-10% of orders arrive this way.”
The captured data is then transferred into the HighJump-powered applications.
Overcoming upgrade challenges:
Triple S and TrueCommerce worked through significant challenges following an SAP upgrade.
Triple S’s initial EDI rollout went very smoothly. But when they upgraded to SAP B1 Version 9 in 2013, unexpected compatibility issues arose despite careful planning.
“Anytime you touch your ERP you worry about what’s going to happen,” Mr. Harris recalled. “Suddenly I was worried about getting my EDI system to work and not about running my business.”
TrueCommerce mobilized its support team to resolve the issue as fast as possible, but the application of standard procedures was not enough: the new version of SAP was structurally different from the old one.
“We needed a workaround until TrueCommerce released its new integration into SAP B1,” stated Mr. Harris.
TrueCommerce assigned a dedicated programming resource to find a solution.
“We got past that and got it resolved,” said Mr. Harris. “I still take reference calls for TrueCommerce and I still think the company is a good business partner for us.”
About TrueCommerce
TrueCommerce, a HighJump company, revolutionizes trading partner connectivity by linking suppliers, retail hubs and end consumers in one global commerce network.
With our flexible, integrated and fully managed service solutions, customers of any size can easily connect with any trading partner while enjoying the peace of mind of a proven service platform that reliably handles tens of millions of transactions annually without the need for any customer interaction.
From the factory to the warehouse, from distributor to retail storefront, achieve new levels of business connectivity and performance with the world’s most complete trading partner platform.
TrueCommerce: Connect. Integrate. Accelerate.
For more information, visit https://www.truecommerce.com/
About HighJump
In almost every industry, buyers are becoming more fickle, and more demanding. For logistics executives, effectively meeting buyer needs has become a relentless quest for speed and agility. Traditional supply chain solutions – siloed, complex and hard-to-implement – no longer suffice, as competitors find ways to deliver goods faster and more profitably.
In today’s “now” economy, HighJump helps you stay agile, with adaptable, connected solutions that harness the power of your trading partner community. From the warehouse to the storefront, from the desktop to the driver’s cab, we can help you achieve new levels of supply chain responsiveness, performance and profitability.
HighJump’s suite of warehouse management, business integration, transportation management and retail/DSD solutions form a complete, powerful and adaptable platform that allow you to drive growth, customer satisfaction and revenue. HighJump: supply chain accelerated.
For more information, visit http://www.highjump.com.
Yegor Kuznetsov, HighJump TrueCommerce, +1 (703) 209-0167, [email protected]
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