Case Study: Sporting Supplier Implements EDI

Transaction Manager 2 HighJump TrueCommerce EDI and AccellosOne WMS Integration with SAP Business One Integration ERP Helps Cut Costs and Improve Customer Service at Triple S Sporting Supplies

Objective

Meet the EDI requirements of major retail customers while automating entry of EDI orders into SAP Business One. Increase inventory accuracy and achieve fast, accurate shipping with AccellosOne WMS

Solution

Seamless, reliable integration between HighJump TrueCommerce EDI and AccellosOne WMS with SAP Business One increases automation and streamlines order processing to reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction.

Benefits

Robust, proven integration that maximizes automation and eliminates the need to manually enter EDI order data into SAP B1.
Fewer errors in the order fulfillment process, especially for EDI orders containing hundreds of line items.
A reduced need for staff to manually enter EDI orders.
Effectively manages back orders and handles order consolidations with AccellosOne WMS
99.9+% shipping accuracy

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." - Cliff Harris, Vice President, Triple S Sporting Supplies

Background

Triple S Sporting Supplies, a service-oriented, cost-conscious distributor, relies on TrueCommerce EDI and AccellosOne WMS integration with SAP Business One to process orders quickly and accurately. 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.

Triple S has been a HighJump TrueCommerce EDI customer since 2010. 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,” says 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.”

Saves time when it’s needed most

With numerous orders coming from multiple sources, EDI provides automation that saves precious time and helps ensure order accuracy.

“Our customers run the gamut from the smallest to the biggest dealers,” notes 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 cites. Even so, EDI more than pays for itself at Triple S. “EDI saves us a ton of time,” Mr. Harris asserts. “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,” clarifies 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, Mr. Harris estimates that Triple S would have to hire one additional person to perform order entry if they didn’t have EDI.

Making the most of WMS

Triple S has relied on AccellosOne WMS even longer than TrueCommerce EDI. 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 Accellos 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 observes. “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,” notes 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,” offers 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.

Getting past 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 recalls. “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,” states Mr. Harris.

TrueCommerce assigned a dedicated programming resource to find a solution.

“We got past that and got it resolved,” relates Mr. Harris. “I still take reference calls for TrueCommerce and I still think the company is a good business partner for us.”

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