High-Volume Distribution
About the Company
High volume distribution and extraordinary business growth are hallmarks of this company, a provider of cell phone accessories. On average, the company ships 147,000 order lines per month. Volume grew by 182% in 2011 alone. In a classic distributor model, the company manufactures goods in bulk via overseas vendors, then assembles, packages and warehouses the products in the United States.
The Challenge
The company needed a system that would help streamline business processes in order to maintain current customer demands and meet the company’s ambitious growth model for high-volume distribution.
The Solution
By using Compiere, an open source ERP, the company could develop an efficient system to sustain hundreds of simultaneous users in multiple countries, while keeping the workflow of ordering, shelving, assembling and shipping product tightly integrated with accounting and finance.
The Process
Successfully processing more than 10 million units per month is complicated by extraordinary growth and the time-to-market demands of a constantly evolving product line. In addition, honoring a world-class warranty program demands accurate customer data and up-to-the-moment inventory and shipment information. Changes in government and business requirements, such as PCI compliance for credit card safety, state sales tax collection on internet sales, and the need for multiple warehouses with increasingly complex warehouse processes, have also proven challenging.
Compiere provided the software framework needed to meet these challenges. With its enterprise-class capabilities, Compiere has accurately captured more than one million accounting transactions per month across hundreds of users and business processes spanning the entire company. In addition, the platform of an open source solution has allowed the company to streamline warehouse processes with innovative customizations, such as:
- Implementing effective cycle count processes
- The painless transfer of inventory locators during large warehouse reorganizations
- The creation of an ‘easy button’ internet shipment process
In addition to distribution center improvement, sustainable business practices have required effective integrations with Tier One service providers:
- FedEx for shipping and address validation
- Cybersource credit card services for PCI compliance
- Avalara tax service
- Demandware webstore
- SugarCRM for sales force automation and customer service incidents
- TIBCO ESB for data continuity through all integrations
The Result
In partnership with the Trek Global team, this classic high-volume distributor continues to meet aggressive sales growth projections, has greatly improved distributor and customer relationships, maintains one of the best warranty programs in the industry, and has dramatically improved time-to-market efficiency through better planning, supply-chain management, and delivery mechanisms. All of this has supported and enhanced extraordinary success in a challenging market and difficult economy.
With the new system, the company achieves:
- 146,733 average order lines per month
- More than 10 million units moved per month
- 12 million annual GL transactions