Casestudy for 1 EDI Source by Innova Disc Golf.
Case Study INNOVA Disc Golf LOCATION: Rock Hill, South Carolina INDUSTRY: Manufacturing NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 75+ PRODUCT TYPE: Disc golf gear, recreational discs ANNUAL SAVINGS: $15,000+ EDI SOFTWARE: Home-grown solution, enhanced by IX BACK OFFICE SYSTEMS: TrustedLink, ComplyLink, NetSuite INNOVA Disc Golf was born in 1983 when co-owner Dave Dunipace created the world’s first disc designed specifically for the sport of Disc Golf, a game played much like golf but with flying discs. Today INNOVA is the most popular brand and complete line of golf discs. Situation Initially when they implemented Trusted Link and an in-house EDI solution, they had zero visibility into their inbound/outbound EDI data. “We had no way of knowing if the data we were sending was good or bad, whether it was late, or why we were receiving chargebacks,” said Justin Alderman, EDI coordinator for INNOVA Disc Golf. “We were very vulnerable and needed to find something that would give us visibility into our EDI data without having to implement a whole new EDI solution.” Alderman had originally heard of IntelligentXchange online, but was then able to witness firsthand the power of IX at a conference in the Spring of 2016. “I overheard another retailer talking about IX and how simple it was to research issues and keep trading partners honest and happy,” he said. “In fact, he was able to actually prove to a partner that there was an error on a scorecard through the data he simply pulled up via the web. That’s powerful.” “Overall we’re sending better data and that’s resulting in our ability to better service our partners, creating more productive, effective relationships.” -Justin Alderman, EDI coordinator, Innova Disc Golf. Savings & Relationships Prior to IntelligentXchange, errors that resulted from a partner transmission would have to be corrected and then loaded one at a time. Now INNOVA receives proactive alerts on all EDI errors and is able to correct and reload documents all at once. What’s more, the data is broken down into an easy-to-read format, allowing INNOVA’s employees in compliance, purchasing, finance and customer service to leverage its capabilities. INNOVA was then able to receive a demo IX with their own data and were astonished by what they found. “During the demo, we finally realized why a major trading partner was not paying their handling fees,” said Alderman. “Actually, we were failing to include those handling fees in the correct line segment of our EDI data, so we hadn’t even bought it yet and we had already made a discovery that would help pay for it.” They also found that a major retailer was taking a total deduction of 2 percent on every invoice being sent. “We had no idea why they were taking the deduction, so we continued to write it off as a price of doing business. But, IX identified the problem and we were able to correct it, instantly putting lost money back into revenue.” And they continue to find value. “Overall we’re sending better data and that’s resulting in our ability to better service our partners, creating more productive, effective relationships.” Beyond the $15,000-plus savings they’ve been able to identify in just the first three months, they’re also noticing a whole new level of respect from the individuals they work with regularly. “They’re quick to respond and work through any issues that IX findsvisibility definitely handicapped us in the past,” said Alderman. Bottom Line “IX is a safety net. It’s my EDI colleague that works 24/7 that alerts me of any issues that may cause problems,” said Alderman. “Since IX, we’ve been on time with all inv oices, ASNs everything. Nothing slips through the cracks and if they do, the IX alerts allow me to quickly adjust.” And the benefits go beyond the IT and EDI department. “Our accounts receivable/payable person used to have to hunt me down when there was a problem and we’d spend hours researching the issue,” said Alderman. “Now she can go to one place in IX to find the purchase orders, ASNs, invoices and everything else related to a transaction. Plus IX translates the data into human readable form so she doesn’t have to know EDI to solve an issue.” “For example, IX found that one of our partners was having issues transmitting their advanced ship notices correctly. We worked with them to fix the issue and we’re saving an additional $1,800 a month now.” “IX is a safety net. It’s my EDI colleague that works 24/7 that alerts me of any issues that may cause problems.” -Justin Alderman, EDI coordinator, Innova Disc Golf.