Businesses are more reliant than ever on electronic information and without the proper systems in place to manage this information, they often miss out on maximizing business.  A December 2008 study by Forrester Consulting found that many enterprises do not have an integrated and comprehensive tool for integration, and that could be keeping them from doing business faster and with better reliability.[1]  Companies who find a way to maximize all the information flowing through their supply chain will be more successful and have better relationships with their vendors. 

Sterling Commerce customer, Helen of Troy Limited, is a perfect example of company making the most out of these relationships.  The company designs, produces and markets brand-name personal care and comfort products, as well as household products.  It then sells primarily through mass merchandisers, drug store chains, warehouse clubs and grocery stores under brand names such as Vidal Sassoon, Revlon, Infusium 23, Karina, OXO and Good Grips.  The company has partners located in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France and Germany that range in size from big box stores to small mom-and-pop stores.  Helen of Troy is responsible for the transfer of electronic documents for all their business partners throughout each division.

A wide array of products ranging from foot massagers to kitchen tools combined with more than  150 business partners in its supply chain has created a business collaboration network that is extremely complex for Helen of Troy to manage.

In order to transfer these documents, Helen of Troy had been relying on an Internet-based value-added network (VAN) that was not reliable.  It had discovered that data was being lost on transactions costing the IT team time and the company money.  When it reached out to its current VAN vendor for help, the company received poor support that was neither timely nor friendly, causing partners to become discouraged.  Since Helen of Troy’s business is reliant on its wide range of partners who sell its products, it needed to find a solution for managing this data and turned to the Sterling Community Development Services team from Sterling Commerce.

After much evaluation, Helen of Troy made the decision to implement Sterling Collaboration Network, a hosted solution in Sterling Business Integration Suite that offers more than the traditional VAN functionality.  Sterling Collaboration Network handles the multiple communication methods and data formats, including EDI and non-EDI files – exactly what was needed to avoid errors and manage the complexity around Helen of Troy’s business transactions.  The reliability and security of the tool helped Helen of Troy exchange thousands of documents daily to its business partners, regardless of size, location or differing communications preferences. 

Cathy Stephens, EDI Manager with Helen of Troy, was concerned about how much work it would be for her team to manage the migration from the internet-based VAN to Sterling Information Broker, a component of the Sterling Collaboration Network.  However, the only work that had to be done by her team following the implementation was to update the customer contact list.  Sterling Community Development Services assisted Helen of Troy in successfully migrating its business partner community through tools and processes that enabled the company to build, manage, and expand their B2B community. 

Helen of Troy has realized the following benefits from their implementation of a new EDI system:

·         Improved customer satisfaction – With over 99.9% uptime, customers are happier with the system, and Helen of Troy can automate and track numerous business processes, such as purchase orders, advanced shipping notices, warehouse documents, and delivery status updates without losing data.

·         Enhanced order visibility – Helen of Troy can now view business documents on the web, so the company has visibility into orders and can better serve its customers, ensuring orders are processed in a timely manner.

·         Quicker trading partner onboarding – Helen of Troy can onboard and confirm the status of new partners in less than 24 hours, a process that used to require three full days.  Prior to Sterling Commerce, Helen of Troy hoped to add a customer within three days without issue.

By implementing a new EDI system, Helen of Troy is able to manage the complex network of partners and can now bring on new partners into the trading community more easily, helping the company drive revenue and efficiency.