How ERP helped a Shoemaker: Case study of Billy Footwear

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The dressing is an integral part of human identity. People who are employed spend more time dressing right from positioning the necktie to tying the shoelace. Some people have mobility issues, and for them, tying shoelaces is a cringy challenge. Billy Price and Darin Donaldson found Billy Footwear in the year 2015. They make shoes exclusively for people with mobility issues, enabling them to wear them quickly without stress. For this particular kind of shoes, there are no shoelaces.

The product was a success, and the organization saw a sales growth of 260% from 2018 to 2019; this created an excessive workload in accounting, inventory management, and logistics. With no end to the increased insight, company leaders launched a search for a “technology stack. “that could meet their never-ending needs. Billy footwear started selling its products through multiple channels, including big retailers like Nordstrom and Macy’s online market giants like Amazon, Zappos, and other small-scale retailers and their eCommerce stores. Because all of the various shopfronts were drawing products from a straighter-more forward inventory pool, the job of managing inventory was becoming complex by the day, the footwear company says.  

According to the company’s track record and future growth prediction, the company knew it had to find a fulfillment solution that could be scaled or climbed and vigorous. So, Billy Footwear chooses SAP Business one as its new ERP platform. In short, it has linked it with the ShipStation order fulfillment and shipping solution and omnichannel commerce platform Shopify. One of the new technology stack’s early benefits was that it helped the footwear company connect with efficient third-party logistics service provider (3PL). Previous 3PLs had misgoverned orders from big retailers. But once Billy Footwear swapped to a new provider and completed the integration with the SAP system, the problems with business-to-business orders quickly diminish gradually in size.

To create a combined flow of information, the shoe the company collaborated with California-based multi-channel warehousing consultants OptiProERP to connect the new ERP system to ShipStation and Shopify. Among other benefits, merging made the scaling of Billy Footwear’s business-to-consumer (B2C) business under control by allowing the manufacturer to inspect bit by bit; it needs in one spot. ShipStation has given a free hand to the shoe company to process more orders day by day while looking at customer satisfaction and preference. The company also mentions that the system’s “scan to verify” function has helped them make sure that the right products are delivered to the right customers.

There are other benefits, as well. The accuracy of the stock-availability data shared with External partners like Nordstrom and Amazon have increased by 70%. Plus, the company can now manage 40% more volume in its fulfillment operations without additional staff.