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SPORTS APPAREL MANUFACTURERFast Growth and Immediate Success

CASE STUDY

CASE STUDY SPORTS APPAREL MANUFACTURER 2

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CUSTOMER DETAILS

Wisconsin-based manufacturer of sporting

goods and apparel

Serves more than 35 percent of its overall

industry and more than 60 percent of the

high-end market

Includes both domestic and international

pro shops (as opposed to the more

familiar sporting goods retailers)

INDUSTRY

Clothing

APTEAN SOLUTION

Made2Manage

CHALLENGES

• Existingsystemwasnotgoingtokeepupwiththecompany’srapidgrowth.

• Unabletomeetpromiseddeliverydatesduetoalackofshopfloorcontrol.

• Make-to-ordermanufacturingstylehadcreatedanitemmasterofmore

than 10,000 parts.

• Manualprocessoforganizingthisinformationledtoinventoryinaccuracies,

order errors, and a lack of visibility.

• Maintainingtwoseparateshippingdatabasescausedordertrackingand

shipping errors.

BENEFITS

• A25percentincreaseinsalesyearoveryear.

• Salesopportunitiesinnewandforeignmarkets.

• A25percentreductioninitsvastitemmaster.

• Improvedcustomerserviceand35percentfewerordercancellationsdueto

a reliable forecast and realistic sales and job order due dates.

• Improvedon-timedeliveryyearoveryearfrom72percenttomorethan90

percent.

• Shrunkenleadtimes.

• Dramaticallyreduceddataentry,papertrails,andadministrativetasks.

• Improveddatavisibilityanddecisionsupport,resultingina94percent

performance to plan metric in 2003.

CASE STUDY SPORTS APPAREL MANUFACTURER 3

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FAST GROWTH AND IMMEDIATE SUCCESS Millionsofsportsfansacrosstheworldhaveusedorbeenexposed

totheproductsofoneofMade2ManageSystems’premier

customers—a Wisconsin-based manufacturer of sporting goods

andapparel.Foundedin1991,thiscustomersitehasquickly

grown to employ 150 people at one facility while serving more

than 35 percent of its overall industry and more than 60 percent

of the high-end market, which includes both domestic and

international pro shops (as opposed to the more familiar sporting

goods retailers).

PRECISION PERFORMANCE In1992,thesportinggoodsandapparelmanufacturersoughtout

itsfirstbusinesssystemtohelpmanagethecompany’sburgeoning

financials, production, materials, and customer base. Not long after

thecompanyimplementedanotherERP,leadersatthecompany

realizedthatthesystemtheyhadchosenwasnotgoingtokeep

up with the rapid growth the company had seen from building

solid customer relationships and cutting-edge products. In fact, the

organizationwasstrugglingwithavarietyofperformanceissues.

First, the company was unable to meet promised delivery dates due

toalackofshopfloorcontrol.Second,thecompany’smake-to-

order manufacturing style had created an item master of more than

10,000parts.Themanualprocessoforganizingthisinformation

had led to inventory inaccuracies, order errors, and a lack of

visibility into what the company could truly build for its customers.

Finally, the maintenance of two separate shipping databases was

causing order tracking and shipping errors, placing long-standing

customer relationships at risk.

LINING UP A NEW BUSINESS SOLUTION Thecompany’sfirstplanofactionwastohireaChicago-based

consultingfirmtohelpimplementaformalERPbusinessmodel.

Asthesportinggoodsandapparelmanufacturerbegantouse

performance metrics to measure its business, the company also

started searching for a new enterprise software package that

would complement the prior consulting work. The company

ended its hunt in early 2002 when its selection team chose to

purchaseandimplementtheMade2Manage®EnterpriseBusiness

System.Theprimaryreasonsfortheteam’sselectionincludedthe

Made2Managesystem’sextensivereportingcapabilities,materials

resource and demand planning functionality, complete integration

withUPSOnlineWorldShip,andfullyintegratedproduct

configuration options.

Afterasuccessfulandcomprehensiveimplementationofthe

Made2Manage system, including data loading, business process

analysis, conference room modeling, and employee training,

the sporting goods and apparel company went live with 50 user

licensesinDecember2002.Withinjustoneyearofusingthe

system, the company has seen a significant return on its technology

investment and has been able to preserve the tremendous growth

rateneededtoremainoneofINC500magazine’sfastestgrowing

privatecompaniesintheUnitedStates.

HITTING THE MARK WITH MADE2MANAGE SYSTEMS UsingtheMade2Manageapplication,leadershipteammembersat

the customer site now had the data visibility to better understand

thecompany’struerequirementsandgetproductsoutthe

doorfaster.Yearafteryear,theorganizationsawa25percent

increase in sales. In addition, easy access to back-office data

provided the company with solid decision support and a better

overallunderstandingofbusinessopportunities.Forexample,the

software/data manager for the company noted that one of its

product divisions had always struggled because of weak planning.

“We were happy just keeping up with orders,” he said, “but with

Made2Manage,wehavebeenabletoanalyzeourcapacitiesand

realizeimmediateopportunitiesforgrowth.”Oneofthemost

significantavenuesfornewrevenuehasbeentheexpansionof

thisdivisionintonewmarkets,resultingintheproductline’s28

percentincreaseinsalesin2003.Otheropportunitiesbroughton

byimproveddatavisibilityandreportingincludedthecompany’s

unprecedented ability to handle an increased sales volume from

foreignmarketswhilemaintainingtherequirementsofitsprimarily

domestic customer base.

4

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The addition of materials resource planning functionality has

allowed this Made2Manage Systems customer to better control

itsjoborders,jobcosts,andmaterialrequirements.Moreover,

demand planning functionality has helped the company better

understand and manage its highly seasonal demand, as well

as how this demand impacts material and capacity constraints.

Becauseofastreamlinedshopfloor,thecompanyispoisedtobring

severaloperationsitformerlysub-contractedin-house.Evenmore

importantly,on-timedeliveryyearoveryearhasincreasedfrom72

percenttomorethan90percentandleadtimeshaveshrunk.

“With our previous system,” said the operations director, “we

had an order date and a due date, and both were meaningless.

Eventhoughseasonalitydrovedemand,weweretypicallyeither

over- or under-producing, and we continually lost orders based on

our inability to meet due dates. Today, we practice better customer

service because we work with a reliable forecast and realistic sales

and job order due dates, and we have at least 35 percent fewer

cancellations.”

OtherkeyfeatureswithintheMade2Managesystemhaveserved

thecompany’suniqueverticalmarketspecifications.Forexample,

thesportinggoodsandapparelmanufacturerisusingthesystem’s

customerservicerequestscreentomanagethelifetimewarranties

of its products by tracking the original owner. The company

hasalreadyrealizedliabilitysavings.Theorganizationalsouses

theMade2ManageProductConfiguratortoeasilymanagethe

numerous product features and options based on the preferences

ofitscustomers.Accordingtothesoftware/datamanager,the

result has been improved sales numbers and increased order

accuracyforthecompany’shighlycustomizedproducts.Inaddition,

because the company ships more than 500 packages daily, of

which99percentaresentviaUPS,theMade2Manageapplication’s

integrationwithUPSOnlineWorldShiphelpsemployeesmanage

and track all shipping activities right from a desktop.

TAKING ON CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT Alreadyacompanyacclaimedforitsinnovationthroughsuperior

engineering technology, the sporting goods and apparel

manufacturercontinuestolooktoMade2ManageSystems’

technology to manage and grow its business through enterprise

software.ThecompanyplanstoemployMade2ManageSystems’

bar coding functionality to automate the entry of its daily labor,

inventory, shipping, and receiving transactions.

Accordingtotheoperationsmanager,eachyear,theproductsof

hiscompanywinmoremen’spro,women’spro,seniorpro,and

limited pro events than all other brands in the industry combined.

Asthecompanycontinuestodominateitsmarket,theoperations

manager notes that the Made2Manage application has provided

overall insights, efficiencies, and savings that have significantly

jumpstartedthecompany’ssuccessstory.“Bottomline,”hesaid,

“we’vegainedabetteroverallunderstandingofourbusiness.

Ouroverallperformancetoplanwithinourfirstyearofusingthe

systemis94percent.We’veneverhadthiskindofvisibilityintoour

business or this level of decision support.”