CASE STUDY
ERP Implementation
MISSION was founded in 2009 by an elite group of athletes looking to create an innovation-led brand, focused on solving problems for athletes.
MISSION combines science and real-life insight from the world’s greatest athletes, including Serena Williams, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and David Wright, to create disruptive sports technologies that elevate performance and help athletes prepare, perform and recover from activities.
MISSION specializes in thermoregulation, the process that allows the human body to maintain its core internal temperature. The company is well known for its cooling towels, accessories (hats and headbands), and recently added a whole new line of clothing and heating accessories which has seen great success. MISSION sells its products online, through retailers throughout the United States, and through distribution partners in the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Panama, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand.
Challenge
MISSION’s primary challenge was the systems it was using to support the business were predominantly manual, cumbersome and unable to keep up with internal and customer demands. To support the company’s current business and aggressive growth plan, the CEO and the MISSION executive team realized they needed to transition to an Enterprise Resource Planning solution (ERP). The key issues and opportunities that were identified included:
- Project planning, communication and time management/planning, KPI dashboards and reporting
- Supply chain visibility to better track what customers are buying
- Inventory management; DCs want pack by store and replenishment programs. MISSION needs better visibility as to what’s in its 3PL warehouses on a real time basis
- Tracking of sales and GM% by SKU
What They Say
“ATS acted as a trusted advisor every step of the way, helping the team clarify our requirements, select the right ERP solution and negotiate an excellent price. ATS even helped MISSION identify a 3PL partner that integrated directly with NetSuite.”
– Lisa Lehan, MISSION
Solution
Based on the experience and success logistics technology consulting group Advantage Technology Solutions had achieved at other companies, we were recommended to assist MISSION in selecting and implementing an ERP system. The CFO hired ATS to meet with the executive team to understand and document their goals and business requirements. In parallel, ATS began to identify 5-6 viable ERP vendors that could potentially fulfill the requirements.
ATS documented MISSION’s high-level functional requirements and collaborated with a cross-functional team led by SVP Operations Lisa Lehan in the ERP selection process. ATS led the team in an iterative Vendor Analysis & Selection process, further defining MISSION’s functional requirements for an ERP system while simultaneously qualifying vendors that we believed could meet those needs. The clarity of the MISSION team’s vision and functional requirements evolved simultaneously, resulting in better decisions as to which vendor best met their short & long term requirements.
The MISSION team narrowed the selection to SAP’s Business by Design and NetSuite. The Vendor Selection process required extensive due diligence of each vendor including phone calls with their customers. Given ATS extensive background and experience, we were asked to be directly involved in contract negotiations. This resulted in MISSION ultimately deciding on SWK Technologies and NetSuite, receiving extensive discounts in user license fees and protection of those discounts over a nine-year period (3-year renewals). Most important, the ATS process raised detail requirements prior to the decision and contract signature rather than afterward, minimizing unexpected, additional issues and expenses when the project began.
Results
The project was a resounding success, with a decision made in less than 6 months and a project launch in January 2016 as planned. As per Lisa Lehan, MISSION could not be more pleased with the work ATS provided.
“ATS acted as a trusted advisor every step of the way, helping the team clarify our requirements, select the right ERP solution and negotiate an excellent price. ATS even helped MISSION identify a 3PL partner that integrated directly with NetSuite.”
Get In Touch
Wan tot be the next ATS case study? Put our team of experts to work for you.