Keeping Time with EDI

As the largest-selling watch brand in America, Timex Corporation needs to keep perfect time with the flow of its e-commerce traffic. As a privately-owned company headquartered in Middlebury, Connecticut, Timex has been providing innovative and affordable timepieces for more than 150 years. With hundreds of styles among its Fashion, Sports, Outdoor and Youth lines, Timex has sold more than one billion watches worldwide.

The Prior Strategy

Timex previously used a multiple VAN provider strategy, which included the QRS VAN. Following Inovis' acquisition of QRS in the fall of 2004, Timex conducted a review of its current EDI vendors and ultimately selected Inovis as the company's sole EDI provider for its U.S. trading community.

In addition to its past positive experience with QRS, Timex chose Inovis based on the company's ability to provide one network that is robust enough to satisfy a wide range of EDI requirements, including European standards. Timex determined that consolidating all of its U.S. EDI traffic with a single provider would best serve to maintain a seamless exchange of mission-critical data in compliance with specific trading partner needs.

By consolidating all of its U.S. EDI traffic on Inovis' value-added network platform (VAN), Inovisworks, Timex will facilitate the flow of critical e-commerce information and strengthen relationships across its global trading community.

"Ensuring reliable, effective data exchange with global trading partners is fundamental to upholding Timex's high standards of quality and customer service," says Steve Beaudry, director of Information Technology, Timex. "With Inovis, we are able to rely on one network to meet the EDI requirements of our U.S. trading community, greatly increasing efficiency and allowing us to free up valuable time and resources."

Timex will use Inovisworks to optimize collaboration with its worldwide trading community, while gaining unprecedented end-to-end control and visibility of B2B transactions. In addition, Inovisworks offers a single interface for all Inovis interactions and provides around-the-clock customer support.

A Pet Project

Companies other than Timex are also reaping the rewards of Inovis technology. Aspen Pet, for instance, had long conducted business transactions using a variety of communications methods. Doing business using multiple protocols with numerous trading partners, and having to coordinate maintenance, pricing issues and licensing fees, proved to be costly and tedious.

Aspen Pet sought to consolidate on one business commerce automation platform with a trusted partner that would provide a roadmap to meet future compliance requirements with its wide customer base from small pet stores to major retailers like Petco.

Aspen Pet selected Inovis' TrustedLink iSeries solution based on its flexible capabilities, superior technology platform and cost-effective licensing agreement in accommodating both FTP and AS2 users. A number of large retailers, including Wal-Mart, require its suppliers to use AS2 as the data transfer protocol to exchange critical point-of-sale data. The company uses AS2 for a variety of business transactions, including inbound purchase orders, outbound invoices, advance-ship notices and inbound forecasts. Rapid Results Inovis' services organization implemented the software in only one week, speeding the time to benefit. Aspen Pet has cut its per-customer Value-Added Network charges in half for its largest customers and increased satisfaction levels through improved transaction processes and heightened security.

A Trusted Partner

With the success of TrustedLink, Aspen Pet again turned to Inovis to synchronize product data with the UCCnet GLOBALregistry and is in the process of implementing Inovis' BizManager for UCCnet Services, a complete synchronization suite providing specific visibility, business process management and translation features for item synchronization.

"Inovis' EDI solution offers Aspen Pet tremendous flexibility to interact and meet requirements set forth by our wide range of business partners," says Chuck Sharpe, director of information technology for Aspen Pet. "We can now conduct business more effectively, meeting mandates and complying with UCCnet standards knowing that we have the necessary collaboration framework in place to meet any technology or trading partner requirements today and in the future."

By consolidating all transactions on one platform, Aspen Pet significantly improved its trading partner relations with increased flexibility and ease of use.