The Power of One

Sporting apparel and equipment is one of the most competitive and coveted retail industries in the world. And even though adidas-Salomon Canada,
a subsidiary of the world's No. 2 manufacturer of sporting goods, is one of the most competitive in the industry, the company recently faced a unique challenge with the housing of multiple brands -- including adidas footwear and apparel; Salomon ski boots and bindings; Taylormade golf clubs; Maxfli golf balls; Bonfire outdoor winter apparel -- with numerous sales and marketing teams under one roof. The company wanted to consolidate its IT infrastructure yet still retain control over several supply chain channels. "We felt it was necessary to consolidate because we saw real potential in integrating these brands in Canada," says Paul Leone, vice president, Supply Chain - IT/ Logistics, adidas-Salomon Canada.

Make It A Single
The company chose to consolidate its existing setup onto an IBM eServer iSeries i810 running OS/400 in order to run multiple applications on a single server, rather than running these applications on multiple Dell servers. This single server strategy has proven to be a hole-in-one for the company. "We've done some fantastic work with our Web tools," says Leone. "Nearly 30 percent of our customers are now engaging online with us for things like order entry, shipment status and product availability." Leone says the greatest attribute of the server is its multi-faceted flexibility. It handles the "bread and butter" supply chain needs like order fulfillment and at the same time it extends these capabilities to the Web in a real-time atmosphere. "Based on the multitude of choices in the marketplace, I'd recommend to another company in our shoes to strongly look at the platform only because it provides such versatility," says Leone. The IBM eServer iSeries platform handles the management of warehouse operations and inventory. Not only do employees in four different offices across Canada rely on the eServer iSeries, but customers [retailers] do, too. Customers are able to track their orders and determine what is available and when since the systems maintains inventory
status in real-time.

"The user count is extremely high," says Leone. "I am a big believer in real-time information and keeping things connected as much as possible. That's why I think a single server strategy is so important."

Customer Service Is Key
At the end of the day, Leone says that he still lets his customers know that they can call the company's toll free number for service issues. However, by visiting the adidas customer service portal, all issues can be resolved alone. "In addition, if our customer go to the web to take care of their issues, we can offer a small promotion to help keep you there," says Leone. "We're really trying to entice our customers to go to the Web. By doing this, we can focus more of our customer service efforts on a more pro-active approach." Customer service reps that wait by the phone to answer a standard set of questions are becoming a thing of the past at adidas-Salomon. Leone says reps can now take a stab at upselling and cross-selling.

This promotional strategy was just launched last month at the company. As customers call into the adidas-Salomon customer service center with questions about product availability, reps now offer to direct customers to the Web site for a quick lesson on how to take advantage of the self-service portal. "It was set
up in such a way that when we launched the application, all of our customers had been activated," says Leone. "Even if I were speaking to customer on the phone I could provide them with their log-on info and they are off to the races. It is not a situation where I would have to filter anything through IT first and then get back to the customer a few weeks later. That doesn't happen."

Leone says the greatest return on the single server strategy stems not so much from hard dollars saved but a transformation of the company's business model. By enabling the iSeries service platform to become more proactive, customers are taking notice. "It's hard to say that we've saved $400,000," says Leone. "Certainly, we've differentiated ourselves from our competitors. Our retailers know that doing business with adidas-Salomon is pretty simple."