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Download the SPARQ Products case study PDF 
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Resources Case Studies
SPARQ Products develops athletic training equipment products to enable athletes to reach their maximum potential. Founded in 2003, the company is experiencing growth through the introduction of innovative products that help athletes develop the five building blocks of superior athleticism: speed, power, agility, reaction and quickness.
To support its growth, SPARQ recognized that Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) was a requirement to engage with large retail and catalog sporting goods trading partners. SPARQ wanted the capability to quickly enable electronic trading with their large retail customers without having to add dedicated staff. Rather than hire an in-house EDI staff and procure EDI software, SPARQ elected to use the services of SPS Commerce to quickly enable electronic trading with its customers. Likewise, it also elected to use NetSuite’s Software-as–a-Service (SaaS) ERP system to handle all of their accounting systems requirements. By operating under both SPS Commerce and NetSuite, SPARQ was able to quickly meet all their business needs including customer requirements for EDI and UCC-128 carton shipping labels.
A Unified System to Integrate All Line-of-Business Activities
SPARQ envisioned finding a solution that would eventually manage and integrate all of its NetSuite ERP and SPS Commerce EDI line-of-business activities. The solution also needed to have the scalability and distributed architecture to support SPARQ’s growth. In addition, SPARQ wanted to minimize IT capital expenditures and lead times. SPARQ’s goal was to automate all processes required by customers and trading partners including:
- Electronic Data Interchange
- Sales orders management and reporting
- Invoicing and proactive AR management
- Advanced Ship Notifications and UCC-128 carton shipping labels
- Inventory management/logistics
- Production forecasting based on sales volume and inventory on hand
An End-to-End SaaS Solution for Automating Trading Partner Communications
SPARQ chose to partner with SPS Commerce and NetSuite because of the companies’ market leadership and expertise in the SaaS industry, and their reputation among retail partners. In addition, the companies offered an end-to-end solution that integrates SPS’ Web-based EDI capabilities with NetSuite’s CRM, accounting/ERP, and e-commerce functionality.
SPARQ quickly deployed the integrated SPS/NetSuite solutions—without having to invest in IT equipment, staff or software—and established an EDI presence with several key trading partners. As a result, the company has gained complete supply chain visibility from work-in-process inventory to end-customer delivery.
By automating key supply chain processes, SPARQ has minimized costs and personnel requirements for order processing and invoicing. In addition, with most trading partner management accomplished in a single system, SPARQ has been able to manage inventory levels and production requirements more effectively. Moving forward, SPARQ plans to use the SPS/NetSuite system to automatically create Advanced Ship Notifications (ASNs) and completely automate all other communications with trading partners.
"Integrating NetSuite with SPS enables us to complete the cycle by automating the communication of all of our business transactions required by our trading partners. Our customers are delighted with our responsiveness and accuracy."
Jeff Grogan, Operations Director, SPARQ Products, Inc.
