Fruit of the Loom Gains Efficiency and Agility with SPS Commerce

After a busy period of acquisitions, Fruit of the Loom found itself supporting five EDI platforms. It had become too complex and time-consuming to collaborate with existing trading partners and it was taking up to six months to get a new retailer up and running which was resulting in lost opportunities in the marketplace. Knowing there had to be a better way, SPS Fulfillment became the company’s solution to replace all EDI systems.

Getting all Fruit of the Loom EDI Communication on the Same Platform

Fruit of the Loom is a global apparel leader with brands that include Fruit of the Loom, Russell Athletic, Spalding and Vanity Fair. It is a fully owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. After a busy period of strategic acquisitions, Fruit of the Loom was struggling with the management of multiple EDI platforms used across its businesses to support its retailer partners.

“We were managing five EDI platforms at one point, which was making it far too complex and time-consuming to collaborate with our existing trading partners and bring new retailers and logistics providers on board,” said Chris Krebs, Fruit of the Loom’s senior vice president and CIO. “In fact, we reached a point where it was taking up to six months to get a new partner up and running, which was resulting in lost opportunities in the marketplace.”

“We knew there had to be a better way,” Krebs continued. “So we set out to find technology that could help us become more agile, efficient, consistent and automated with our EDI transactions. And it turned out that SPS Commerce offered exactly what was needed.”

Redirecting Staff Toward Efforts that Help to the Company Scale

Fruit of the Loom ultimately chose the SPS Fulfillment solution to facilitate faster, more efficient EDI exchange and trading partner integration.

Through this cloud-based solution, the company and all its current and future trading partners connect only once to the industry’s largest retail network, resulting in seamless integration and collaboration with all other businesses within the ecosystem.

“We began exchanging electronic documentation via SPS Fulfillment almost immediately, and the time it now takes us to onboard a new trading partner is six weeks instead of six months,” Krebs said. “This speed gives us more agility to capitalize on time-sensitive opportunities, while making it more inviting for new retailers and logistics providers to start working with us. Our IT teams also have more time to focus on other tasks, such as improving the omnichannel customer experience.”

Krebs says that the SPS Fulfillment solution is just one of many achievements that have stemmed from the close working relationship between SPS Commerce and Fruit of the Loom over the last several years.

“SPS is always willing to come to the table and help, and each year, this partnership has made us more efficient and responsive to retailers, 3PLs and the consumer,” he said. “We have lots of vendors but very few partners, and I definitely consider SPS to be one of the latter. They continue to be a responsive and innovative asset for some of the most important aspects of our business.”