Water Creation - From Siloed Systems to Centralized Excellence
Water Creation is a leading innovator in the premium bathroom fixtures and kitchen products industry. Renowned for its commitment to quality and cutting-edge design, Water Creation delivers exceptional products that blend functionality with elegance. Serving both residential and commercial markets, the company is dedicated to providing top-tier solutions that enhance living spaces and meet the highest standards of craftsmanship and customer satisfaction.
Netsuite ERP System
The backbone of Water Creation’s operational efficiency is its robust implementation of the Netsuite ERP system. Netsuite serves as the central hub for consolidating orders from various marketplaces, including but not limited to Home Depot, Wayfair, Lowes, and etc… While this integration has streamlined the order entry process, the system initially relied heavily on manual tasks to manage workflows, order processing and fulfillment. This manual intervention often led to inefficiencies and increased the potential for errors, highlighting the need for a more automated and seamless solution.
Originally, Water Creation deployed their first version of a Shopify site, but it fell short in both design and performance. The site looked unattractive, didn’t reflect their premium bathroom vanities, and suffered from poor web order performance. Shopify is a leading e-commerce platform known for its ease of use, flexibility, and extensive app ecosystem, making it an ideal solution for businesses looking to create a professional online store and manage their sales efficiently.
Recognizing the potential of Shopify’s platform, Hycentra undertook a complete transformation of the site. The goal was to align the design with Water Creation’s brand aesthetics, focusing on the elegance and quality of their bathroom vanities, while leveraging advanced Shopify features to enhance site performance and drive higher engagement and conversion rates.
Challenge - Netsuite
Water Creation faced significant challenges with their Netsuite ERP system, despite having it implemented by an official Netsuite solution provider. The CEO was not satisfied with the implementation results, as many critical functionalities were either underutilized or completely neglected. The reliance on manual data entry and processing led to significant inefficiencies, with lengthy delays in recording and analyzing data. Real-time data was not readily available, hindering the ability to make timely and informed decisions.
Additionally, Water Creation was unaware that their Netsuite subscription included a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) module. This module had never been implemented, used, or even mentioned by the original solution provider, leaving a valuable tool completely untapped. This oversight meant that Water Creation missed out on opportunities to enhance customer relationships, improve sales processes, and streamline customer service support. The CRM’s capabilities could have provided significant benefits in managing customer interactions, tracking sales leads, and resolving customer service issues more efficiently.
These issues were significant obstacles, preventing Water Creation from fully capitalizing on their market opportunities. The challenges addressed included:
- Manual Processes
Despite Netsuite’s capabilities, many tasks remained manual, leading to inefficiencies and errors.
- Manual Demand Planning
The existing demand planning process required extensive manual work to calculate lead times, stock inventory, and sales forecasts per item. This manual approach led to frequent overstock and out-of-stock issues.
- Fragmented Production Information Management
Product data was fragmented across multiple spreadsheets, resulting in inconsistent pricing and improper storage of product images. This disorganization led to significant inefficiencies in managing product information, complicating the process of maintaining accurate and up-to-date product details.
- Lack of AP Approval Process
The original Accounts Payable (AP) process did not include an approval workflow, which posed risks and inefficiencies.
- Integration Gaps
There was a lack of seamless integration between various systems, which hindered the flow of information and delayed critical processes.
- Unutilized CRM Functionality:
The CRM module included in their Netsuite subscription was never implemented, leaving a key functionality completely untapped.
- Multi-Channel Customer Support
Handling customer support cases efficiently was a significant challenge, with support inquiries coming in from multiple channels including email, website contact forms, and phone calls. This complexity affected the overall customer experience.
Hycentra stepped in to address these issues effectively. We focused on reviewing the current operation processes, identifying gaps in the existing architecture, and understanding business pain points. Our diagnostic efforts pinpointed stressors affecting sales and service levels, including higher-than-normal overstocked items and and lead times accuracy, which strained the entire supply chain and delayed product delivery to customers. Through strategic enhancements, we automated workflows, integrated missing functionalities, and leveraged the full potential of Netsuite, surpassing the results delivered by the original implementation provider.
Challenge - Shopify
Water Creation’s initial deployment of Shopify was another significant area of concern. The original Shopify site was underutilized, with a design that did not reflect the premium quality of Water Creation’s bathroom vanities. The site suffered from poor web order performance and lacked the functionality needed to drive e-commerce growth. This suboptimal use of Shopify meant that Water Creation was not maximizing its online sales potential. Key issues included:
- Underutilized E-commerce Platform
The initial Shopify site was underutilized, limiting the company’s ability to scale and streamline its online sales.
- Poor Design and Performance
The original site design was unattractive and did not perform well in terms of web orders and user engagement.
The teams focused on transforming the Shopify site to create a professional, user-friendly e-commerce platform that aligned with Water Creation’s brand aesthetics. By leveraging Shopify’s advanced features and customizing the user experience, the goal was to enhance site performance, boost user engagement, and drive higher conversion rates.
Solution - Netsuite
To address the challenges Water Creation faced with their Netsuite ERP system, Hycentra implemented several strategic solutions:
- Automation of Manual Processes:
- Order Fulfillment: Automated workflows were introduced to streamline order processing, reducing the reliance on manual data entry and minimizing errors. This automation ensured that orders were processed more quickly and accurately.
- AP Approval Process: Implemented an approval workflow within the Accounts Payable process to enhance control and efficiency, ensuring that all payments were properly authorized before being processed.
- Demand Planning Automation:
Automated the demand planning process to reduce manual work involved in calculating lead times, stock inventory, and sales forecasts. This included implementing advanced analytics and forecasting tools within Netsuite to provide real-time insights and predictions. This automation helped mitigate issues of overstock and out-of-stock, ensuring better inventory management. - Centralized Production Information Management (PIM):
- Centralized all product data within Netsuite to create a unified source of truth for product information. This included consolidating data from multiple spreadsheets to ensure consistent pricing and accurate product details.
- Deployed product images to Cloudinary, improving image processing and storage. This solution not only enhanced the management of digital assets but also streamlined the sharing of product images with marketplaces like Home Depot, Wayfair, and Lowes.
- Inventory Management Optimization:
Enhanced inventory management solutions to maintain accurate stock levels across all sales channels. This involved implementing real-time inventory tracking and automated stock level alerts to prevent overstock and out-of-stock situations. - Integration of CRM Functionality:
Activated and integrated the previously unused CRM module within Netsuite. This enabled Water Creation to manage customer interactions more effectively, track sales leads, and improve customer service support by having a centralized system for all customer-related activities.
- Optimization of Multi-Channel Customer Support:
Developed a cohesive system for handling customer support inquiries from multiple channels including email, website contact forms, and phone calls. This integration provided a unified view of customer interactions, improving response times and customer satisfaction. - Enhanced System Integrations:
Seamless integration of Netsuite with other critical systems such as Deposco, Logicbroker, SPS Commerce, and Celigo. This ensured smooth data exchange and operational harmony across different platforms, eliminating information silos and improving overall efficiency.
By implementing these solutions, Hycentra was able to significantly improve Water Creation’s operational efficiency, data accuracy, and overall business performance. The strategic enhancements not only addressed the initial challenges but also leveraged the full potential of Netsuite, delivering results that surpassed those of the original implementation provider.
Solution - Shopify
To address the challenges Water Creation faced with their Shopify e-commerce platform, Hycentra implemented several strategic solutions:
- Shopify Platform Upgrade:
- Feature Utilization: Upgraded Shopify to leverage its full suite of advanced features and functionalities. This included adding necessary apps and plugins to enhance the overall e-commerce capabilities of the platform.
- Integration with Netsuite: Ensured seamless integration between Shopify and Netsuite to create a centralized operational flow. This integration allowed for real-time data synchronization, improving efficiency and accuracy in managing online sales and inventory.
- Site Redesign:
- Professional and Engaging Design: Completely redesigned the Shopify site to align with Water Creation’s brand aesthetics, focusing on the elegance and quality of their bathroom vanities. The new design was sleek, professional, and user-friendly, enhancing the overall customer shopping experience.
- User Experience Optimization: Improved the site’s navigation, layout, and mobile responsiveness to ensure a seamless and engaging user experience. This included optimizing product pages, checkout processes, and incorporating high-quality visuals to better showcase products.
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Advanced E-commerce Functionalities:
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SEO and Analytics: Optimized the site for search engines (SEO) to increase organic traffic and integrated advanced analytics tools to track and analyze customer behavior and sales performance. This data-driven approach allowed for continuous improvement and informed decision-making.
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- Enhanced Product Listings:
- Detailed Product Information: Improved product listings with comprehensive descriptions, high-quality images, and customer reviews to provide detailed information and build trust with potential buyers.
- Multi-Channel Sales Integration: Enabled seamless listing of products across multiple sales channels, including online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, in addition to the Shopify store.
Result
After only six months of implementing our strategic solutions, Water Creation experienced significant improvements across their operations and financial performance. Hycentra’s comprehensive approach to enhancing both the Netsuite ERP system and the Shopify e-commerce platform yielded the following remarkable results:
- Increased Profit Margin:
Water Creation saw a 23% increase in profit margin, demonstrating the effectiveness of our automation and optimization efforts in reducing costs and improving efficiency.
- Sales Revenue Growth:
Sales revenue for Q1 year-over-year increased by 29.12%, highlighting the success of the revamped Shopify site and improved multi-channel sales strategy. - Reduced Operational Costs:
Operational costs were reduced by one-third, thanks to the automation of manual processes, enhanced inventory management, and streamlined workflows.
- Streamlined Demand Planning:
The automation of demand planning processes helped streamline the entire purchasing process, ensuring better forecasting and inventory management. This significantly increased efficiency in the purchasing department, reducing the work timeframe from weeks to days.
- Efficient Inbound Shipment Process:
The implemented inbound shipment solution consolidated all purchasing and inbound shipment activities within the same system. - Centralized Product Information Management (PIM):
The PIM solution allowed both sales and purchasing departments to leverage consolidated data within Netsuite. This centralization ensured consistent and accurate product information, making cost and pricing more competitive and contributing to the high profit margin.
Hycentra’s strategic enhancements not only addressed the initial challenges but also leveraged the full potential of Netsuite and Shopify, delivering results that surpassed those of the original implementation provider and set a strong foundation for sustained future growth.