Small companies need to do everything they can to meet customers' needs if they expect to compete successfully against larger companies. Ninety-employee Rapala outsourced its EDI functions through a software-as-a-service platform to do just that.
"We jump on anything that makes sense for our mission," says Naomi Dwyer of Rapala, a bMighty Mid-Market Hero that outsources its electronic data interchange functions and has found it's still able to meet customer demands. And switching to a SaaS platform has allowed Rapala's employees a quick start and a near-zero learning curve -- which has provided Rapala a competitive advantage.
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So what is Rapala about? When you walk into a sporting goods store, go over to the fishing supplies section and look in amazement at the diverse variety of products available. You probably would conclude that these lures, rods, reels, and other supplies come from gigantic companies that have the resources and staff to make the most of every opportunity. You would be only partially correct in that assumption.
A significant number of the fishing products on display come from Rapala and its family of brands. Its product line includes the hand-tuned, tank-tested Rapala lures, Sufix premium fishing line, and VMC hooks, among others. Rapala USA headquarters is in Minnetonka, Minn., and is anything but a corporate behemoth. The company employs approximately 90 people in its 200,000-square-foot facilities, which includes its offices, warehousing, and shipping.
So, how does Rapala successfully compete against the likes of Jarden, a Fortune 500 company with holdings that include brand names like Coleman, Ball, K2 Skis, and Sunbeam, not to mention its direct competition to Rapala's products -- Berkely and the other Pure Fishing brands? Naomi Dwyer, VP of information technology for Normark, which distributes Rapala lures, says the answer is simple -- but not particularly easy. "We listen to our customers and deliver what they ask for," says Dwyer.
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As a manufacturer/distributor, Rapala's customers are its retail distribution arms -- companies such as Cabela's, Gander Mountain, Target, Wal-Mart, and your local sporting goods store. Its demands are focused on getting product on time, at the right locations, and in the right quantities. According to Dwyer, "Our customers want to place their orders today and have them shipped tomorrow. We are judged on how well we adhere to our on-time delivery and order-fill rates. But we also need to comply with the specifics of the customer's order process, which includes using EDI to exchange order information with our customers."
