CPG

Successful supplier and product data integration in online trade

SEEBURGER Business Integration Suite (BIS)

With over 4 million customers, myToys is the No. 1 online shop for toys and products for children in Germany. The myToys brand of the MYTOYS GROUP, dispatches around 13 million parcels annually and, with 2,000 employees, generated a turnover of 720 million euros in the 2019/20 business year.

In a completely saturated market with fierce competition, low margins and highly seasonal business, efficiency is crucial for myToys. Manual effort must be reduced, processes automated and digitisation driven forward. myToys has been working successfully with SEEBURGER since 2010. As a central platform, SEEBURGER’s Business Integration Suite (BIS) controls data exchange and is connected to the myToys Oracle ERP. myToys optimises data exchange with suppliers, product data integration and inventory data exchange with BIS.

When connecting suppliers, myToys distinguishes between warehouse suppliers, direct suppliers and Just In Time (JIT) suppliers who deliver to myToys. In the case of warehouse suppliers, clearing centres are used to standardise messages and unify a wide variety of data formats. This reduces manual effort, for example in delivery note processing, and test efforts in the partner connection. Direct suppliers are connected via WebEDI. This means that even small suppliers can exchange data electronically with myToys and manual effort can be reduced. Currently myToys works with over 1,200 suppliers, of which approx. 150 suppliers are connected via EDI to SEEBURGER’s BIS. This means that more than 50% of the annual 70,000 stock orders can be processed efficiently via EDI.

Industry:
Retail
 

Scenarios:
API & EAI
 

PDF Download:

Download case study

Use of the SEEBURGER Business Integration Suite at myToys

The product data integration of fashion suppliers is carried out differently from that of manufacturers of toys (both handled in parallel in BIS). An appealing online representation of fashion items requires detailed product data and descriptions. Model suppliers often deliver very different product information to myToys in scope and depth of detail. This information is imported via SEEBURGER XML as a mass process into a connected novomind iPIM supply solution, and is manually processed there. Data from the toy, electronics and sports article suppliers reaches the upstream iPIM supply system via XLS. In future, PRICAT messages from these hardware suppliers will be integrated directly into the leading iPIM system via BIS – converted into SEEXML and checked using the SEEBURGER compliance checking facility.

A smooth exchange of inventory data is essential for myToys. Correct inventories are a prerequisite for selling items in stock and avoiding cancellations. Large files (> 100 MB) are exchanged via BIS. The BIC Converter removes load from the system to ensure parallel processes run smoothly. In order to answer queries from specialist departments or suppliers and thus address any issues, myToys uses the SEEBURGER message tracking facility. For myToys, digitisation successe is reflected in a drastic reduction of supplier processing from 4 hours to 10 minutes, automation of the article creation in iPIM and validation of the article data. The specialist departments became more efficient by way of automatic error handling for invoices and delivery notes. myToys will continue to drive digitisation forward in future and is planning the introduction of e-invoicing, the use of the Compliance Check Adapter and updates to BIS 6.7 and WebEDI Portal 2.0 together with SEEBURGER.

Our successful e-commerce is based on reliable product information and customer promises in terms of availability and delivery dates, which are managed via BIS. All master data processes with suppliers are standardised and validated, as are supplier orders, which are fully automated and integrated.

Sarah Bendig, EDI IT coordination and development, myToys Group