Established in 1993, Squalo is the quintessential Mexican surfing brand, known for its range of clothes, shoes and accessories, and with a well-deserved reputation for creative design and innovation. In spite of continued commercial success in Mexico and overseas, general manager of Squalo Mexico, Alfonso Trujillo Falcón, realised that something was holding the business back. After undertaking a strategic analysis of the business, it became clear that it was Squalo’s disjointed systems that were duplicating effort and constraining growth.
In light of this, the business set out to change its systems, taking a comprehensive look at the different solutions available before partnering with Argentis and RSG to implement SAP Business One plus Retail One and Apparel and Footwear add-ons as a complete, unified solution in just six months. Alongside its ability to integrate key business functions to streamline processes and uncover deeper insights into your business, Squalo was impressed by the solution’s transparency, reliability and accuracy of information, as well as its ability to bring together all business processes across Squalo’s headquarters, shops and online presence.
In control
The new solution has enabled the business to increase control over all of its core business processes while boosting visibility across the entire business. Aside from this, increased automation has led to real business efficiencies. As Alfonso states: “It’s made the whole administrative process run a lot more smoothly and frees us up to do other things, giving us more time to focus on improving the company’s value.”
The business now has the right information available to the right people at the right time. As Alfonso explains: “We’re changing to management based on facts and we’re no longer making decisions based on unclear information.”
Added value
Thanks to the new depths of business insight provided by the solution, Squalo has been able to optimise its outlet size, inventory levels and its distribution operations. And, instead of spending time recording data, the business owners can now focus on analysing information, using it to underpin robust, effective business decisions. As Alfonso agrees: “It gives us time to focus on improving the company’s value, enabling us to bring so much more value to the business.”
Long-term prospects
José Luis Velasco Sanz, Director of Operations, Squalo, Mexico, is also very positive about the solution and the many benefits it brings: “It opens doors to other things we hadn’t considered in the past, giving us the capability to do whatever we want to in the future and linking very well to our business growth strategy.”
This isn’t just a solution for today either, with the flexible, scalable nature of the system meaning it will grow alongside the business and is already on course to achieve rapid payback. As Alfonso concludes: “The solution provides the best foundation for rapid growth over next five to ten years.”
For more information about our dedicated apparel and footwear solution, please contact us.