International Sports Brand Case Study – Odlo

Industry

Sportswear / Performance Apparel

Challenge

Following a major ERP implementation in May 2023, Odlo experienced significant operational disruption and “firefighting” across business processes. While ERP processes were stabilized over six months, no structured solution existed for external data communication with customers. Product data exchange, order handling, invoicing, and internal warehouse communication were fragmented and partially dependent on outdated EDI structures dating back to the early 2000s. Although Odlo had historically been advanced in EDI, little innovation had occurred for years. The organization lacked transparency into data flows, invoice statuses, and partner communication — creating inefficiencies, manual harmonization work, and reactive customer management instead of proactive business development.

Results

B24 was selected as the best-fit solution after evaluating market alternatives, due to its one-to-many connectivity model and business-oriented approach to data exchange. Instead of treating EDI as an isolated IT project, B24 transformed information exchange into a business process.By setting up one standardized connection, Odlo could distribute product data, orders, invoices, dispatch information, and media assets across partners and internal central warehouse operations. Manual harmonization work was eliminated, transparency improved across AR/AP processes, and operations shifted from reactive issue management to proactive customer engagement. What was previously manual, opaque, and IT-driven became structured, visible, and business-controlled.

Key Product

1. Baseline Product — Unified data model (catalog, pricing, updates), 2. Order management system — Order & invoicing exchange — Dispatch communication

~7-8 FTE

Savings or allocations

~€200,000

direct cost savings from reduction in FTEs

~15%

sales improvement

Up to ~20%

order value increase with B24 connected retailers 1 year after onboarding

“We set up one connection and B24 handles the rest. Instead of EDI being an IT project, information exchange becomes a business project”

Jonatan Westlund

Director of business and process planning at Odlo

About Odlo

Odlo is an international performance sportswear brand with strong heritage in technical apparel. With centralized warehouse operations and international retail partnerships, Odlo operates in a complex wholesale environment where structured product, order, and invoice communication is critical for scalability, financial transparency, and proactive customer management.

The Challenge

After ERP go-live, the organization faced fragmented communication across product data, invoicing, dispatch, and warehouse coordination.

• Heavy internal firefighting post-ERP
• No structured data communication with customers
• Manual product data harmonization across formats
• Limited visibility into invoice status and AR/AP
• Reactive customer management (“firefighting”)
• Significant internal Excel/VLOOKUP work across departments

Previously, sharing product data with multiple customers required formatting in several different structures, costing up to one full week per seasonal cycle and involving large cross-functional teams. Outstanding invoices could amount to €1M+ without immediate clarity, requiring multiple employees working weeks to investigate root causes.

Data transparency was limited — and in today’s environment, data is everything.

THE SOLUTION

From fragmented EDI to harmonized business connectivity.

Odlo implemented B24 to create a standardized middleware layer between ERP, customers, warehouse, and partners. The implementation required just one person ~1-2 weeks.

The key transformation was not technical — it was structural.

Instead of customizing data formats per partner, Odlo harmonizes data once and distributes it across all connected retailers. Internal teams no longer perform repetitive manual corrections or format conversions and could focus on transformative work.

As Director of Business & Process Planning explains:

“Before, we were constantly firefighting reactively. Now we build fireproof houses proactively”

The Results

B24 did not just improve efficiency — it fundamentally increased control.

By eliminating manual harmonization and improving invoice transparency, Odlo reduced administrative workload, eliminated unnecessary IT dependency, and allowed teams to focus on value-creating activities.

Where previously three people might spend three weeks investigating €1M in outstanding invoices, visibility is now immediate. AR/AP errors no longer slip through due to data misalignment.

Customer relationships improved as teams shifted from reactive troubleshooting to proactive brand-building. Connected customers have seen order values increase by approximately 20% post-integration.

Capacity reallocation alone is estimated to have driven up to 15% stronger sales performance compared to pre-implementation.

OPERATIONAL IMPACT

Estimated efficiency gains:
• Up to 5-6 FTE total efficiency gain across IT, customer support, invoicing etc
• ~1 week saved per pre-season data harmonization cycle
• Elimination of large-scale manual data review & formatting tasks
• Significant AR/AP transparency improvement
• Reduced invoice investigation time from weeks to real-time

TIME & DATA IMPROVEMENTS

• New partner integration possible within ~1–2 weeks
• Example cases of 1 week from project start to go-live
• Product data shared once instead of multiple formats
• Real-time visibility into invoices and dispatch
• Internal communication simplified across warehouse & brands
• Data harmonized to one standard across ecosystem

GROWTH

· ~20% higher order value among connected customers

· ~15% sales uplift from capacity reallocation

· 4,000 points of sale accessible through 20 integrations

STRATEGIC VALUE

B24 acts as a middleware and harmonization layer, transforming fragmented EDI into structured business connectivity.

The greatest benefit is not technical — it is control.

Odlo now has full transparency into product data, invoices, dispatch, and partner communication. Instead of reactive firefighting, the organization operates proactively with data-driven visibility.

The largest realized value stems from:

• Data harmonization
• AR/AP transparency
• Operational efficiency
• Customer relationship improvement

What This Means for Retail Leaders

If product and order data exchange is managed through email and Excel, scale requires increasing administrative capacity.

If connectivity is standardized and structured, scale becomes repeatable and efficient.

ON moved from fragmented seasonal coordination to scalable one-to-many connectivity — enabling structured order placement, reduced manual errors, and operational reliability without increasing complexity.