Electronic Connector Company (ECCO) Case Study

Getting to Know ECCO

Electronic Connector Company (ECCO) has forged a reputation as a premier authorized value-add distributor serving the world’s leading connector, switch, and wire accessory manufacturers. ECCO maintains a vast and active inventory, stocking more than 172,000 electronic components.

ECCO also serves as a qualified go-to resource for custom assemblies, designing and  producing connectors and switches that meet strict industrial and military grade specs for a diverse group of OEMS, worldwide distributors, and government agencies.

Moving Onwards & Upwards

When new owners bought ECCO, they realized that their legacy computer system had become severely limited as the company grew over time. “It was a good system for 1995, but it was a bad system for 2015,” says Bernard Gizzi, President of ECCO.

As the firm evolved, its parts inventory expanded dramatically. With a wealth of new supply lines of switches, tools, and accessories, their inventory rapidly rose by 43,000—and the influx of new SKU’s brought a need for a more advanced inventory management system. (For example, the legacy system was limited to 8 characters for SKU descriptions.)

To run the expanded operation efficiently, it was time for a change. Getting a new ERP system to replace and upgrade its legacy platform was a critical move as their business grew and evolved.

Seeking the Best Solution

ECCO began the search for a new ERP system, reaching out to fellow industry leaders to get a short list of recommendations.

“We have a competitor that we’re really good friends with,” says Gizzi. When they reached out to talk about ERP options, they immediately recommended Axiom Software—as did another competitor in the electronic components distribution industry. When ECCO received the highest recommendation from both parties, there was only one option: Axiom Software

“We made the decision to go with Axiom. We put aside the capital,
cut over, started allocating resources, and it went well.”
– Bernard Gizzi, President, ECCO

How Axiom Stands Out

Receiving favorable feedback about an ERP provider from fellow industry leaders is a strong incentive to go the same route, but it’s not the only one. For ECCO, there were a number of factors that infl uenced their decision to choose Axiom Software.

• Industry Knowledge
  Working with a vendor that has strong experience in your industry is an advantage. You speak the same language and have basics in common from the get-go. Axiom Software had familiarity with many of the problems and concerns of those who do business in this market. It understood the pain points and had addressed them in their prior installations. They could offer fixes upfront. Plus, Axiom was in a position to come up with others, if needed, without having to be oriented.
• Right Sizing
  As a boutique software agency, Axiom Software delivers personal, one-onone support. ECCO appreciates direct access to Axiom’s leadership team, as needed. Transitioning ERP systems can be complicated, and Axiom Software offered expert collaboration, consistency, and comfort.

Getting Up and Running

• Support
  Working with a vendor that knows the business, its demands, and customer needs while off ering personal, one-on-one support creates the ideal combination for industry-leading support. This came across throughout negotiations—“warm and fuzzies,” as described by ECCO leadership. The team appreciated having the same point of contact throughout the sales
  cycle. It also welcomed knowing that a committed touchpoint would attend to its ongoing needs to fi eld questions and keep the system at peak performance.
• Onboarding with a Twist
  Switching from a legacy system to a new ERP platform is a massive undertaking, no matter when the process occurs—but during a pandemic, it poses uniquely complicated challenges. For ECCO, onboarding began in August 2020 and, with travel restrictions in place at the time, Axiom had to manage the switch remotely. While the virtual onboarding process posed complications, both Axiom and ECCO managed a successful transition.
• Training
  Acclimating to a new system requires considerable education and training to help teams adjust and learn the in’s and out’s. However, the numerous capabilities Axiom’s system off ered helped ease the move. It enabled the team to do what it had wanted to for numerous years but couldn’t because of shortcomings of the old platform. Plus, the vendor’s specialized experience in this niche industry expedited the training. All of the pieces came together quickly thanks to expert help from Axiom.

A Wealth of Benefits

Without a doubt, ECCO needed to replace its computer system. They signed on with Axiom Software for a state-of-the-art ERP system. Not only did the new platform accommodate its unmet needs, but also afforded substantial room to grow.

• Achieving Exacting Needs for Inventory
  ECCO couldn’t input all the information required to distinguish SKU’s at a glance on its former system and had to organize inventory by part numbers only. However, some part numbers were the same for items made by diff erent manufacturers.
  Now, ECCO has the ability to use unique identifier codes. Axiom’s ERP system gives them the ability to compile stock with precision. With an extensive inventory to work with, ECCO finds this capability a big plus, easily searching their system for the exact parts their customers need.
• Capitalizing on that Power for Greater Gains
  The improvement imparted gained by unique identifier codes doesn’t stop there. It carries over to the company’s database and its website.
  Online distributor databases are able to easily pick up and post the right part details on their sites. Not only has the new inventory management system enhanced ECCO’s efficiency…it’s also dramatically improved the sales cycle.
• Facilitating Customer Relationship Management
  With their legacy system, ECCO had a separate sales database that worked loosely with only a handful of accounts. It wasn’t necessarily a CRM, but an antiquated inventory  management and order entry process.
  Now, ECCO has full-fledged CRM capacity. In a few keystrokes, the team is able to access their full database of customers. They can identify and pull up new contacts on a quarterly basis to send mailers. They can forward inventory lists to customers and inventory listing services. The new system allows them to better serve customers and reach potential clients
• Unleashing Point and Click Functionality
  ECCO’s legacy system lacked a critical feature that severely limited their team’s effectiveness: point and click. They had to manually move from screen to screen to piece together information. There were no direct links from an order to a point of contact and no automated system in place to associate accounts and sales.
  With its new ERP system, the ECCO team tracks orders and finds sources, codes, and more—instantly. They just point and click.

“Axiom enables us to more effectively manipulate data,
organize it, and then send it to the Internet. It’s another huge time
saver and labor saver.”

A Bright Future

As ECCO reaps the advantages of the ERP system it invested in from Axiom, it knows this is just the beginning of things to come. Their business continues to grow—in part thanks to their new ERP system—and as their operation continues its upward trajectory, they expect. To grow and evolve along with their new, fully scalable system.