The Challenges
Home Hardware is the largest, privately owned hardware, lumber, and furniture retailer in Canada. Owned cooperatively by all of the independent franchises, Home Hardware’s central hub is responsible for supplying products and managing the business-critical information its stores need to operate.
File Transfer Essentials: Automation, Speed and Validation
Efficiently transferring large volumes of information was never easy for Home Hardware. “We had hundreds of retailers relying on us to quickly send the information they needed to operate,” said Brent Horst, Director of Corporate Applications at Home Hardware. “As our company began to grow, it became clear that our current technology couldn’t handle the volume of information or speed of transfer that we needed.”
Today, more than 1,000 retailers rely on Home Hardware to transfer essential business files daily, including vendor and product information, pricing and POS software updates, and order confirmations. “We transfer more than 4 million files yearly and were maxing out our current system. Our retailers were demanding a more efficient means of sharing information,” said Horst.
The Vision
Home Hardware began searching for a managed file transfer platform that would:
- Handle large volumes of information with ease. Home Hardware needed a solution that could send more than 75,000 files weekly, without slowing down the system.
- Shrink download times. With the constant, two-way flow of data files, orders, software updates and order confirmations, Home Hardware needed a solution that could cut download times from hours to just seconds.
- Validate orders. The current transfer technology had limited validation, resulting in hundreds of lost orders every year.
The Solution
After a time-intensive RFP process, Home Hardware selected Ipswitch MessageWay for managed file transfer. “MessageWay was the only solution that met our comprehensive file transfer needs,” said Horst. “The technology is second-to-none, and our efficiency improved dramatically as soon as we implemented. MessageWay transformed the way we send and receive files. The speed, automation and reliability are the best we’ve seen,” said Horst.
Delivery You Can Count On
“The most important features that Ipswitch MessageWay provides are the speed of file transfer, file validation and guaranteed delivery,” said Horst. “Our previous system couldn’t handle validation very well, resulting in lost sales and headaches for our customers.”
With MessageWay, every file goes through an automatic validation process. If an order has a problem, MessageWay flags the file and alerts the help desk so that the problem can be corrected immediately.
MessageWay Saves Home Hardware Money
Along with efficiency and time savings, implementing Ipswitch MessageWay has saved Home Hardware significant dollars. The previous file transfer system required frequent, expensive maintenance. Ipswitch MessageWay operates on its own, and rarely needs system maintenance.
Ipswitch MessageWay: A Top Notch Product and Team
In the retail world, lost orders translate into lost sales. When implementing any new system, reliability is essential. “We have more than a million files in the system today, and it shows zero performance issues. The system is incredibly reliable, and empowers us to do business better, faster and smarter,” said Horst.
Beyond the core business benefits provided by MessageWay, Ipswitch’s staff and customer service are incredible. “The staff at Ipswitch is incredibly technical, professional and skilled. The support they provide is fantastic, and they are by far one of the best vendors we have ever worked with.”