1. Customer Testimonials
  2. Lionel

Lionel puts the pedal to the metal with NetSuite

Lionel

Company

Lionel

Location

Concord, N.C.

Industry

Wholesale Distribution

Applications Replaced

IBM AS/400 ERP, Magento web store

Solutions

NetSuite OneWorld
Oz Development OzLINK
SPS Commerce
NetSuite SuiteCommerce Advanced

“The feature-rich self-service reporting capabilities of NetSuite have empowered our business users to do their own analysis, and that’s improved our efficiency and effectiveness.” Lionel

Customer Success

  • Lionel is positioned for growth with a single, cloud ERP solution across its 115-year-old hobby train business and its Lionel Racing subsidiary, selling NASCAR die-cast cars and other racing collectibles.
  • NetSuite OneWorld enables fast, seamless financial consolidation and reporting between the Lionel parent and NASCAR subsidiary.
  • Upgrading from a legacy IBM AS/400, financial and operational managers no longer need to rely on IT for data access and business reporting.
  • Lionel is avoiding the cost of five, full-time IT personnel needed to manage its previous, legacy AS/400 system.
  • After the initial NetSuite implementation, Lionel relaunched its two B2C ecommerce websites on NetSuite SuiteCommerce Advanced providing the company with a scalable and nimble solution to support the company’s growth.
  • Lionel’s staff and shoppers can now access live data including customer, order and inventory status across all channels, while offering deeper insights into sales and inventory, improving promotions and reducing the risk of stock-outs.
  • Lionel delivers an elegant and optimized experience for both brands across all devices—mobile phones, tablets, laptops and desktops.
  • With significant scalability, Lionel can readily handle spikes in model railroad orders during the holiday season, and spikes in NASCAR collectibles orders when the racing season kicks off in February.
  • The company has cut costs by ending a relationship with its third-party logistics (3PL) provider, leveraging new cloud capabilities for in-house distribution and fulfillment.

Challenges

  • Legacy, green-screen IBM AS/400 ERP systems at the Lionel parent company forced business users to rely on IT for basic business information.
  • Delays and poor visibility into sales, customer, inventory and supplier data undermined business efficiency and growth potential.
  • Lionel incurred unnecessary costs in outsourcing its distribution and fulfillment functions to a third-party logistics provider.
  • The two separate websites, previously on Magento, were loosely connected to Lionel's order and inventory management systems. This led to time-consuming, batch-synchronized processing and forced Lionel to update two systems every time it introduced a price change or new products. In turn, this led to inaccurate inventory data and impacted the customer experience.

Solution

  • The NASCAR collectibles subsidiary implemented NetSuite ERP in 2011, shortly after Lionel LLC purchased the business from Motorsports Authentics.
  • Before the acquisition, the NASCAR subsidiary was running a green-screen IBM AS/400 ERP system. Coincidentally, the Lionel parent also ran an AS/400 system.
  • With the NASCAR subsidiary realizing excellent results with NetSuite, the full Lionel enterprise implemented NetSuite as its ERP system of record.
  • Lionel relaunched its Lionel Trains and Lionel NASCAR sites on SuiteCommerce Advanced in a matter of months.
  • OzLINK order and shipping solution from NetSuite partner Oz Development speeds consumer and wholesale fulfillment from the North Carolina warehouse.
  • EDI solution from SPS Commerce streamlines transactions with big box retailers including Sears, Toys"R"Us and Target.

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