Ty Nordic: EDI-capability is a Strong Sales Argument

Who among us wouldn’t recognize those big-eyed furry creatures that are sold at every gas station? Ty Nordic, the distributor of Ty toys in Estonia, was so successful in the Baltics that they were entrusted with distribution rights in the Nordic countries as well. With this expansion came increased order volumes and workload. According to Andra Orastu, the Sales Coordinator at Ty Nordic, the use of EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) was seen as a significant advantage in the eyes of foreign customers.

“As soon as we started selling in Scandinavia, we participated in a local toy fair. We came back with about 200 sales orders on paper that had to be manually entered into our software,” recalls Ty Nordic’s Sales Coordinator Orastu. But the orders received at the fair were just the beginning.

As sales volume grew, so did the monotonous work

Orders from Scandinavia started coming in as PDF files, which had to be manually entered into the accounting software in Estonia. The workload was substantial, with Ty Nordic employees working overtime to input product codes from PDF files into Directo. While quick hands initially provided a solution, it became unsustainable as the workload increased.

As a result, the company began looking for a solution to eliminate this tedious work and provide the capability to send purchase sales invoices directly from their accounting software to the customer’s software, and to automatically receive orders from the customer into their own software.

Ty recommends Telema EDI over direct interfaces

Initially, Ty Nordic attempted to build a direct channel for sending invoices to the customer’s software. However, it consumed a lot of time and money due to a lack of specific knowledge. In hindsight, Andra Orastu says it was a waste of money and time, and it would have been smarter for everyone to stick to what they know best.

For electronic data exchange, it is worth finding a service provider specializing in this field. There are several EDI operators in Europe and the Baltics. When using an EDI operator, you only need to build one channel to the operator, and the operator takes care of translating the channels and formats. The recipient of the document receives the data without having to manually enter it into their system. It is wise to consult a guide on how to choose an EDI operator.

Excellent compatibility with Directo

“One of Telema’s big advantages is its excellent compatibility with Directo. It’s very nice to see how orders simply appear in our system, and we don’t have to spend time typing in the product codes anymore,” says Andra. Since Ty Nordic already had a partnership with Telema in the Baltics, they decided to continue with the same partner for Scandinavia.

EDI is also the preferred data exchange method for partners

Andra explains the company’s plans: “Today, we have EDI integrations in place with a large gas station chain operating in the Baltics, Denmark, and Sweden, as well as with a Danish hypermarket. Once we get EDI working with the Danish chain, it will significantly increase our sales volumes.”

Since almost every collaboration with a new client in Scandinavia starts with the client inquiring about the supplier’s EDI capabilities, Ty Nordic’s above-average EDI capability puts them in a favorable position. The adoption of EDI has allowed the company to expand its product range, which is reflected in the company’s sales results.

About Ty Nordic

TY Nordic was founded in 2017 and its main business is toy sales. In 6 years, the turnover has grown to 10 million euros annually. TY Nordic employs 12 people. As an accounting software, TY Nordic uses Directo.

During 2023, Ty Nordic OÜ has exchanged over 22,000 documents with partners. Using the Telema EDI savings calculator, the amount saved in euros is over 200,000 euros. Thanks to EDI, 23 trees have been saved, and the company has reduced its carbon footprint as well as that of its business partners.