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George K. Gregory & Associates is now Tech85
Full EDI automation and 90-day ERP implementation helped private label manufacturer stay compliant with major retailers.
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Tech85 stepped in to overhaul their EDI and ERP systems, slashing $400,000 in compliance fines and fully automating their operations. Here's how they did it.
Tanya Creations is a manufacturer, wholesaler, and distributor of private label merchandise and costume jewelry for large retail chains like Macy's, JCPenney, Walmart, and Target. For over 25 years, the company has provided retailers with non-branded products that are the same high quality as branded items at a fraction of the cost. As a mid-sized company, Tanya Creations generates over $50 million in annual direct to retail sales.
Private label jewelry
QuickBooks, SAP Business One, JD Edwards, Diaspark
$50-60 million annual retail revenue
Custom EDI & ERP solutions
The Challenge
Each day, Tanya Creations shipped thousands of jewelry pieces to retail giants like Macy's, JCPenney, and Walmart. With average invoices of $15, a single EDI compliance mistake could erase their profit margin. The numbers added up: Compliance fines ate up 2-3% of their $50-60 million annual revenue, costing them up to $400,000 per year. Things got even harder when retailers suspended their EDI privileges altogether for violations. Staff had to process invoices by hand for 3,000 stores, opening the door to more errors.
"They would take us off EDI, which meant we had to do the entire process manually,” recalled Gary Pelzman, former Chief Technology Officer at Tanya Creations. “That was the punishment assignment — six months of no automation. If you do anything wrong, you've worked for nothing. It goes from a living to a hobby.”
The company maintained over 700,000 jewelry styles in their catalog. Fourteen employees spent their days copying and pasting product details into Excel spreadsheets to create custom catalogs for buyers asking for 200-300 items at a time. Their complex style numbering system used 16 alphanumeric characters to describe minute product details — far beyond the six-character limit most retailers preferred.
Without an integrated ERP system, Tanya Creations struggled to manage basic business operations. Pre-shipping, pre-packing, and pre-labeling requirements created bottlenecks. Manual data entry led to frequent errors. The company needed a way to track purchasing, work in transit, and order status while connecting to multiple retail partners' systems.
I don't have to deal with EDI. Tech85's Real EDI eliminates errors before they happen — taking us from $400,000 in annual fines to virtually zero."
The Solution
Tech85 tackled compliance head-on by offloading EDI entirely for Tanya Creations. This EDI offload managed all requirements and freed Tanya Creations from technical complexities like transmission protocols, van connections, and segment specifications. The system automated validation checks before submission, virtually eliminating costly compliance errors. "I don't have to deal with EDI,” Pelzman put it. “I don’t have to learn an entirely different language. Nothing happens that's wrong because it's fixed before it gets to me."
When Tanya Creations' server crashed during an acquisition, Tech85 built a complete custom ERP system in 90 days. The unified platform integrated barcode scanning, bills of materials, inventory management, and accounting functions. It also connected seamlessly with their existing systems including QuickBooks, SAP Business One, JD Edwards, and their parent company's jewelry ERP Diaspark.
Then when ransomware struck, and Tanya Creations lost all data across servers, Tech85 restored billing capabilities and up-to-date inventory in just two weeks — accounting for all counts before the hit and during downtime.
Tech85's I2 catalog software overhauled the catalog creation process. The system automated catalog creation with customer branding, integrated product photography, and polished layout tools. A specialized PO analysis tool provided real-time visibility into purchasing, transit times, and freight costs. "Their ability to think out of the box is really remarkable," Pelzman noted.
Today, Tech85 software powers 100% of Tanya Creations' operations.
Tech85’s ability to think out of the box is really remarkable.”
The Results
Within a year, EDI compliance fines dropped from 2-3% to just 0.05% of revenue, reducing annual penalties from $400,000 to approximately $29,000. By automating EDI processes, Tanya Creations eliminated $80,000 in immediate personnel costs and cut $3,000 monthly in transaction fees. The automated system reduced processing costs while maintaining compliance with retailer requirements.
Tech85’s automated catalog system allowed Tanya Creations — who once used 14 employees to catalog — to reassign 12 employees from manual data entry to higher-value tasks. Two staff members now manage the entire catalog of 700,000+ jewelry styles, producing higher quality output in less time.
Tech85's rapid ERP implementation during Tanya Creations' acquisition took just 90 days to complete. The unified solution now manages every aspect of operations, from initial order through fulfillment and accounting. The end-to-end integration eliminated data silos, reduced errors, and enabled seamless information flow across all business units.
I don't have to deal with EDI. I don’t have to learn an entirely different language. Nothing happens that's wrong because it's fixed before it gets to me."
A lot of software companies try to make customers fit their solutions. Tech85 does the opposite. Take their approach to Tanya Creations' complex style numbers: instead of pushing for simpler codes, they automated the existing system.
"I have never bought price. I bought value. And when you buy something right, it only hurts once," Pelzman reflected on his decision to partner with Tech85.
Their 25-year partnership tells the real story. As Pelzman put it: "If it weren't for them, I never would have made it through 25 years with a single company. These people really cared about what they were providing you with to make sure it was of value. And when it wasn't, they told you."
If it weren't for Tech85, I never would have made it through 25 years with a single company. These people really cared about what they were providing you with to make sure it was of value. And when it wasn't, they told you.
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