Case Study: Plaid Enterprises, Inc. achieves up to 75% shorter lead times and 34% cost savings with SAP Ariba (Ariba Discovery & StartSourcing)

Identified Local Seller Reducing Cost and Lead Time by Up to 75 Percent

Plaid Enterprises, a leading global maker of creative do-it-yourself products, faced severe supply challenges driven by heavy reliance on Chinese wood (90% of COGS), extremely long lead times for iron-on products, rising paint brush prices, and limited ability to identify and qualify alternative suppliers outside China.

By using Ariba Discovery and Ariba StartSourcing to find pre‑qualified sellers, Plaid quickly matched with a highly competitive local supplier and moved iron‑on production to the U.S., cutting lead time from 120 to 30 days (75% reduction), achieving 34% cost savings, improving quality, enabling “Made in America” branding, expanding local partnerships, and gaining multiple paint‑brush sourcing options for benchmarking.

Plaid Enterprises, Inc.

Leanne Melton

Strategic Supply Base Manager