Executive Summary / TL;DR
- 3x growth pushed Orthofeet’s systems to the limit. This exposed signifigant fulfillment and order operations issues, particularly with connections, data accuracy, and visibility across channels.
- Manual processes and delicate custom code slowed the team down. This led to expensive over-fulfillment errors, constant firefighting, and held back growth.
- Pipe17 provided reliable integration and real-time order management. This fixed over-fulfillment issues and instilled confidence in their fulfillment and order operations.
- Continuous monitoring and automatic exception alerts enabled a shift to proactive operations. This freed up time to focus on marketing, merchandising, and customer experience.
- Pipe17 became a trusted partner. They offered Orthofeet industry best practices and ecommerce expertise as they grew into new channels and scaled their fulfillment and order operations.
Introduction: A Mission of Mobility
Orthofeet is more than just a footwear brand. It represents a commitment to enhancing mobility and improving quality of life. Their mission is deeply rooted in personal experience. Co-founder Ron Bar started the company after he sustained a debilitating leg injury in the military, followed by frustrating experiences with the traditional orthotics available at the time. Together with his brother Michael, Ron set out to create something better: footwear that is comfortable, supportive, and therapeutic.
Since 1984, Orthofeet has been doing just that. They create footwear, orthotic insoles, and socks that combine comfort, performance, and therapeutic value. This is backed by a company-wide commitment to exceptional customer service. Orthofeet uses advanced biomechanical engineering to design shoes that relieve pain from conditions like plantar fasciitis, diabetes, and arthritis. As a result, wearers can stay active and comfortable all day.
Today, Orthofeet (now a team of ~200 employees) provides high-quality orthopedic footwear that customers love. They use a hybrid model, selling direct-to-consumer (DTC) online and through wholesale to podiatry offices and other providers.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, business took off. However, this growth brought significant operational challenges. Orthofeet’s existing infrastructure was stretched thin. Their systems couldn’t scale to match the businesses growing volume and reach.
The Challenges: Connectivity, Data Flows, Visibility
As order volumes increased, Orthofeet’s infrastructure felt the strain. The operations and IT teams, led by Colleen Olsen and Frederic Kouame, knew they had a problem. They needed to address manual processes, disconnected systems, and fragile data flows. These issues were holding the business back and reducing profitability.
Disconnected Fulfillment and Manual Processes
At the time, Orthofeet’s third-party-logistics (3PL) connections ran off of flat files and FTP. These manual and disconnected processes for orders and fulfillment lacked reliable tracking and event logging. This system became unsustainable as order volume grew.
“We didn’t have a way to organically connect the data. My biggest concern was really the 3PL connection. We needed a stable connection to be able to confidently deliver the orders and the information.”
Colleen Olsen, Vice President of Operations at Orthofeet
Out of Sync and Inaccurate Order Operations Data
Fragile connections and manual processes led to major data problems: missing files, transfer delays, and thousands of duplicate and over-fulfilled orders. Frederic shared a stark example of, “a customer that bought one shoe and received 35 pairs of the same shoe.”
With constantly out of sync systems, the team lost confidence in their data’s accuracy and timeliness. It was common for customers and internal support teams to see different and conflicting order statuses.
No Visibility and Reactive Operations
Without real-time visibility across channels, Orthofeet’s teams spent hours chasing errors. They were often “waiting for reports” and reacting to issues instead of making improvements.
“It was really difficult to be proactive at all,” Colleen noted. Frederic added, “We were in constant cahoots, like ‘hey you didn’t send the information’.”
Custom Code, Constant Delays in Order Operations
Launching new sales channels, fulfillment providers, or applications was difficult and time-consuming. It also required highly skilled technical resources. Their custom-built API needed a third-party developer to use and maintain. This created a bottleneck that slowed down innovation and adaptation.
“We had constant issues, outages, data not being transferred or failing to transfer correctly to its destination. We couldn’t sustain that for our fulfillment and order operations going forward.”
Frederic Kouame, IT Director at Orthofeet
The Solution: Pipe17 Order Operations Platform
Orthofeet needed a more robust solution. Their existing setup lacked the connectivity, automation, and agility their growing business required. They needed a solution that combined commerce connectivity, order orchestration, and omnichannel data flow automation. They needed an Order Operations platform.
Frederic discovered Pipe17 through a third-party recommendation and was immediately impressed by its simplicity, completeness, and flexibility.
“I really liked how Pipe17 laid everything out. The UI is clean, simple to use, and easy to navigate. All the integrations and automations we needed for our fulfillment and order operations were right there.”
Frederic Kouame, IT Director at Orthofeet
Orthofeet chose Pipe17 as their connectivity and order operations hub. Pipe17 now manages the real-time flow of order, inventory, fulfillment, and product data between their ecommerce stores (Shopify), marketplaces (Amazon), 3PL partners (LVK), and ERP.
The Results: Transforming Fulfillment and Order Operations
The results with Pipe17 are clear. No more over-fulfillment, faster issue resolution, and a more empowered team. Here’s a closer look at how Pipe17 made this transformation possible.
Reliable, Error-Free Order Operations
Right away, Pipe17 resolved Orthfeet’s over-fulfillment problem and stabilized their selling channels and 3PL connections. With accurate, real-time data flowing between systems, fulfillment errors and post-checkout surprises were a relic of the past. As Frederic put it, “That PTSD… that’s long gone.”
Proactive Exception Management
With continuous monitoring and real-time exception notifications, Orthofeet shifted from reactive problem-solving to proactive issue prevention. Instead of finding issues after they’ve affected customers, the team now gets immediate notifications. This allows them to fix any problem before it impacts customer satisfaction.
“Pipe17 tells us when something isn’t right, and whether it’s on the ecommerce, 3PL, or ERP side. That’s truly a game changer.”
Colleen Olsen, Vice President of Operations at Orthofeet
Automation That Frees Up Focus
Pipe17 managed integration complexity, automated data flows, and eliminated manual troubleshooting in their fulfillment and order operations. As a result, the Orthofeet team got their time back. The time once spent pulling data or managing fragile connections is now used for strategic work.
“We get to focus on what we need to do every day; marketing, merchandising, customer service.”
Colleen Olsen, Vice President of Operations at Orthofeet
Ready for What’s Next
As Orthofeet continues to grow, Pipe17 helps them adapt quickly. A library of pre-configured connectors makes it easy to onboard new channels, applications and partners without any technical overhead. “There’s a whole host of already existing integrations that we can take advantage of… that makes it really easy for us,” Colleen noted.
A Trusted Order Operations Partner
Beyond the platform, Orthofeet values the people behind Pipe17 for their expertise in fulfillment and order operations. Described by Frederic as “white glove service,” Pipe17’s responsiveness and ecommerce knowledge set them apart from other software providers.
“Pipe17’s solution architects are great to work with. I always ask the question, but I don’t even need to anymore, what’s industry standard? And they always give us the best advice.”
Frederic Kouame, IT Director at Orthofeet
Looking Ahead and Conclusion
With Pipe17 powering its connectivity and order orchestration, Orthofeet is ready for its next stage of growth. This will include entering new markets, upgrading their tech stack, and expanding their B2B capabilities, all supported by robust fulfillment and order operations.
“Pipe17 has helped change our business in a really positive way. It’s opened up new avenues, and it’s been a great partnership.”
Colleen Olsen, Vice President of Operations at Orthofeet
By simplifying connectivity, removing costly errors, and rebuilding trust in their operational accuracy, Pipe17 has empowered Orthofeet. Confident in their fulfillment and order operations, the team can now spend more time focusing on their mission of improving lives through better footwear.
“I would absolutely recommend Pipe17 to anyone because of the ease of implementation, the professionalism, the industry standard recommendations, and the built-in best-practices.”
Frederic Kouame, IT Director at Orthofeet
