Lead manufacturing with Centralized data


Quick facts

Company Name: Glo Companies

CEO: Hagan Walker

Location: Starkville, Mississippi, USA

Industry: Manufacturing

How a glowing toy manufacturing company centralized Data & Inventory management using modern software tools

In the dynamic landscape of modern business, companies face a myriad of challenges, from operational efficiency to data management. This case study delves into the journey of a visionary leader navigating the complexities of consolidating data across multiple platforms.

With a focus on enhancing operational processes and decision-making, the study explores the quest for an integrated solution to streamline data management. Through proactive measures and innovative approaches, the company successfully centralizes its data, paving the way for improved efficiency and sustained growth in the competitive global market. 

Story of Hagan Walker

Hagan Walker is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Glo companies, a company known for its innovative light-up products. Hagan graduated from Mississippi State University in 2015 with a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering. His career began with roles as a Body Controls Engineer at Tesla and as a Technology Administrator at Mississippi State University. 

In January 2016, Hagan co-founded The Glo companies and has since led the company as its CEO. 

The Glo Companies specializes in two primary product lines: Glo Cubes® and Glo Pals®. 

Based in Starkville, Mississippi, The Glo companies designs, packages, and distributes its products to customers in over 36 countries. 

Glo Cubes®

Glo Cubes® are liquid-activated, light-up drink cubes designed to enhance the ambiance of any occasion with their vibrant glow. 

These small plastic cubes are equipped with interactive components that react specifically when immersed in liquid, instantly illuminating upon contact with water. 

Perfect for adding a touch of fun and flair, Glo Cubes can brighten up bars, parties, and social gatherings, creating a visually stunning experience.

The Glo Cubes

Glo Pals®

Glo Pals are innovative liquid-activated, light-up sensory toys designed to captivate and engage children with their vibrant personalities and colors. 

Each toy in the collection has its unique character, with Pippa glowing green, Alex glowing yellow, Lumi glowing purple, Sammy glowing red, and Blair glowing blue, providing a delightful array of colors to enjoy. Every pack includes four of each character, ensuring plenty of glowing fun. 

The creation of Glo Pals was inspired by a touching story of a child with autism whose mother utilized the same technology behind Glo Pals® to help her son overcome his fear of water. 

This heartwarming narrative played a crucial role in shaping the Glo Pal® characters, making these toys not just entertaining but also meaningful tools for sensory development and emotional growth.

The Pals

Charity:

Hagan Walker and Anna Barker presents the annual donation to Children's of Mississippi. The customers purchase directly impacts the only children's hospital(Batson Children's hospital) in the entire state of Mississippi. 

Business Software's Utilized at The Glo Companies

To manage various aspects of his business, Hagan Walker has employed several software solutions, including:

The Challenge: Need for Data Integration

Despite the efficiency of these individual tools, Hagan faced significant challenges in consolidating data from each platform. The manual process of gathering and analyzing data from multiple sources consumed a substantial amount of his time. 

Hagan sought a solution that would automate these processes and centralize data in one location, allowing for streamlined operations and better decision-making. 

Solution: Adoption of Sheet Director

In his search for an efficient solution, Hagan discovered Sheet Director, a Google Workspace add-on developed by Jivrus Technologies. 

Sheet Director is a Google Workspace add-on designed to manage and control bi-directional data flow between Google Sheets and various applications. 

After testing, he found Sheet Director to be highly effective for consolidating data from different applications. Starting in January 2020, Hagan began using Sheet Director with the following applications

The Need for Cin7 Integration

As The Glo Companies grew, so did the complexity of its inventory management needs. Hagan identified the necessity of a robust inventory management system and decided that Cin7 would be the best fit. To avoid the hassle of managing yet another separate data source, Hagan proposed integrating Cin7 with Sheet Director.

Hagan reached out to Jivrus Technologies with his request for Cin7 integration. The Jivrus team promptly responded, first introducing Cin7 Core to Sheet Director and later adding Cin7 Omni, thus enhancing the tool's capabilities to meet The Glo Companies inventory management requirements.

The Result

Hagan Walker's proactive approach in leveraging advanced software tools has significantly improved operational efficiency at The Glo Companies. 

By integrating Sheet Director, he has successfully centralized his data management, allowing for more streamlined business operations. 

The additional integration of Cin7 through Sheet Director has further enhanced The Glo Companies inventory management, positioning the company for continued success and growth in the global market. 

Hear what Hagan has to say about Sheet Director 

"We have worked with the Jivrus team for several years and they have always been so helpful, going so far as to create a new API connector just for us. Sheet Director is very easy to use and takes complex data from various API’s and puts it in Google Sheets, where it can be easily modified. Sheet Director is like the glue that allows us to connect several pieces of software that otherwise don’t natively “talk” to each other. For example, use Zoho Analytics as our BI tool, but it doesn’t natively connect with Cin7, our inventory reporting software. We use Sheet Director to bridge the gap: we extract data from our inventory software, Cin7, on an hourly basis via Sheet Director, which puts that data in a Google Sheet. Zoho Analytics has a native connector to Google Sheets, so it’s then able to pull in all of the Cin7 data from that Google Sheet. It’s a really important solution to allow us to have true business visibility."

About Jivrus Technologies and Sheet Director