Cloud
Commerce
SSF Auto Parts
Driving Digital Growth: SSF’s Roadmap to Scalable ERP and Warehouse Expansion
SSF Imported Auto Parts is a leading distributor of European auto parts in North America. As their business grew, SSF faced serious challenges due to the limitations of their legacy systems, which threatened their ability to scale and meet evolving customer demands.
As SSF Imported Auto Parts embarked on the modernization of its enterprise technology landscape, the organization encountered several critical challenges – including a legacy IBMi AS400 constrained by system and infrastructure limitations, fragmented data spread across disparate platforms, and an IT team stretched thin by ongoing support demands. Acknowledging the complexity and business risk associated with such a transformation, SSF engaged Terrace Consulting to provide strategic leadership and technical execution.
In response, Terrace Consulting responded with a carefully architected, four-phase digital transformation strategy, each phase intentionally designed to reduce risk, ensure business continuity, and establish a scalable foundation for future growth.
Phase 1: Advisory Services & Digital Transformation Roadmap
Terrace Consulting began the engagement with strategic advisory services to fully understand SSF’s pain points, goals, and operational constraints. This phase laid the foundation for the entire transformation:
- Business Process Analysis – A comprehensive review of existing workflows across finance, fulfillment, inventory, and e-commerce to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies.
- Technology Gap Assessment – Evaluation of the legacy IBMI AS400 platform, NetSuite usage, and third-party applications to determine integration points and modernization needs.
- Transformation Roadmap – A tailored, multi-phase plan that aligned technical execution with SSF’s business priorities, including warehouse expansion and sales channel enablement.
By the end of this phase, SSF had a clear, risk-mitigated path forward that balanced innovation with business continuity.
Phase 2: E-Commerce Tech Stack Modernization
Recognizing that scalable online operations would be critical to future growth, Terrace prioritized the modernization of SSF’s e-commerce stack. The solution included:
- Cloud Migration to Microsoft Azure – Replacing the on-premises environment with a cloud-first architecture that offered performance, flexibility, and cost efficiency.
- Platform Enhancements – Strategic recommendations and implementations that improved system reliability and positioned SSF to support higher transaction volumes and future integrations.
This upgrade empowered SSF to better manage existing e-commerce workflows and prepare for the addition of new online sales channels.
Phase 3: Hybrid ERP Migration & Boomi Integration
With the foundational roadmap and infrastructure in place, Terrace initiated a phased migration of core ERP functionality from IBMi AS400 to NetSuite. Because the legacy platform still played a role in daily operations, a hybrid strategy was essential:
- Core Data Migration – Terrace led the secure and accurate migration of transactional data, customer records, item master data, and inventory counts into NetSuite.
- Process Duplication in NetSuite – Business-critical workflows were repurposed in NetSuite leveraging out-of-box functionality, and only adding in automation where necessary based on SSF business process requirements.
- Boomi Integration Layer – To keep systems in sync during this transition period, Terrace implemented Boomi as an interim integration platform, enabling real-time data consistency across both environments.
This stage ensured SSF could maintain operational stability while transitioning to a modern ERP solution, with minimal impact on day-to-day business.
Phase 4: Full ERP Migration & WMS Implementation with RF Smart
The final phase of the transformation focused on completing the ERP migration and modernizing warehouse operations. Terrace executed this with precision and minimal disruption:
- Decommissioning IBMI – The remaining data and business processes were successfully migrated to NetSuite, allowing the legacy platform to be fully retired.
- RF Smart Deployment – Warehouses were transitioned one at a time to RF Smart, a robust and cloud-integrated warehouse management system (WMS) that complements NetSuite.
- Full System Harmonization – With unified data, modern workflows, and scalable infrastructure, SSF emerged with a resilient digital foundation for the future.
This transformation not only modernized SSF’s technology landscape – it also enabled tangible business growth by unlocking new fulfillment capabilities and streamlining IT operations.
Project Challenge
Prior to engaging Terrace Consulting, SSF Imported Auto Parts was heavily reliant on IBMI AS400 for their ERP, 3PL, and WMS operations, while using NetSuite only for Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable. Their challenges included:
- Inability to Expand Warehouse Operations: The IBMi AS400 system was customized in such a way over the years, that adding new warehouses to SSF’s business was blocked and could not move forward.
- High Maintenance Costs: The aging IBMI system became increasingly costly to support and maintain.
- Limited Sales Channel Integration: SSF could not efficiently add new sales channels, limiting e-commerce growth opportunities.
- IT Resource Drain: The complexity of maintaining the IBMI system consumed valuable IT resources that could have been used for strategic initiatives.
Solution
SSF’s on-premises infrastructure was migrated to Microsoft Azure, providing a scalable, reliable foundation for modern operations.
Terrace Consulting led a technology stack modernization, optimizing performance, flexibility, and maintainability across platforms.
A hybrid ERP migration moved core functions from IBMI AS400 to Oracle NetSuite, enabling cloud-based business management without disrupting daily operations.
Boomi integration was implemented to ensure real-time data synchronization between IBMI and NetSuite during the transition period.
In the final phase, Terrace completed the full ERP migration and deployed RF Smart to modernize warehouse operations and support scalable distribution.
Technologies
Advisory Services: Terrace Consulting Digital Transformation Advisory
ERP: Oracle NetSuite
Integration Platform: Boomi
Warehouse Management: RF Smart
Cloud Infrastructure: Microsoft Azure
“This transformation was a turning point for SSF Auto Parts. By modernizing our systems, we not only reduced costs and risks but also unlocked new opportunities for warehouse expansion and sales channel growth. Our teams now have the data accuracy and real-time insights we need to make smarter, faster decisions. Partnering with Terrace Consulting gave us the confidence to take on such a complex transformation.”
About SSF Imported Auto Parts
SSF Imported Auto Parts is a leading distributor of European auto parts throughout North America. Known for their wide selection of parts and exceptional customer service, SSF was ready to scale its operations but was facing severe technology limitations that blocked growth.
The Terrace Process
1
Listening
Terrace starts every project with a thorough understanding of business objectives and technical requirements.
2
Designing
Leveraging a wide repertoire of platforms and tools, Terrace architects use technologies tailored to your business.
3
Building
Terrace’s hand-picked team of engineers are among the finest in the industry – well-versed in the latest best practices and dedicated to an efficient and timely development process.
Terrace + SSF Imported Auto Parts
Strategic Rollout
- Terrace Consulting began with a series of discovery sessions involving cross-functional stakeholders at SSF Imported Auto Parts to deeply understand existing business processes, system limitations, and long-term growth objectives.
- A phased digital transformation roadmap was designed, enabling incremental migration from IBMI AS400 to NetSuite, along with the deployment of Microsoft Azure, Boomi integration, and RF Smart—all sequenced to reduce risk and maintain business continuity.
- The implementation followed an agile delivery model, with weekly sprint reviews and milestone-based checkpoints to align priorities, resolve blockers, and adapt to evolving business needs.
- Data synchronization and hybrid operations were managed via Boomi, ensuring seamless functionality between legacy and modern systems during transition periods.
- Each warehouse was migrated one at a time using RF Smart, allowing for controlled rollout, operational validation, and uninterrupted fulfillment activity.
- Comprehensive training, documentation, and hyper-care support were provided to SSF team members, ensuring they were fully equipped to operate, maintain, and scale their new NetSuite-driven environment with confidence.
Results
The digital transformation led by Terrace Consulting has delivered significant and measurable outcomes for SSF Imported Auto Parts, driving improvements across operations, technology, and overall business scalability.
- Data Integrity & Accuracy: With the migration to NetSuite and the decommissioning of the legacy IBMI system, SSF now benefits from a centralized source of truth. Inventory levels, customer records, and financial data are consistently accurate and reliable—empowering teams to operate with confidence and make informed, data-driven decisions across departments.
- Robust Reporting & Business Intelligence: NetSuite’s native reporting capabilities have unlocked real-time visibility into key business metrics. Financial and operational teams can now generate timely reports without the need for manual consolidation or IT intervention, resulting in faster insights and improved responsiveness to market trends and internal performance indicators.
- Scalable Warehouse Operations: The implementation of RF Smart has enabled SSF to expand and add new warehouses without limitations. The new WMS supports more efficient inventory management, streamlined order fulfillment, and increased operational capacity—laying the groundwork for continued growth across geographic regions.
- New Sales Channels Enabled: This multi-channel expansion, made possible by the flexible and integrated architecture put in place, opens the door to broader market reach, diversified revenue streams, and enhanced customer acquisition.
- Reduced IT Overhead and Operational Risk: By retiring the resource-intensive IBMI AS400 system, SSF dramatically reduced the ongoing cost and complexity of maintaining legacy infrastructure. The IT team is no longer burdened with reactive support tasks and can now focus on strategic initiatives that drive innovation and efficiency.