Software4Distributors: Rapid Growth Drives Reliable Parts to Upgrade to Iptor

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Rapid Growth Drives Reliable Parts to Upgrade to Iptor

When Reliable Parts of Tukwila, Washington acquired Appliance Parts Depot (APD) of Dallas, Texas in July of 2015, the first major expansion of a new era had begun. As a distributor of appliance and BBQ parts and accessories, Reliable Parts had been operating 30 locations and 3 distribution centers in the U.S., along with 30 locations and 4 distribution centers in Canada. The APD acquisition pushed their number of total U.S. locations to 45, and the new owners were now faced with merging their acquired ERP system into the legacy system Reliable Parts had been using to anchor their business since 1999.

In order to ensure smooth integration of future acquisitions and manage the growing transaction volume that would undoubtedly come with continued expansion, it was time for a major system refresh. After reviewing several products, Reliable elected to upgrade their existing Iptor system to the latest version, partly because the new release proved superior, but also because the overall cost of the upgrade would be considerably less.

The onboarding process was projected to take about nine months. Key tasks during this phase included converting APD’s customer and historical data to the Iptor platform, merging the websites to share information and training APD’s personnel on Reliable’s existing version of the system. Reliable added two key modules to their system, these included PlannerView, a powerful, adaptable, PC- based, graphical planning and information management tool that provides real- time supply chain visibility, and Integrator, a powerful tool to manage systems integration and data management, replication and synchronization. The move to include these modules immediately shortened Reliable’s overall learning curve once the new system was launched.

Says Lowell Millard, Reliable's CTO, “Iptor represents a tremendous upside for us, as we move into new territories. The scalability of the solution is exactly what we need long-term, and the ability to use the system out-of-the-box, without paying programmers to reinvent our solution, gives us excellent flexibility in pursuing new business.”

To learn more, visit the Iptor Newsroom.

New Software Research Guides Available

Finding that you cannot keep up with all the changes in the latest software?

Want to know how the software's features and functions can assist you?

Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

Read our 2016 Mid-Year Supplements.

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services, these 12 page Supplement Guides provide valuable, independently researched information. Each Guide details software company information, identifies vertical markets, highlights functions and technology features, new developments to the software package, shows graphs of the user range, basic entry price point, sales channel (how and where the software is sold), along with company contact information. The Supplement Guides provide everything you need to know when beginning your software selection and evaluation process.