Buffalo Electric Supply Improves Process Control With Savance

In business since 1954, Birmingham-based Buffalo Electric Supply is an independent, full-service distributor of wholesale electrical products and tools for contractors, industrial end users, and the general public. The company’s electrical supply store, which specializes in industrial, commercial, and residential wholesale electrical products, is known for its stocked inventory, flexible delivery schedule, and personalized service.


In order to meet customer needs in an ever-changing market, the company needed a new ERP solution. Vice President Patrick McCarroll explains: "The previous software was run on an older operating system that had no ability to tie into an e-commerce platform in the future."


“We knew we were looking for a future-proof, easy-to-use software package that offered great support from the software provider,” McCarroll says. Other criteria included affordability, copy/paste functionality, and the ability to mass-upload inventory changes. E-commerce, of course, was another important area.


After an extensive search, Buffalo Electric Supply made the decision to select Savance. "Being able to pick up the phone and get an answer in a timely manner is something I very much appreciate when it comes to Savance." McCarroll says. Since implementing Savance Enterprise, Buffalo Electric Supply has seen improved process controls, as well as greater accuracy when it comes to inventory and pricing. The product’s ease-of-use has also lead to staff operating much more efficiently. Reporting is another area where Buffalo Electric has seen major improvements. “Savance made the SPA process with manufacturers much more manageable,” McCarroll explains. "For the cost, you can’t find a better software solution. The service and response time is top-notch."


To read more, visit the Savance Newsroom.

For the 2019 Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guide:

http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2019_Distribution_Manufacturing_Software_Guide.pdf?utm_source=DownloadElectronic&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2019Guide

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services at http://www.software4distributors.com and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard, visit http://www.software4distributors.com/compare/default.aspx.

Also, read our 2019 Mid-Year Supplements at http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2019_Mid_Year_Supplement_Blog.pdf?utm_source=DownloadPDF&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2019Supp.

Developed through a partnership with 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.

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Johnstone Supply Grows Sales With DDI

With over 400 independent member locations across the country, the Johnstone Supply Cooperative is a leader in the HVAC/R industry. From the first Johnstone Supply store that opened in 1953, founder John Shank aspired to grow his business among other service-focused individuals. The goal: to share resources, operational benefits, and group buying power. Today, Johnstone Supply is a top business cooperative with stores often passed from one generation to the next. Owners are used to personalized service, consistency, and a solid return on investment.

A thriving member of the Johnstone Supply cooperative for over 40 years, Johnstone Supply – Spokane, WA, prides itself on customer service and self-sufficiency. With a branch in Anchorage, AK, the company has seen little turnover in the past four decades, a testament to its ownership and stability.

The Spokane team knew that the shift to a fully-integrated, highly scalable Windows® ERP would be significant. Spokane implemented DDI System’s Inform ERP in November 2015. Since then, the store steadily generates around 3,000 invoices a month. It’s amazing to have all the tools that can be used to help our company grow. Credit manager Barb Redinger had this to say about the DDI implementation,"We find something new everyday that has helped us with our sales team."


To learn more about DDI System’s Inform ERP Software, and read additional implementation case studies in the distribution industry, visit the DDI Newsroom.

For the 2019 Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guide:

http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2019_Distribution_Manufacturing_Software_Guide.pdf?utm_source=DownloadElectronic&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2019Guide

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services at http://www.software4distributors.com and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard, visit http://www.software4distributors.com/compare/default.aspx.

Also, read our 2019 Mid-Year Supplements at http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2019_Mid_Year_Supplement_Blog.pdf?utm_source=DownloadPDF&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2019Supp.

Developed through a partnership with 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.

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CRP Industries Streamlines Inventory With Sage

CRP Industries is an importer and distributor of automotive and industrial products. Its extensive product line spans markets covering automotive replacement parts, high-speed motors, and industrial hoses. The automotive replacement segment services customers such as BMW of North America and Volkswagen of America.

Challenge
The company’s 20-year-old legacy software wasn’t allowing it to keep inventory and service rates in balance, particularly as part numbers and sales volumes increased over the years. The business drivers for change centered on the company’s desire to improve inventory fill rates while reducing inventory levels, ship orders faster and with greater accuracy, and reduce costs and streamline operations by automating more processes, particularly in its finished goods warehouses.

Solution 
Sage X3 was selected for its robust order fulfillment capabilities across sales, picking, shipping, invoicing, and procurement. It offers comprehensive warehouse location management features and automated data collection capabilities that support key transactions such as physical counts and inventory receipts right out of the box. In addition, Sage X3 provides production capabilities that are readily scalable to CRP’s light assembly operations.

Results
Order cycle times are significantly improved with most orders going out the same day. Visibility into real-time information allows the company to manage exceptions and adjust quickly to changing customer needs. New labor-tracking capabilities provide visibility into labor costs for each warehouse, enabling CRP to determine actual profit per order. Better forecasting helps the company reduce stock levels and optimize its inventory holdings.

“With improved visibility into real-time information comes the ability to manage exceptions better and adjust quickly to changing customer needs.” Daniel Schildge Vice President CRP Industries

 To learn more, visit the Sage Newsroom.

For the 2019 Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guide:

http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2019_Distribution_Manufacturing_Software_Guide.pdf?utm_source=DownloadElectronic&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2019Guide

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services at http://www.software4distributors.com and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard, visit http://www.software4distributors.com/compare/default.aspx.

Also, read our 2019 Mid-Year Supplements at http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2019_Mid_Year_Supplement_Blog.pdf?utm_source=DownloadPDF&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2019Supp.

Developed through a partnership with 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.

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Berkshire Blanket & Home Streamlines Tax Compliance With Avalara

In 1993, one man made a blanket. Almost thirty years later, Berkshire Blanket & Home Co. is the biggest company in its category, supplying more than 130 million premium-quality products - blankets, throws, soft home goods - to top retailers around the world.

For as long as Berkshire sold primarily to tax-exempt retailers, its sales tax obligations could be managed manually with a home-grown matrix. But when the company got serious about consumer ecommerce, it quickly found that its home-grown approach was a risky and inefficient way to manage sales tax.

Berkshire’s finance team was accustomed to dealing with wholesale transactions but the introduction of an online retail business a number of years ago, brought with it a new set of tax headaches.

Tax challenges:

• Rapid growth, increasing complexity
• Manual, time-consuming processes
• Increasing compliance risk

Emily Pfeiffer, Vice President of Marketing and Digital, who was brought in specifically to build the company’s online retail business. When the company switched to a new ecommerce platform, Emily knew the old sales tax matrix had reached the end of its useful life. “We had to find a new system to manage the tax,” she says.

It didn’t take Emily long to land on Avalara’s suite of products as the right solution. “AvaTax, in particular, is the Cadillac of its category, and has been for years,” she says. “It’s what you should be using if you just want tax handled.”

And what of the integration with the company’s ecommerce and order management systems? “It’s absolutely seamless. In fact, we recently changed our ecommerce platform system to Shopify Plus. A key factor in that decision was that it features built-in integration with Avalara’s software. We just set it up once and forget it. And Avalara was more of a partner than we expected during the transition, offering us the support we needed.”

Results

• Simplifying business complexity
• Confident tax compliance
• Enabling bold growth plans

“Having Avalara means I don’t have to hire someone just to monitor and adjust our tax settings,” Emily says. “None of us wants to be in that business, and we love being able to trust it to Avalara.”

To learn more, visit the Avalara Newsroom.

For the 2019 Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guide:

http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2019_Distribution_Manufacturing_Software_Guide.pdf?utm_source=DownloadElectronic&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2019Guide

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services at http://www.software4distributors.com and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard, visit http://www.software4distributors.com/compare/default.aspx.

Also, read our 2019 Mid-Year Supplements at http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2019_Mid_Year_Supplement_Blog.pdf?utm_source=DownloadPDF&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2019Supp.

Developed through a partnership with 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.

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