Future Supply Chains Increases Efficiency With Infor

Established in April 2007, Future Supply Chains Solutions Ltd is India's first fully integrated end-to-end supply chain services company. Future Supply Chains had warehouses spread across the country with very little infrastructure. As this range of warehouses operated on a labor-intensive and manpower dependent model, Future Supply Chains found it extremely difficult to keep track of inventory while also managing additional storage. With an ever-increasing number of SKUs and volumes, the company needed a state-of-the-art Warehouse Management System (WMS).

The volume of retail business handled by Future had increased threefold when compared to the volumes handled a few years back, and as result of this growth, they were facing the challenge of handling a large number of SKUs, spread across many different product categories including fashion, home, food, and furniture and consumer durables.

The company created a team to do the ground work in terms of business logic and strategy and at the same time it started analyzing the best of breed WMS products available in the market that catered to its needs. "We liked Infor as it had better architectural concepts that made it more scalable and reliable," says Samson Samuel, COO and CIO, Future Supply Chains. "However, we selected it not only due to the features and functionalities of the product, but also because Infor had an ecosystem of existing partners and a strong presence across India in terms of manpower, offices, and clients. Infor was associated with us right from the start of our quest for a WMS. All this, coupled with Infor's willingness to provide support, clinched the deal for them. In fact, we rated Infor 5 out of 5 on our requirements."

Seeing results
The benefits of the Infor WMS implementation are now visible across the organization. “A pull system based on actual demand has now replaced a push system that ran on forecasted demand. Shelf management has improved tremendously. In fact, the overall way in which the business and operations now work has improved drastically,” describes Singh.

The Infor WMS has also helped the company rationalize its warehouse structure design decisions. The company is now able to handle a very large number of SKUs and ensure 100% stock accuracy as the stock is totally visible online. It is also possible to do stock corrections in real time since all entries are online. Through Infor WMS, Future Supply Chains can now track and measure what each person is doing or contributing. The Infor WMS solution ensures the company has access to accurate stock measurements, visibility of stocks across the DCs, and tail stock clearance. The shrinkages have gone down. Stock replacement and refill rates have reached an efficiency level of more than 90%.

For Future Supply Chains, it is difficult to visualize operating its warehouse business without Infor’s WMS systems. Due to extensive tracking and measurement capabilities, the company is aware at all times as to what is happening with each SKU in the warehouse. “The Infor WMS is a perfectly running system today. The implementations are now working at 99% efficiency. Some DCs are even working at 100%. It has helped establish a system-based, technology-based, and process-based model of business. It ensures minimum or no shrinkage, high accuracy, very low time and optimum cost to market, security, and on-time distribution to the customer.” concludes Singh.

Learn more on the Infor 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 sjay@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

For 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 2018 Mid-Year Supplements at http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2018_Mid_Year_Supplement_Blog.pdf?utm_source=DownloadPDF&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2018Supp.

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.

 
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KIE Supply Chooses DDI to Power Business Operations

For more than 60 years, KIE Supply has been dedicated to helping customers succeed in all of their irrigation, plumbing, electrical, and lighting projects. Its mission to operate under honest business practices and to provide what customers need, when they need it, has driven company success since 1955.

KIE's Amelia Kittson's vision of where she wanted the company to go in the future meant it needed to move away from its home-grown system. As the marketing director and ERP system transition lead, Kittson said she felt having one person handle everything to do with technology was not sustainable.

DDI System's 100 percent U.S.-based development, implementation and support teams were a strong selling feature for the irrigation, plumbing, electrical, and lighting supplier. Coupled with Inform's superior blend of rich features, trusted the software would strengthen purchasing and warehouse practices, provide even better service to KIE's customers, and offer the mobile technology needed to elevate performance across the board.

To further support their decision, Kittson surveyed her team to identify the most important factors they needed to be successful. "The number one thing everyone required was a system that would be easy to cross train different team members on. As a business owner, I never want to have one person being able to do a job. It's incredibly important to me that we can jump in whenever we need to and the tools we use everyday to run our business be powerful but also intuitive. We definitely got that with DDI's Inform," said Kittson.

In addition, Kittson believes in continuing the drive toward efficiency—which includes transitioning to a paperless operation. "In just the past six months, we've made HUGE strides towards our goal of going paperless. We've eliminated file cabinets, gained space and our staff no longer has to dig through boxes of closed files. We no longer have to keep hard copies of every single invoice and we can view electronic signatures for all our orders using electronic signature capture. Our Sales Manager has been waiting for 20 years for something like that and it just was not something we had the ability to do in our legacy system," she said.

KIE's decision to transform its business with DDI's Inform ERP has allowed KIE Supply to keep up with the shift in buyer behavior and continue to deliver on ever-evolving customer expectations. To learn more, visit the DDI 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 sjay@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

For 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 2018 Mid-Year Supplements at http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2018_Mid_Year_Supplement_Blog.pdf?utm_source=DownloadPDF&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2018Supp.

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.

 
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Chicago Nut & Bolt On Time And On Budget With Computer Insights

Chicago Nut & Bolt, in business for over 20 years, is an industry leader in the area of custom industrial fasteners. Eric Carlson, President, explained CNB’s philosophy. He said “While we distribute standard fasteners, our fastener supply services include fulfilling non-standard requests, such as extra-large and extra-long sizes. We work with sizes from 1/4” to 3” in diameter, in any length up to 72”. We can get them to you quickly because we stock blanks in every imaginable head style that can be modified per your specifications.”

Eric told us one secret to their ability to offer such a diverse and comprehensive bundle of products and services. He said, “Chicago Nut and Bolt has worked with Computer Insights for over 10 years. When we installed The Business Edge, our system was installed and up and running on time and ZERO dollars over budget. I was also amazed that we did all the training on line. It turned out to be the most efficient computer implementation I have ever experienced.”

“Since then, the system has helped us maintain the level of customer service that we have committed to our customers. With The Business Edge, all the information that we need is at our finger tips. It is helping us with our ISO Quality requirements and it is enabling us to give our customers what they need in a single call, no call backs, no voice mails, just prompt, professional accurate service. I have also been impressed by the flexibility of the system and the ability to customize it to our specific needs.”

Learn more at the Computer Insights 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 sjay@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

For 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 2018 Mid-Year Supplements at http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2018_Mid_Year_Supplement_Blog.pdf?utm_source=DownloadPDF&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2018Supp.

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.

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Dorcy International Enhances Financial Management With VAI

Dorcy International, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, is a global distributor of flashlights and batteries. Dorcy employs 100 individuals and has annual revenues of about $50 million.

Dorcy carries about 2,500 items in its inventory, which approaches $12 million at any given time. Three warehouses—two in Columbus, Ohio and one in Burlington, Canada—have a combined capacity of nearly 250,000 square feet.

Dorcy operations relied on 25-year-old, homegrown software. The system lacked a true warehouse management component, and the three facilities were not integrated with each other or with the financial system. Inventory variances approaching $200,000 were not uncommon. No real-time inventory information was available as the system could only batch data overnight.

A separate financial package handled accounting functions, but it did not integrate with the other homegrown software solutions. Staff spent innumerable hours pulling data from the various systems to create basic financial management reports in Excel. The process was repeated weekly and monthly, as needed, to obtain the data necessary to guide corporate operations.

Dorcy faced two challenges – to modernize both the company’s hardware, and software systems in order to handle day-to-day operations. Ultimately, Dorcy selected VAI (Vormittag Associates, Inc.) to be its software vendor because VAI offers fully integrated solutions with unparalleled functionality. Mark Craddock, Dorcy’s IT Director, relates, “Three things impressed us about VAI: its extensive install base, the size of its support staff and its emphasis on regularly updating its software. However, it was the technical knowledge and responsiveness of VAI’s staff that carried our decision. We wanted the personalized service that is the hallmark of VAI.”

Dorcy purchased VAI’s S2K Enterprise Software, including the financial, warehousing, purchasing, and inventory modules, as well as an EDI integrator from VAI business partner EXTOL. VAI software is equipped with built-in adapters that interface directly with this product.

According to Macy Bergoon, Director of Supply Chain, Dorcy, “The combination of real-time inventory, cycle counting and RF devices has yielded negligible inventory variances. We dropped from a $170,000 variance to less than $5,000 in one year.”

To learn more, visit the VIA 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 sjay@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

For 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 2018 Mid-Year Supplements at http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2018_Mid_Year_Supplement_Blog.pdf?utm_source=DownloadPDF&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2018Supp.

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.

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C.H. Briggs Improves Margins With SPA

Don Schalk, President & COO of C.H. Briggs has this to say about his company's use of SPA's analytics tools for manufactures and distributors:

"Our principal business is specialty building products. Our principal vendors are DuPont for premium surfacing products; Knape & Vogt, Amerock and 3M for hardware products and production supplies; and Panolam, Atlantic Veneer, and Roseburg for board and panel products. With the implementation of SPA’s pricing model, we achieved a 1.5% improvement in gross margin in the first year. This improvement had an annual positive impact of $600K to our bottom line. The level of customer pushback or resistance to pricing changes has been minimal. During the execution of the pricing model, SPA invested time in training our sales force in the principles of the model and included them as participants in the rollout. This helped dramatically to secure their buy-in to the change. SPA has helped us maintain a strong ROI for the shareholder in a shrinking market. They have given us a comprehensive pricing program which includes not only a process but also a strategy, which we never had before working with them. We highly recommend SPA to other distributors looking to maintain solid profitability in a difficult economic environment."

To learn more, visit the SPA 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 sjay@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

For 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 2018 Mid-Year Supplements at http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2018_Mid_Year_Supplement_Blog.pdf?utm_source=DownloadPDF&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2018Supp.

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.

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Three Ways Tour de Force Uses Tour de Force

Tour de Force provides B2B solutions and tools for sales organizations. Their software solutions were created with sales teams in mind, keeping a heavy focus on SFA (sales force automation). Tour de Force not only helps salespeople at other businesses do their job more efficiently and more effectively, but it's also used within Tour de Force! Everyone in the company, from Accounting to Support, utilizes Tour de Force on a daily basis.

Here are just 3 ways Tour de Force uses Tour de Force:

1. The Front Lines: Sales
We often find ourselves in the same boat with sales staff from our clients – which is why we built the fully mobile Tour de Force Web interface for actionable data that goes where you go. Our sales team can access Leads, Opportunities, and Reports no matter where they are. If you’ve ever seen us at a tradeshow, you’ve probably seen us whip out a tablet to quickly add contact information into our system. Having that option makes it easier for us to follow up on that conversation.

2. The Anchors: Customer Support
With Tour de Force, our customer support team is easily able to pull up customer information while on the phone or onsite and can track down any open support tickets. Our system provides visibility into important information such as upsell opportunities or at-risk customers. Whether it’s increasing your sales or satisfying customers, you're covered.

3. The Nurturers: Marketing
Because Tour de Force was built with detail-oriented people in mind, we’re able to apply endless filters in order to narrow down the perfect email list to use. Any action those contacts take is reflected on their record in Tour de Force, simplifying the follow up process. We also enjoy managing our events and tradeshows in the system and can easily track all items associated with that event such as appointments, registration lists, and expenses.

Visit the Tour de Force Newsroom to learn more about they can do for your business.

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 sjay@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

For 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 2018 Mid-Year Supplements at http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2018_Mid_Year_Supplement_Blog.pdf?utm_source=DownloadPDF&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2018Supp.

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.

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Robertson Supply Gains Sales Insights With SMP

Robertson Supply is headquartered in Nampa, Idaho, and has nine locations throughout Idaho and Oregon. Robertson Supply is a 60-year old, family-owned plumbing and industrial supplier, with a business base that includes residential and commercial plumbing sales, domestic and industrial pump supplies, agricultural supplies, HVAC and appliances.

Mark Michels, Vice President of Operations and Byron Morgan, Vice President of Sales, shared that SMP enables them to quickly pivot based on market conditions, and make sound decisions about where to focus their time and energy to ensure organic growth across the company. And it’s paying dividends – the company is on track, targeting another year of double-digit growth.

Before SMP, Robertson had access to key information via their ERP but running queries for the salesforce was time-consuming, and could not always be completed in appropriate time to act upon the data discovered as a part of the query. Both Mark and Byron note that this is one of the things that made SMP so attractive to their team from the getgo. In the past, the two conceded, some opportunities simply passed them by because they could not identify the opportunity or quickly take action to capitalize on it. “We could not ID market shifts quickly – in the past it might take 8 months to a year for us to spot the trends – for specific customers or a product segment altogether,” Byron offered. “Now we can drill down and ID those patterns much more quickly and pinpoint all the way down to the geographical area and to the specific customer accounts and see exactly what was going on.”

They both point out that while SMP has helped them identify holes and sales opportunities throughout the business, it really also helps identify areas where they’re winning as well, and they use that as motivators for their team – congratulating sales teams, managers and sales reps for jobs well done. This is something in sales that often gets overlooked, but celebrating wins together can really play a large role in getting everyone engaged and taking ownership.

Sales Management Plus is a CRM and business intelligence application designed for wholesale distributors. SMP is a cloud-based application that integrates with an ERP application to leverage important information such as accounts, contacts, and historical transaction data. Read more at the Go SMP 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 sjay@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

For 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 2018 Mid-Year Supplements at http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2018_Mid_Year_Supplement_Blog.pdf?utm_source=DownloadPDF&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2018Supp.

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.

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