Home Hardware Reduces Excess Inventory With Blue Ridge

Home Hardware is a co-op wholesaler owned by more than 1,000 independent business operators with three distribution centers across Canada. The company works with more than 2,600 suppliers and services its four banners, Home Hardware, Home Hardware Building Centers, Home Building Centers, and Home Furniture. As the co-op business expanded, it began to outgrow its legacy fulfillment solution. Keeping the inventory for each of these brands was becoming costly and cumbersome, creating inefficiencies in both time and stock levels.

After an extensive review, Home Hardware selected Blue Ridge. By implementing Blue Ridge's cloud-based solution, the company has seen a 10% reduction in excess inventory and safety stock while increasing service levels to stores by 2.5%.  In addition, IT costs have been lowered and reporting has become faster and easier, with individual store owners now having the ability to hone-in on data pertaining to inventory at any time from any location.

To read about the Home Hardware-Blue Ridge implementation, and view additional case studies, customer testimonials, and white papers, visit the Blue Ridge Newsroom.

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Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and the Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group, 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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Belden Brick Utilizes Infor LN For Data Visibility

Founded in 1885, the Belden Brick Company manufactures approximately 225 million bricks annually for residential and commercial use. Belden operates seven plants in Ohio and the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions of the US. It also operates 160 wells producing natural gas used in the brick manufacturing process. When Belden acquired Redland Brick Company, the company chose to implement the open-platform Infor LN on Microsoft® Windows® and SQL Server®. In just over a year, the implementation was completed at Redland, and at the Belden operations six months later.

The implementation provided an opportunity to simplify the master data across the combined Belden and Redland businesses and achieve a common standard—something that Infor’s migration toolkit could manage easily. Since implementation, the company has seen important benefits in the system’s user interface alone. The filtering functionality of Infor LN is also key. Users such as production managers and salespeople can create their own filters for each screen, so they can focus on the data that is important to them. If they want to focus on a certain size, color, or shape of brick, they can do that as they look down through their inventory. Production managers also appreciate having only one transaction screen for analyzing the quantity of scrap produced on a production run and why it occurred.

The company has also implemented the Service module of Infor LN as an internal tool to manage the maintenance of the company’s trucks, bulldozers, service vehicles, kilns, and other assets. They also plan to use the system’s functionality to monitor what its gas wells are producing, and then manage the payment of royalties to those from whom Belden has acquired mineral rights.

To read more about the Belden implementation, and learn more about the products and services Infor provides to industrial manufacturers, visit the Infor newsroom.

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Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and the Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group, 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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SIGMA Corporation Improves Supply Chain Planning With Absolute Value

SIGMA Corporation, an importer of specialized water products and accessories, recently implemented the SaaS or Cloud version of Absolute Value, enhancing the productivity and inventory management of their Sage MAS 200 ERP solution. Absolute Value has extensive roots in the distribution software industry, with specific strength in Forecasting and Replenishment. With an implementation timeline of less than 30 days, SIGMA rolled out the Absolute Value software solution to help streamline their Supply Chain forecasting and replenishment process.

SIGMA, based in New Jersey, has been in business since 1985. The company's core products are Waterworks pipe fittings and accessories. SIGMA pioneered production of these pipe fittings in China starting in 1985, and since then has steadily grown to be the second largest AWWA pipe fittings supplier in the USA. Because SIGMA imports much of their product from China, they are presented with a supply chain planning challenge every year related to the Chinese New Year when many factories close for the holiday. However, with less than two hours of careful planning in Absolute Value, SIGMA is able to avoid their normal product availability issues during that time.

Mitchell Rona, the VP of Operations for SIGMA, deems Absolute Value an "excellent forecasting and inventory tool. It is yet another way that SIGMA demonstrates its commitment to efficiency, strategic planning, and excellent customer service.”

To read more about the SIGMA implementation, as well as additional white papers and case studies, visit the Absolute Value 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 2015-2016 Mid-Year Supplements. 

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and the Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group, 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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Abatement Technologies Experiences Growth With Epicor

Abatement Technologies, Inc. is a designer and manufacturer of air abatement products that remove harmful particulates, bioaerosols and volatile organic compounds. Since its founding in 1985, more than 10,000 environmental abatement and HVAC contractors, commercial building owners, facility managers, and hospital infection control specialists have selected Abatement products to “clean the air” in millions of buildings.

In the past few years, the company has expanded its business to support the manufacture and distribution of a wide range of product consumables and accessories. As a result, the company's product line has grown substantially-from more than 300 SKUs to a few thousand today, and its supplier base has grown accordingly; today Abatement collaborates with more than 500 suppliers.

System Challenges:
•Needed strong manufacturing ERP capabilities to support its high volume make-to-order/ engineer-to-order production environment
•Desired real-time data access to improve efficiency and collaboration and overall responsiveness
•Needed support for financial management and reporting across its multi-plant operations

Solution:
•Epicor® ERP

Epicor Benefits:
•Support for financial management, engineer-to-order manufacturing and distribution operations
•Improved multi-plant coordination and collaboration
•Support for lean manufacturing strategies
•New robust easy-to-use reporting capabilities

To read more about the Abatement Technologies implementation, as well as additional white papers and case studies, visit the Epicor 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 2015 Mid-Year Supplements. 

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and the Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group, 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.

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard.

Distributor STM Bags Selects NetSuite OneWorld For Business Operations

STM Bags, a global designer and distributor of laptop bags, tablet and phone cases, has announced that NetSuite OneWorld has been implemented to run its entire business operations. NetSuite OneWorld is managing core processes including financial consolidation, customer relationship management (CRM), demand and supply planning, inventory management, order management, document management, warehouse management, invoicing and payroll. NetSuite OneWorld also provides STM Bags with multi-subsidiary, multi-country taxation compliance and multi-currency support (AUD, USD, NZD, SGD, HKD and CNY).

Founded in Sydney in 1999, STM Bags is run as two separate entities for taxation and reporting purposes with one headquartered in California responsible for the U.S., Canada, Central and South America and the other headquartered in Sydney responsible for all other global regions, including its two offices in the U.K. and India. The company also utilizes 10 third-party warehouses, three in Australia, three in Asia, three in the U.S. and one in the U.K., from where it manages its distribution activities.

STM Bags undertook an exhaustive search of solutions to replace their outdated systems but quickly realized that NetSuite OneWorld was the best solution that could accommodate all of its global and cross entity requirements, as well as providing anywhere and anytime access for its employees.

As a result of the implementation, STM Bags has experienced the following benefits:
•Real-time analytics and business intelligence
•Easy global subsidiary management
•Superior order and inventory management
•Sophisticated warehouse management
•Single view of the customer
•Global tax compliance
•Eliminated significant IT cost and complexity

To read more about the STM Bags implementation, as well as additional white papers and case studies, visit the NetSuite 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 2015 Mid-Year Supplements. 

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and the Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group, 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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Jotron AS Selects IFS Applications 9 for Global Operations

Norwegian manufacturing firm Jotron AS has recently announced that it will implement IFS Applications™ 9 to standardize and streamline processes across five regions for over 200 users. IFS™ is a globally recognized leader in developing and delivering enterprise software for enterprise resource planning (ERP), enterprise asset management (EAM) and enterprise service management (ESM).

Jotron AS is Norway’s leading manufacturer of professional communication systems for land, sea and air safety, with offices in Norway, the US, the UK, Singapore and Lithuania, and manufacturing facilities located in Norway and Lithuania. Following a thorough evaluation, the company decided to implement IFS Applications 9 to unify key processes within the company, creating a more effective and transparent supply chain and building a closer connection to the customers. This will be achieved by using the powerful High-tech Manufacturing, Finance and Supply Chain modules within IFS Applications.

Jotron AS will be using several of the new IFS Applications 9 features, including a preconfigured IFS Lobby for manufacturing, IFS Streams for receiving automated updates from the system and Embedded CRM to connect the CRM capabilities seamlessly to the ERP system, improving sales process effectiveness.

To read more, visit the IFS 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 2015 Mid-Year Supplements. 

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and the Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group, 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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VAI Named To Software Magazine’s Software 500 List

VAI, an independent mid-market ERP software provider, recently announced its inclusion in Software Magazine’s Software 500 ranking of the world’s largest software and service providers. VAI was recognized for product excellence and customer adoption on the annual list of the top high-growth companies for the third straight year. VAI’s S2K ERP software facilitates customer communication, inventory accuracy, and operational efficiency for mid-market companies. “We are thrilled to once again be recognized by Software Magazine for our continued commitment to advancing the ERP market,” said Bob Vormittag, CEO of VAI. “At VAI, we strive to deliver the best customized analytic, mobile, and cloud capabilities to help our mid-market customers succeed and grow their businesses."

Now in its 33rd year, the Software 500 is a revenue-based ranking of the world’s largest software and services suppliers, targeting medium to large enterprises, their IT professionals, software developers, and business managers involved in software and services purchasing. The ranking is based on total worldwide software and services revenue from the 2014 fiscal year. This includes revenue from software licenses, maintenance and support, training, software-related services, and consulting.

VAI is headquartered in Ronkonkoma, NY with branch offices in Florida, Illinois and California. To read more, and learn about their mid-market ERP solutions, visit the VAI 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 2015 Mid-Year Supplements. 

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and the Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group, 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.

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard.