DMSi would like to recognize its customers that made the 2015 ProSales 100. This industry list names the top 100 professional-oriented lumberyards and specialty dealers in America. Companies are ranked by their dollar value of sales to the pro builder market, based on information submitted in the 2014 ProSales 100 survey. Congratulations on your success!
#11 SRS Distribution Inc.
SRS Distribution Inc. is an industry-leading family of independent roofing supply distributors. They have proven themselves to be one of the nation’s fastest growing building supply companies. They have 130 locations and 1,600 employees across the United States. SRS Distribution did $1.2 billion in total sales during 2014, a 28% increase over the previous year.
#12 Roofing Supply Group
Roofing Supply Group has been catering to roofing contractors for over 30 years. They carry residential roofing products, specialty tile, decorative stone and decking products. They have 75 locations and 1,188 employees. Roofing Supply Group did $1.1 billion in total sales during 2014, a 12% increase over the previous year.
#29 Erie Materials Inc.
Erie Materials has been delivering high quality building products for over three decades. They have grown into one of the largest distributors in upstate New York and northeast Pennsylvania. They have ten locations and 340 employees. Erie Materials did $181.7 million in total sales during 2014.
#40 Professional Builder Supply
Professional Builder Supply focuses on providing local, high-quality building materials to contractors throughout North Carolina. They have six locations and 176 employees. Professional Builder Supply did $134 million in total sales during 2014, a 12% increase over the previous year.
#47 Builders Supply Company
Builders Supply Company serves residential and commercial builders in Omaha, Nebraska. Offerings include lumber, roofing, siding, drywall, windows, doors, trusses and design services. Their 36-acre campus includes the largest lumberyard in the Midwest. Founded in 1951, the company has one location and 240 employees. Builders Supply Company did $115.0 million in total sales in 2014, a 10% increase over the previous year.
#54 McCray Lumber and Millwork
McCray Lumber and Millwork carries a wide variety of building supplies for professional contractors, from decking materials and siding to windows and trim. Family-owned and operated since 1910, the company has six locations in the Kansas City area and 210 employees. McCray Lumber and Millwork did $105 million in total sales during 2014, a 22% increase over the previous year.
#76 Cassity Jones, Inc.
Cassity Jones, Inc. is a leading dealer to pro builders in Northeast Texas. The company’s offerings include lumber and building materials, millwork, flooring and equipment rentals. Family-founded, owned and operated since 1950, Cassity Jones has 20 locations and 156 employees. They did $53.7 million in total sales during 2014, a 10% increase over the previous year.
#80 Christensen Lumber Inc.
Christensen Lumber Inc. provides professional contractors with building materials, millwork and cabinets. Founded in 1923, the Nebraska-based company has become a major force in the Omaha building market. Christensen Lumber has two locations and 198 employees. They did $51.0 million in total sales during 2014, a 16% increase over the previous year.
#86 Texas Plywood and Lumber
Texas Plywood and Lumber has been supplying professional builders with doors and millwork for over 50 years. They continue to grow and innovate their business with technological advances in customer self-service. Texas Plywood and Lumber has one location in Grand Prairie, TX and 141 employees. They did $42.06 million in total sales during 2014, a 20% increase over the previous year.
#96 Harbin Lumber
Harbin Lumber serves professional contractors throughout Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. They offer an enormous catalog of interior and exterior building products, manufacture trusses and EWP, and offer installed services. Founded in 1917, the company is in its fourth generation of family ownership. Harbin Lumber has five locations with 129 employees. They did $34.2 million in total sales during 2014, a 23% increase over the previous year.
DMSi provides an end-to-end software system for hardwood lumber companies. Our Agility ERP brings accounting, sales, purchasing, and operations into one system. This saves our customers a great deal of time, reduces costs, and improves accuracy. We want to bring every part of our customers’ operations into a unified system, from the warehouse to the shop floor to delivery to their customers. This is why mobile tools are a priority for us in 2018.
Mobile apps are more than a trendy gimmick. They provide our customers with real competitive advantages by eliminating the “in between” steps to many processes, saving time and improving order fulfillment. Just as Accounting and Purchasing no longer have to email spreadsheets back and forth, warehouse and shop staff no longer have to call admins or fill out paperwork every time they need information or want to make a change.
For example, our Agility | Mobile Warehouse Tools app lets staff members look up the specific location of tagged bundles. If the bundle needs to be split or moved, staff members can update the record directly in the app, and the change is immediately visible in Agility. Everything can be done in the moment from a mobile phone or tablet. Employees no longer spend time walking back and forth to the computer or printer. It also eliminates the risk of their forgetting to update records later. This is a huge asset in daily operations, and also when performing physical inventory and cycle counts.
In addition to managing inventory, Agility | Mobile Warehouse Tools streamlines the remanufacturing process. As soon as an item comes off the line, staff members mark the work order complete with a few taps on their phone or tablet. It’s all done on the fly from the shop floor, and records are updated instantly. There’s no need to use a stack of printed forms or enter the changes later at a computer. It saves time and paper, so products get to customers faster.
Mobile apps not only improve internal processes, they improve service quality and customer satisfaction. For instance, our Agility | Mobile Sales app provides real-time account and product information. Outside reps can answer customer questions, check available stock, and even create new orders while on the road. Our Agility | Mobile P.O.D. app not only captures proof of delivery signatures, it provides customers with real-time updates on the status of their order and gives them access to delivery-site photos. Customers know what’s happening with their orders without needing to call their sales rep.
In the coming year, we will be expanding the functionality of all these apps, giving customers even more opportunities to centralize their business operations.
This piece originally appeared in the January 2018 issue of National Hardwood Magazine.
Imagine you’re requesting bids for a new warehouse. When contractors ask about the requirements, you tell them:
“Not too big (but not too small either). And we need some loading docks.”
You’d never be so vague about such a huge capital investment. Yet, when it comes to selecting a new lumberyard inventory software system, many companies request the equivalent.
Without clearly explaining business priorities, a lumberyard or millwork shop risks acquiring software that falls short. To make a wise inventory and accounting software investment, a company should discern whether a vendor can deliver the things that matter most. It is possible!
“The software industry isn’t like the car industry. There aren’t standard functions that come with every platform.”
Unlike in the car industry, there aren’t required features standard to every software platform. When businesses are buying software, they assume all the functions in their current platform are “industry standard” and will be included in every other platform. They end up with software that has things they want, but discover it’s missing things they need. Vendors respond to the information you provide and demo the features they think you care most about. If you don’t clearly explain priorities, you’ll only have a partial understanding of what each platform does.
Some businesses choose new software by using a formal Request For Proposal (RFP). This means making a list of every required, desired, and nice-to-have feature, assigning points for each answer, and identifying the best software via a score. An RFP answers a messy, complicated problem with a tidy, reassuring grid.
While the general philosophy behind RFPs is that the right decision will reveal itself, there are limitations.
First, RFPs prioritize software features over business needs. Because they are essentially scorecards, RFPs ask questions with simple, yes/no answers (eg. “does the system have X feature”). Open-ended questions aren’t usually included. So deeper discussions such as “how can this system help us cut costs?” aren’t happening.
Second, more information isn’t necessarily better. The pressure to include every possible criterion means scorecards quickly balloon into hundreds of line items. Processing that volume of information is overwhelming. RFPs risk turning the selection process into a beauty contest. In other words, companies care more about a vendor’s answers than their performance. It’s more advantageous for a vendor to say they can fax forms than to explain they actually have a better solution altogether.
What’s a business to do? How can you be thorough without missing the forest through the trees? We suggest a simple twist on the RFP: Swap the features list for a list of must-have inventory and accounting business objectives.
Think about it. Your business objectives drive every other major investment. When you build a new warehouse, open a new location, or add a new product line, you choose to do so because they help increase revenue, improve customer loyalty, grow market-share, etc. It is the same with the business and accounting software selection process.
To create a business-oriented framework for choosing software, go through the following three questions and write down your answers.
Producing the answers may take time and discussion with others in your business. Here are two examples:
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Improve profitability
BUSINESS STRATEGY: Identify and repair hidden costs, inefficiency, and waste in our business
IMPROVEMENT GOALS
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Grow market-share
BUSINESS STRATEGY: Achieve more market share by becoming the most reliable, dependable dealer in our market.
IMPROVEMENT GOALS:
Going through this exercise changes the mindset of everyone in your company. Instead of giving a feature checklist, vendors will talk about your specific business goals and the different ways each platform might help you achieve them. Taking steps to keep your business objectives at the center of the decision means you’ll have better conversations with vendors, more productive demos, and better odds of choosing an ERP system that helps you achieve your goals.
Pricing out new software seems straightforward, but the true cost of ownership isn’t always obvious. There are costs around implementing a new ERP system that may not be in your original contract, but buyer beware: You may end up paying for them anyway.
To avoid getting taken unaware, go through the following list with potential vendors to find out how they handle each of these areas.
HARDWARE
Hardware: Do your existing computers support new software or will you need to upgrade? This includes specialty hardware like new credit card readers, GPS trackers, and mobile devices.
Data Storage: Vendors usually charge a monthly fee for hosting customer data. If you plan on using your own server, factor in operational costs like electricity, anti-virus software, disaster recovery plans, and employee hours.
Data Cleanup: Someone needs to update all your item and customer records to fit the new system. Whether a vendor, consultant, or employee does the work, budget time and money for data cleanup.
SOFTWARE
Software Licenses: Enterprise software has two pricing models. A perpetual license where you pay a one-time lump-sum and then “own” that version of the software. There are typically additional fees to access new features and customer support. A subscription license is where you pay a monthly fee to access the most current software version. New features and customer support are typically included in the monthly fee.
Customizations: If you need a feature, report, or interface that’s not available in the core platform, you may need the vendor or a contractor to develop it. Have vendors explain how they handle and bill for customizations to their platform.
Implementation Help: If you hit a snag during implementation, you may need extra help from your vendor to work through it. Ask about the pricing policy for additional training or assistance, just in case.
Ongoing Support: Ask about the limits on the support contract. Does it cost extra to speak with a human being? If the contract includes 5 phone calls a month, how much for the 6th?
STAFF CONSIDERATIONS
User Licenses: Most subscription software is priced in one of two ways: by named users or by concurrent user licenses. Named users mean you pay a fee for every individual user. By contrast, if you pay for 20 concurrent user licenses, up to 20 employees can use the system at once.
Staff Costs: When implementing a new ERP, you’ll likely need a dedicated system manager to focus on optimizing your investment. Will you reallocate or expand staffing to support the new system?
User Training: This includes vendor and contractor fees for the initial implementation as well as ongoing training costs. If you’ll be wanting in-depth training at workshops and user conferences, include registration and travel expenses.
Get clarity from vendors about which services are included in your contract and which are billable. Determine if there are any areas where they recommend hiring outside contractors.
Lost Productivity: Businesses experience a temporary decline in productivity when they change software. Not only does implementation and training cut into people’s time, but every department also runs slower as the staff adjusts to the new system. Estimate productivity costs by talking to industry peers about their own implementations.
FUTURE PLANNING
Growth: If you have plans to hire more people, open new locations, or offer new services, you should factor in costs for additional user licenses, hardware, training, support, and products. Ask vendors about the process and fees for setting up new branches and users. If your strategic roadmap includes new technology tools, such as a new e-commerce site or mobile apps, factor in those costs as well. Find out if you’re locked into using each vendor’s solutions or if you’ll have the option to build your own.
Yearly Price Increases: Just like everything else, costs go up. Most vendors can’t guarantee pricing for the next 5 years. But you can forecast the trend by looking at the past 5.
Choosing a new ERP system is intense. It’s easy to develop tunnel vision and make a decision based on the number quoted in a contract. Remember to look at the entire picture so whatever your decision, you truly know what you are buying.
