While their current inventory and accounting software suffered in terms of both data inaccuracy and reliability, Harper Chambers Lumber Company remained skeptical of other systems.
“On our old CSD system, I ran a ton of reporting outside the system to ensure my numbers were correct. I didn’t trust my own reports,” says Steve Chamber, President.
“I was doing a lot of due diligence. It became my mission to find someone who didn’t like DMSi. I still can’t find them.”
Chamber began researching DMSi, and in 2005, citing a need for a secure, reliable business accounting system, Harper Chambers implemented Agility. “When we first got on Agility, I thought the system was wrong,” Chambers said. “Now I’m like, ‘what did I do wrong?’ because I know the system is right.”
Chambers said the company now has the advantage of speed. “I can instantly put my fingers on the numbers that are critical to run my business, so I can react if the numbers aren’t going the way I want.”
Inventory problems, according to Chambers, were now also a thing of the past. Agility’s functionality has changed the company’s business processes because inventory is now accurate. “It used to be that we took inventory once a year. I realized we were trying to get this thing right once a year, and I would rather have an inventory number that is 95% right every day than 100% once a year. With Agility, we began cycle counting every day. Now it’s just standard.”
Secure Hosted Format
Harper Chambers runs Agility in a secure hosted format, or Software as a Service (SaaS). This allows the company to eliminate servers and access the software through the internet. Not only does this lower technology costs, but it has an inherent disaster recovery advantage. “Running Agility in the hosted environment is the best money I’ve spent,” Chambers said. “If our building burnt down, I would take my laptop, go somewhere else, get on Agility and be up and running.”