DMSi was founded in 1976 by a small group of tech enthusiasts. Their first customer hired them to develop a new type of software application: an inventory management system. For the next few years, DMSi built custom inventory systems for a range of businesses.
Then a lost opportunity put the young company’s future into question. Owners Cal German and Jim Hassenstab made a decision that changed everything: DMSi would focus exclusively on the building materials industry.
OMAHA, NEBRASKA, August 18, 2023 – DMSi, a leader in software for the building materials industry, announces the North American launch of Frameworks, an LBM point of sale/ERP system that runs completely on the web.
Frameworks is an end-to-end system, handling retail POS, contractor sales, purchasing, inventory control, accounting, and reporting. Users access the program through a web browser such as Chrome or Microsoft Edge; no additional software is required. A mobile-friendly design means Frameworks can be used from a smartphone or tablet as easily as from a desktop computer. Open APIs and EDI capabilities give dealers the flexibility to integrate Frameworks with their preferred vendors and third-party applications.
Frameworks is specifically designed for the products, processes, and needs of LBM businesses:
Frameworks is the latest addition to DMSi’s portfolio of industry-specific solutions. Originally developed by Sterland Computing, Frameworks is the dominant LBM software in Australia and New Zealand. After acquiring Sterland in 2019, DMSi spent three years adapting Frameworks for the US market, including updating units of measurement, tax rules, and terminology.
“DMSi’s strategy is being the best software partner for building materials businesses. We are focused on industry-specific solutions for the entire building materials supply chain, from distribution through retail,” said Josh Weiss, President of DMSi. “Frameworks is a powerful, proven solution that helps LBM dealers thrive and scale their businesses. We are excited to bring this offering to North America.”
Remanufacturing is a large aspect of California Cascade’s business in their 20+ acre facility in Sacramento. Their state-of-the-art plant is fully equipped with everything needed to complete orders including re-sawing, planing, treating, moulding and kiln drying. As they grew and modernized, California Cascade needed a software system with industry-specific features to take their remanufacturing procedures to the next level and, in 2006, they began investigating their options.
“We looked at three or four lumber-specific inventory management software programs,” Semons explained. “For us, we do a lot of remanufacturing work, and Agility had the best functionality.”
The specific functionality of Agility, with the remanufacturing options, allows California Cascade to manage value added processes with ease. Agility has the resources to track each stage of the remanufacturing process, including expected completion dates and costs.
A common issue in remanufacturing is inventory control. Agility solves this challenge by committing materials used in the process so that it is no longer available for sale, resulting in inventory that is true and up to date in real-time.
California Cascade has also seen productivity increase from the remanufacturing processes, especially because information is available in real-time. Detailed work orders contain an array of valuable customer and product information, as well as concise communication to production staff.
“We do a lot of remanufacturing, so we can watch material go through and there’s not a lot of hang ups,” Semons said. “We don’t have to wait for things to update at the end of the day to see what we have done. We know instantly what we must do to keep moving forward. “
According to Semons, running a more efficient operation has ultimately meant better customer service.
If we have customers calling for something,” said Semons, “we can look and instantly see if we have it. That’s been very helpful from a customer service aspect.”
Negotiating prices en route to supply houses, retailers, lumber yards, fencers and big box home centers is business as usual for Capital Forest Products during their busy season.
With industry factors like daily product pricing updates and new demands from customers, the 40+ year-old distributor began looking for ways to integrate and simplify processes. To start, their old systems were outdated. Old character-based screens were causing some customers to be placed on hold while salespeople entered orders. Duplicate paperwork and note transcription were causing trouble as the office got busier. Instead of just focusing on their customers, employees had to make frequent trips to the fax machine to send, receive and check status.
Moore changed to DMSi’s Agility software in the fall of 2000, motivated by a desire to improve productivity and handle their expanding customer base. The switch was the fourth in the company’s history, but the first to offer industry-specific advantages.
“Handling sales orders 30% faster and more accurately has improved our chances of gaining more business,” said Moore. “We’re completing sales orders with less than half the number of screens, and that helps us handle growing transaction volume without adding support people.”
On direct shipments, Capital Forest Products can enter an order, create a purchase order, bill a customer, and pay the mill in one step. A multidimensional data warehouse provides a view of sales activity from multiple angles, revealing a wealth of information about current and historical customers, sales agents, and product performance.
Moore is quick to point out other advantages of Agility. Unique features convert quickly between every conceivable unit of measure with one click. Orders can be faxed or emailed from the desk, and Agility’s freight dispatch feature simplifies transportation arrangements and allocates costs based on weight, loads, or footage, eliminating hand calculations.
For Moore, complete integration means 99% accuracy on the general ledger and fewer struggles to balance it.
“I’ve seen software packages come and go,” said Moore. “The reason we switched to DMSi Agility is because they’re on the front end of technology, helping us address all the needs of our business and, more importantly, our customers. Anything the future holds for DMSi, we want to be a part of.”
To better serve their customers, high-performance countertop and custom cabinet maker Web-Don needed industry-specific business management and accounting software. In 2008, they switched to Agility, and they never looked back.
“Being a laminate and postform distributor, we needed to use the cut process and rebate tables that had become available in Agility,” said Luke Teague, Web-Don’s Operations Manager. “We can’t imagine finding another system with more in-depth laminate features.”
The cut processing features of Agility ERP were essential to Web-Don as a laminate distributor.
“Agility prevents useless cuts or mistakes by the warehouse, which saves us money by not wasting inventory,” said Teague. “When you cut product ahead of time using the system’s cut sheets, the material is ready to pick at the appropriate time with no waiting around.”
Another feature Teague said is essential is the rebate reporting. “We’re able to electronically process vendor rebate reports at month end and see our credits in the same month. When this was manual, we’d have employees in sales/pricing and accounts payable ready to leave!”
One of the most impactful changes for Web-Don is Agility’s reporting features. Throughout the company’s multiple locations, the software provides fast access to inventory availability.
“Going to a reman process versus our old bill of material process has definitely helped out with inventory control on our postform slabs,” said Teague. “We are more comfortable with the inventory counting options of Agility than with the legacy system. It’s easier to count on the fly if we notice a problem.”
Web-Don hosts Agility, which means they only need internet to access the software. “Replacing aging, massive servers every four to six years is extremely expensive, and hard to budget for,” said Teague. “With the hosted environment, our tech manager has much more time to focus on other things besides updating. When you consider equipment and annual maintenance plans, the cost is easily justified.”
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.”
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.”
As a small, family-owned business, Ronald Kirsch, owner of Kirsch Millwork, understands that his customers expect his company to be able to give more than their competitors. In 2003, the company, founded in 1957, decided to outsource certain technologies to better provide one-step distribution companies and builders with quality products.
“I looked at the time lost due to slow performance, server and back-up maintenance. I realized that for Kirsch Builders Supply to remain focused on customers, we needed to outsource time-consuming activities centering around our network.”
Kirsch tackled the problem head-on by upgrading to Agility in the hosting environment. There, technical configuration experts at a remote data center host the application and hardware as part of a monthly service agreement. Loading new releases of software, performing back-ups and system maintenance are no longer the company’s responsibility. Instead, he and his employees now focus on handling the day-to-day transactions of their growing customer base.
“When you’re talking about business management, it’s critical to find partners in the building products industry who are always developing the next generation of technology,” Kirsch said. “Outsourcing software and system maintenance gives us an easier, more efficient way to do business.”
The decision came after months of careful analysis. The perceived benefits took mere seconds – as long as it takes work orders to complete now from their previous time of two minutes.
Using Agility protects Kirsch Millwork from obsolete technology and reduces capital investments. The company now takes advantage of a high-performance server architecture. Regular maintenance and software updates are performed by DMSi, relieving Kirsch from all responsibility.
Employees can now also work remotely, a necessity in a post-Covid world. The sales team can walk into a customer’s office, go online, and complete a sale over the internet, saving paperwork, eliminating task redundancy, and speeding up delivery. For Kirsch, arming dedicated employees with the right business tools is a win for everyone.
“As an owner, I’m helping my employees. But they’re also making my company succeed by working more efficiently, which is helpful to my customers.”
Kirsch and his employees concentrate every day on delivering the right products to their distributor and builder customers. This time, their quest for improving customer experiences began by looking at their own daily processes. “Agility helps run our business. It’s important because we can’t do it alone and still compete in the marketplace.” said Kirsch.
U.S. Lumber is a privately held distributor of specialty building materials serving much of North America. The company serves customers in 15,000 local lumber yards, building supply dealers, and home improvement retailers who, in turn, serve the professional remodelers, home builders, general contractors, and DIY’ers in their local communities.
Agility’s tag/tally inventory functionality has played a strong role in increasing profitability for U.S. Lumber. Agility’s lumber architecture allows for a single item to have multiple branches, yard locations, lots, units/tags, and lengths. Every window, every logic component, and every application in the system was built from the ground up with fundamental lumber inventory architecture. By adding mobile barcode scanning capabilities to Agility, U.S. Lumber improved warehouse efficiency, time savings, and order accuracy.
“Through mobile scanning, our orders and inventory are always accurate. We eliminated the problems related to human error and the paper shuffle, saving a whole person in dispatch.”
Warehouse personnel scan or key the correct product, location, and quantity at the time they are physically picking for full units and custom tallies. When picking is done, delivery tickets can be immediately printed without waiting for the office staff to update orders.
Through BInformed, Agility’s powerful business intelligence application and dashboard, U.S. Lumber’s executives can pinpoint answers to business performance questions. They can instantly detect business trends and strategically respond to the ever-changing events occurring in distribution from anywhere in the world.
“Agility is mission critical. It runs everything from sales order entry through delivery and back-office invoicing and accounting — every facet of our business, really.” —Matt Vordermark, VP of Operations, Professional Builder Supply
Professional Builders Supply, headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina, wanted to open a second location. Because the new location would open in Wilmington in a very short period, the building material supply company needed it to be operational quickly.
Agility was critical to opening the new location. The cloud-based platform is highly scalable and only requires an Internet connection. “There was no additional hardware to purchase, and the software made it easy to add another branch,” said Steve Lochbaum, Vice President of Finance & Administration.
“Within several hours, under the guidance of DMSi implementation experts, the new branch was entering orders and doing business. Not sure if any other system, especially one run in-house, could have handled this.”
Professional Builders Supply employees at both locations access Agility from anywhere.
“It is nice because even if we lost power at the store, we could continue to function,” said Matt Vordermark, Vice President of Operations. “Even if we couldn’t print a delivery ticket because power to the printer was off, we could plug-in a hand-held printer and get a pre-printed laser delivery ticket.”
Because it is hosted in the cloud, server maintenance, backups, and software updates are handled by DMSi.
“In our business, I’m the IT department” Lochbaum said. “With the support I have from DMSi, I see no strategic reason to bring anyone else on to help with Agility.”
Agility supports Professional Builders Supply’s fundamental focus on customer service in everyday situations. “It’s fast and easy to find and enter information,” Vordermark said. “The orders are correct, and we have a lot of flexibility to get a customer in and out of our yard quickly.”
Agility’s end-to-end functionality for special order items is also a significant feature for Professional Builder Supply. “As long as you take advantage of how Agility works, you are going to know where everything is at any given time,” Vordermark said. “Our business is 50% non-stock items. Being able to have a screw or hanger or door sweep in the system and then walk right to the spot its located and physically touch it makes our life so much easier. It’s just accurate.”
