When selecting a software provider, many people look for specific functionality such as inventory management or reporting options. However, it is equally important to evaluate the service offerings of a software company. In addition to new technology, you are also choosing a customer support team. An excellent service model can significantly enhance your experience with the software and maximize the return on investment for your business.
Here are some things to look for when evaluating customer service from software partners:
Ensure your software provider offers comprehensive assistance from the start, including implementation. A smooth transition with guidance and attention from the implementation team can help minimize disruptions to your business. At DMSi, for example, our implementation involves assigning a dedicated team of experts in the roofing industry to guide our newest customers through the whole process, to assist with setup, process review, and launch. Following go-live, the implementation team introduces you to the skilled support staff for day-to-day needs.
When evaluating customer services, look for in-house, responsive customer support that is only a call or email away. When a printer goes down or an order needs to be corrected, customers are waiting on you to resolve the issue in a timely manner. In those moments, a quick response from the software provider is a lifesaver to keep your operations moving. When customers reach out to DMSi Support, they are connected with our in-house Customer Support team located at DMSi headquarters in Omaha, NE. Our service and development teams are located in the same building for swift and effective problem-solving.
Consider offerings that go beyond just running your operation, to improving your operation. Great software support isn’t just about supporting the software. It’s about supporting the people who use it. Our DMSi Customer Success team provides tips for using the software to its fullest capabilities and will work with you to develop a training plan for your staff. They are dedicated to providing business process reviews that help improve elements like pricing strategies and delivery scheduling. These benefits are available even years after your go-live. This is critical to getting the most value out of your investment.
Building a community of users is essential to creating connections and sharing best practices. Customer conferences are where users can meet and exchange ideas and tips. Just like networking at a tradeshow or within an industry association, the opportunity to grow and learn at a customer event is invaluable. At DMSi, we work to facilitate connections for our customers in this way as well. Our PartnerConnect conferences are designed to build connections and provide a platform for industry networking and shared learning.
When evaluating a software partner for your company, you are choosing software and a customer support team. A strong partner will go above and beyond to ensure you have the tools you need through implementation and day-to-day operations. This will maximize the return on your technology investment and help you achieve outstanding results.
DMSi provides inventory and accounting software to the building materials industry. Our Agility software manages every core business process, from purchasing and receiving to sales and delivery. We are an independent, family-owned business headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, and have been a proud member of the roofing industry since 1982.
For nearly 50 years, DMSi has been at the forefront of innovation for inventory and order management solutions for the building materials industry. With a recent growth initiative, the company is now poised to provide the same level of innovative solutions to the hardwood industry. DMSi’s Log and Lumber Division was officially created earlier this year, as a way for the company to specifically focus on the inventory, production, and order management needs of the hardwood industry.
“Hardwood companies need software that can address their needs that are unique to this industry,” says Henry German, DMSi co-owner and President of the DMSi Log and Lumber Division. “The Log and Lumber Division’s sole focus is on software solutions equipped to handle these needs effectively.”
While just recently announced, the development of DMSi’s Log and Lumber Division was a strategic initiative nearly four years in the making. Beginning with the rollout of TallyExpress in 2018, and more recently, the acquisitions of eLIMBS and Simply Computing International and partnership with Hardwood Timber and Transportation Services; DMSi has been focused on building a team to provide a fully-integrated, end-to-end suite of inventory, production, and order management solutions to the hardwood industry.
“We were introduced to many companies in the hardwood industry through TallyExpress. They liked what we were doing, and began asking about using our inventory system. But at the time, our Agility ERP wasn’t built for what they needed,” German says. “We knew we’d need to either modify our software to fulfill the needs of the hardwood industry, or acquire an existing product and work to integrate it.”
For each product DMSi has acquired, the first step has been to build out the foundations of a team that can handle their growth plans, then begin the modernization efforts to position DMSi to be the last software provider you will ever need. As DMSi looks to the future, the focus transitions to upgrading their offerings by utilizing leading-edge technologies like artificial intelligence.
For users of these acquired log and lumber software products, there are a plethora of benefits to moving under the DMSi umbrella. For one, they get the advantage of being part of a company with more resources to provide an experienced team committed to quality customer service and continual software enhancements.
Another advantage is users can pivot their business up or down the supply chain without having to obtain a new software system. For instance, if a sawmill is using DMSi’s log inventory software and decides to expand into standing timber contracts, they could keep their current DMSi solution and simply add on the functionality needed for their business.
“With our acquisitions, our goal is to leverage what we’ve already done in the other adjacent industries we serve, and bring that expertise to the more niche hardwood market,” German says.
Acquisitions can be tricky, but DMSi has been focused from day one on ensuring a smooth transition for the customer bases of the acquired companies. In each instance, DMSi has retained talent that understands the products and has relationships with the customer base.
“We’re taking experts that have all had to solve the same problem independently in the past, and bringing them together to solve them as a team, leveraging their years as experienced designers and builders to rewrite the software onto an upgraded and widely supported tech stack.” German says.
DMSi initially expanded its investment into serving the production side of the hardwood industry with the launch of TallyExpress, which was first unveiled to the American market at the 2018 NHLA convention in Toronto. TallyExpress is a visual tally app that uses artificial intelligence to automate end tallies from a mobile phone. It turned the process of tallying lumber, which was once a tedious backbreaking manual process, into a quick, accurate and physically less demanding task through a mobile app, trained in minutes. The user base for TallyExpress was largely made up of companies in the hardwood industry, many of whom were not users of DMSi’s flagship product, Agility ERP.
At the end of 2020, DMSi acquired eLIMBS, an Ohio-based company specializing in inventory management software solutions for hardwood timber, log, and lumber operations. eLIMBS was one of the few software company’s built only for the hardwoods industry, making it a perfect contender for the expansion of DMSi’s Log and Lumber Division.
In 2021, Jason Bolstad joined the team as VP of the Log & Lumber Division. Not only did Jason have experience working for a hardwood lumber distributor (and DMSi customer), but he had 20 of years with DMSi leading development teams. “We were growing so fast we had to bring in additional help; in any team you need everyone to get the job done but we wouldn’t be where we are today if Jason hadn’t joined the team when he did,” German says.
Then in September 2022 came the acquisition of Simply Computing International (SCI). Maine-based SCI has been a leading provider of handheld inventory and voice tally software systems for the hardwood and softwood industries for more than 30 years. Most recently DMSi partnered with Hardwood Timber and Transportation Services to expand their customers’ access to the DMSi Log & Lumber software platforms.
“We were already in the distribution/retail end hardwood industry,” German says. “For us, it’s a natural progression to get into log and lumber. We’re just going up the supply chain. By providing solutions to the hardwood market, we can serve the whole supply chain from timber all the way through to the consumer.”
Looking into the future, DMSi plans to fully integrate their suite of products into one application, with various modules users can choose from depending on their company’s needs.
“Hardwoods are unique operations, which makes it fun to build software for and the people we’ve met in this industry are good, hard working people that are just trying to be as efficient as they can,” German says. “We’re excited to be able to focus on this industry and provide them with the solutions and customer service they deserve.”
As with many industries, a vast percentage of your LBM business is likely shifting online. And it’s happening much more quickly than anyone anticipated. Even if you’ve been offering online service for years, few LBM businesses were prepared for a shift of this magnitude.
Successfully pivoting to ecommerce requires more than putting up an online shopping cart. You must provide the same high-quality service online as you do in your show room. If you aren’t certain whether your site meets that standard, go through the following list and determine whether you need to make changes.
Self-service is the entire point of ecommerce sites and customer portals. They allow customers to find information, transact business, and manage their affairs themselves. Many homeowners would prefer to find and purchase products without going through a service rep. Contractors want to print old invoices and pay their account balance without contacting your accounting department. Your site should offer self-service options for every stage of the sales cycle: from pricing and inventory checks, to submitting quotes and orders, to paying invoices and tracking account history. Note: self-service is not a replacement for traditional customer service. There will always be issues customers can’t resolve themselves and times when they will want to speak to a real person. The goal is to add self-service as an option to the many services you already provide.
Your staff’s knowledge and experience are as relevant and valuable as ever. As your customers move towards more self-service and have fewer face-to-face interactions with staff, you must find ways of continuing to share that expertise through your site. Resources such as buying guides, product FAQs, and how-to explainers are all ways to educate your customers and help them find the right product. Your service staff are the key to creating this kind of valuable content. Not only do they know your products, they know your customers and your customers’ common questions. Have your marketing team or a freelance writer build a library of educational resources based on input from your service staff. Your goal is to make your site the go-to destination for product information and education. Helping customers find the best solutions for their job or home is a reason for them to choose your site over your competitors’.
Since we can’t reach through our monitors to hold and touch products (yet) your site should do as much as possible to create a fully developed sense of your products. For example, simple videos where someone handles, describes, and/or demonstrates using a product can be highly effective. (There’s a reason “unboxing” videos are a top category on YouTube). Even better, offer ways for your customers to interact with products. For instance, an online door configurator that builds a composite image lets people experiment with different options when creating custom doors. A visualizer tool could let a customer upload photos of their home and then try out different siding or roofing options to see which they like best.
Merchandising should be an element of every ecommerce site the way it is for every retail center. Strategically promoting and pricing specific products is a great profitability strategy. You can merchandize even more effectively with ecommerce platforms that allow you to personalize content to different users. For instance, your homepage might display different products based on the customer profile. (So roofing customers might see tiles and shingles, whereas remodelers might see cabinets and fixtures.) Or you might show your “A” customers special offers not available to “B” and “C” customers. Your Marketing team should have a plan for selecting and highlighting products throughout your site the same way they might plan retail displays or end caps. If your platform allows personalization, have your team come up with some ideas for how to segment your customers.
Ecommerce is NOT set it and forget it. Technology and customer expectations are constantly evolving. Taking a proactive stance towards technology and integrating new, relevant tools can make a huge difference for your business. Open APIs are essential to doing this. APIs are bits of code that allow software programs to interact and share information. Open APIs are accessible to developers so it’s possible for businesses to build their own integrations with other programs. Building custom integrations means you can serve your customers in ways your competitors can’t. For instance, think about all the applications your customers use to manage their businesses, such as cabinet design programs, job management apps, and billing software. If your site could integrate with those platforms, allowing customers to see information about their jobs when browsing your products, you would be a one-stop shop for your customer’s entire business! Even if you aren’t in a position to build custom integrations today, make sure your ecommerce platform has open APIs so you have freedom to grow in the future.
Whether your business has a solid online presence or you’re just entering this space, this is a moment for action. Take a critical look at the online experience you’re offering customers, think about the experience you want to offer them, and start planning the steps you need to get there. That will set you on the right path to successfully serving your customers wherever they are.
Simon Sikora has been working in ecommerce in some form for over 25 years. As the COO for a millwork company in the northeast, he grew online service to be roughly 20% of the business. He is now the Director of Ecommerce Products for DMSi Software.
This article was originally published in the November 2020 issue of Lumber Co-Operator magazine.
Some surprises are nice, like finding $20 in your jacket pocket. But like tax audits and flat tires, other surprises are less pleasant. Surprises about your brand new inventory and accounting software fall into the latter camp. Fortunately, there’s a lot you can do during the software selection process to avoid them. Simple steps like rephrasing questions, meeting support staff, and itemizing implementation costs can reveal a host of overlooked issues. This white paper gives tips for getting a clear vision of your options, so there are fewer surprises once you sign a contract.
Ask five ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software sales reps “does your system have X feature,” and their answers will almost certainly be “yes.” That’s because most ERP platforms handle the same general processes. So, instead of asking “do you have X feature” ask “how do you handle Y process.”
Asking “how” highlights the differences between platforms. For example, there’s a range of ways to handle custom orders, from automated workflows and scheduling to manufacturer interfaces and product configurators. Asking “how” lets you see those differences.
“Show me” is one of the most important phrases when buying software. If there’s a make-or-break process for your business, don’t settle for the sales rep’s description of how the system handles it. Ask to see it in action – a lot. Go through several typical examples and multiple worst-case scenarios. The goal isn’t to stump the vendor. It’s to get an accurate sense of the software’s abilities and limitations.
You may really connect with your sales rep, but once a contract is signed, you won’t see much of them. Instead, you’ll be working with implementation teams, support techs, developers, and consultants. They set up your system, answer your questions, and move your business forward- for the next 10-20 years. So make sure you want to work with them. Signing your contract without meeting customer support is like agreeing to a marriage without meeting your future spouse.
Ask each vendor to calculate the true cost of ownership for their system for the next five years. It clarifies costs, and may highlight some unexpected key differences. Each vendor may have their own method for calculating the true cost of ownership, but here are some of the elements they should address.
User Hardware: Determine if your existing computers and printers can support the new software or if you’ll need to upgrade your equipment. Also consider any specialty hardware you’ll need to purchase such as RF scanners, credit card readers, GPS trackers, or mobile tablets.
Data Storage: Vendors usually charge a monthly fee for hosting customer data. If you plan on using your own server, factor in operational costs such as electricity, anti-virus software, disaster recovery plans, and employee hours. Assume at least one major repair/replacement cost in the next five years.
Data Migration: Your data needs to be formatted for the new system and moved to a new database. (This is true even if using your own server.) In addition to quoting their own fee for this service, have the vendor estimate the amount of time your staff will need to dedicate to the process.
Software Licenses: Enterprise software has two pricing models. A perpetual license means you pay a one-time sum and “own” that version of the software. A subscription license is where you pay a monthly fee to access the most current version of the software. Perpetual licenses usually charge additional fees for customer support and new features. Subscription licenses (called “Software as a Service” or SaaS) usually include support and upgrades with the monthly subscription.
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 the enhancement. In addition to development costs, some custom modifications require special maintenance whenever the core platform is updated. Have vendors explain how they handle and bill for customizations to their platform.
Implementation: Core elements of a system implementation include business process reviews, system configuration, setting up vendor integrations, user training, and go-live support. Vendors may offer some, all, or none of these services. Some vendors charge a flat fee for implementation and others bill hourly.
Support: This can be tricky to calculate, as every vendor has their own approach to support. Get documentation about services offered, noting which are free and which are billable. When each vendor estimates your yearly support costs, discuss how they arrived at that number. (For instance, perhaps they forecast you will only place three support calls per quarter. If that’s not a realistic assumption, adjust the estimate.)
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 at your company. Concurrent user licenses are like access passes shared by all the users in your system. (If you pay for 20 concurrent user licenses, up to 20 employees can use the system at once.)
Staff Costs: Determine if you’ll need to reallocate or expand staffing to support the new system. For example, if you’ve been relying on your controller to also act as IT administrator, that may no longer be sustainable. You will likely need a dedicated system manager to focus on optimizing your investment. If you intend to do a lot of customizations, you may want to budget for additional staff or regular contractors.
User Training: This includes vendor and contractor fees for the initial implementation training as well as ongoing training costs. If you want your system admin and high-level managers to have in-depth training at workshops and user conferences, include registration and travel expenses.
Lost Productivity: All businesses experience a temporary decline in productivity when they change software. Not only does implementation and training cut into people’s time, every department runs slower as the staff adjusts to the new system. Estimate productivity costs by talking to industry peers about their own implementations. Find out how long it took operations to normalize and what factors helped or impeded progress.
Growth: If you have plans to hire more people, open new locations, or offer new services, factor in costs for additional user licenses, additional hardware, training, and support costs. Additionally, if you plan to make other major technology investments, such as opening an e-commerce platform or installing WMS, incorporate those into your calculation.
Yearly Price Increases: Most vendors can’t guarantee pricing for the next five years, but you can forecast the trend by looking at the past five years. (Note: if a vendor guarantees a set price for five years as part of the contract, you’ll want to investigate their historical price increases. It won’t affect your cost of ownership in the next five years, but you should know what to expect at year six!)
One of the worst ERP surprises is discovering your current system is being phased out by the vendor. Getting a product roadmap can help you gauge the long-term security of a given system.
Ownership structure, leadership tenure, and acquisition history tell you important things about a company’s stability. Frequent changes in senior leadership or ownership can lead to frequent changes in strategy and priorities. If new owners decide to sunset your platform or sell it off to the highest bidder, it can upend your business.
Choosing new lumber yard inventory software is intense. It’s easy to develop tunnel vision around a handful of features and functions. Remember the big picture. Researching company histories and calculating total cost of ownership may not change your decision, but they will help set realistic expectations, increase your odds of success, and reduce your risk of unpleasant surprises.
Some surprises are nice, like finding $20 in your jacket pocket. But like tax audits and flat tires, other surprises are less pleasant. Surprises about your brand new inventory and accounting software fall into the latter camp. Fortunately, there’s a lot you can do during the software selection process to avoid them. Simple steps like rephrasing questions, meeting support staff, and itemizing implementation costs can reveal a host of overlooked issues. This white paper gives tips for getting a clear vision of your options, so there are fewer surprises once you sign a contract.
Ask five ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software sales reps “does your system have X feature,” and their answers will almost certainly be “yes.” That’s because most ERP platforms handle the same general processes. So, instead of asking “do you have X feature” ask “how do you handle Y process.”
Asking “how” highlights the differences between platforms. For example, there’s a range of ways to handle custom orders, from automated workflows and scheduling to manufacturer interfaces and product configurators. Asking “how” lets you see those differences.
“Show me” is one of the most important phrases when buying software. If there’s a make-or-break process for your business, don’t settle for the sales rep’s description of how the system handles it. Ask to see it in action – a lot. Go through several typical examples and multiple worst- case scenarios. The goal isn’t to stump the vendor. It’s to get an accurate sense of the software’s abilities and limitations.
You may really connect with your sales rep, but once a contract is signed, you won’t see much of them. Instead, you’ll be working with implementation teams, support techs, developers, and consultants. They set up your system, answer your questions, and move your business forward- for the next 10-20 years. So make sure you want to work with them. Signing your contract without meeting customer support is like agreeing to a marriage without meeting your future spouse.
Ask each vendor to calculate the true cost of ownership for their system for the next five years. It clarifies costs, and may highlight some unexpected key differences. Each vendor may have their own method for calculating the true cost of ownership, but here are some of the elements they should address.
User Hardware: Determine if your existing computers and printers can support the new software or if you’ll need to upgrade your equipment. Also consider any specialty hardware you’ll need to purchase such as RF scanners, credit card readers, GPS trackers, or mobile tablets.
Data Storage: Vendors usually charge a monthly fee for hosting customer data. If you plan on using your own server, factor in operational costs such as electricity, anti-virus software, disaster recovery plans, and employee hours. Assume at least one major repair/replacement cost in the next five years.
Data Migration: Your data needs to be formatted for the new system and moved to a new database. (This is true even if using your own server.) In addition to quoting their own fee for this service, have the vendor estimate the amount of time your staff will need to dedicate to the process.
Software Licenses: Enterprise software has two pricing models. A perpetual license means you pay a one-time sum and “own” that version of the software. A subscription license is where you pay a monthly fee to access the most current version of the software. Perpetual licenses usually charge additional fees for customer support and new features. Subscription licenses (called “Software as a Service” or SaaS) usually include support and upgrades with the monthly subscription.
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 the enhancement. In addition to development costs, some custom modifications require special maintenance whenever the core platform is updated. Have vendors explain how they handle and bill for customizations to their platform.
Implementation: Core elements of a system implementation include business process reviews, system configuration, setting up vendor integrations, user training, and go-live support. Vendors may offer some, all, or none of these services. Some vendors charge a flat fee for implementation and others bill hourly.
Support: This can be tricky to calculate, as every vendor has their own approach to support. Get documentation about services offered, noting which are free and which are billable. When each vendor estimates your yearly support costs, discuss how they arrived at that number. (For instance, perhaps they forecast you will only place three support calls per quarter. If that’s not a realistic assumption, adjust the estimate.)
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 at your company. Concurrent user licenses are like access passes shared by all the users in your system. (If you pay for 20 concurrent user licenses, up to 20 employees can use the system at once.)
Staff Costs: Determine if you’ll need to reallocate or expand staffing to support the new system. For example, if you’ve been relying on your controller to also act as IT administrator, that may no longer be sustainable. You will likely need a dedicated system manager to focus on optimizing your investment. If you intend to do a lot of customizations, you may want to budget for additional staff or regular contractors.
User Training: This includes vendor and contractor fees for the initial implementation training as well as ongoing training costs. If you want your system admin and high-level managers to have in-depth training at workshops and user conferences, include registration and travel expenses.
Lost Productivity: All businesses experience a temporary decline in productivity when they change software. Not only does implementation and training cut into people’s time, every department runs slower as the staff adjusts to the new system. Estimate productivity costs by talking to industry peers about their own implementations. Find out how long it took operations to normalize and what factors helped or impeded progress.
Growth: If you have plans to hire more people, open new locations, or offer new services, factor in costs for additional user licenses, additional hardware, training, and support costs. Additionally, if you plan to make other major technology investments, such as opening an e-commerce platform or installing WMS, incorporate those into your calculation.
Yearly Price Increases: Most vendors can’t guarantee pricing for the next five years, but you can forecast the trend by looking at the past five years. (Note: if a vendor guarantees a set price for five years as part of the contract, you’ll want to investigate their historical price increases. It won’t affect your cost of ownership in the next five years, but you should know what to expect at year six!)
One of the worst ERP surprises is discovering your current system is being phased out by the vendor. Getting a product roadmap can help you gauge the long-term security of a given system.
Ownership structure, leadership tenure, and acquisition history tell you important things about a company’s stability. Frequent changes in senior leadership or ownership can lead to frequent changes in strategy and priorities. If new owners decide to sunset your platform or sell it off to the highest bidder, it can upend your business.
Choosing new lumber yard inventory software is intense. It’s easy to develop tunnel vision around a handful of features and functions. Remember the big picture. Researching company histories and calculating total cost of ownership may not change your decision, but they will help set realistic expectations, increase your odds of success, and reduce your risk of unpleasant surprises.
This October, Northwest Hardwoods flipped the odometer on a major milestone: scanning its one millionth bundle with TallyExpress.
TallyExpress, the app that captures hardwood end tallies in seconds by taking pictures with an Android smartphone, uses computer vision technology to measure each board in a bundle.
The one million milestone is a particularly meaningful moment for Northwest Hardwoods and DMSi because of how closely the two companies worked together to develop it.
“We really worked together to advance it.”
“It was a bit risky because when we reached out to Northwest Hardwoods to pitch them TallyExpress, the app was still in its adolescent phase. We really worked together to advance it,” said Henry German, Product Manager of TallyExpress at DMSi. “They bought into the vision we had for it and went out of their way to help develop it. They. have brought it the credibility of volume it needed to roll out to the industry at large.”
“We pride ourselves on world-class quality and accurate grading. TallyExpress has allowed us to maintain high standards for tally accuracy while also significantly improving our efficiency,” said Wesley Bourland, Vice President of Manufacturing of Northwest Hardwoods. “It’s now an essential part of our workflow.”
While a small handful of single-location companies were already using the app, Northwest Hardwoods needed to be able to scale TallyExpress into at least 12 separate facilities.
“They’re a sophisticated operation and they pay attention to efficiencies,” said German. “There were things like width range parameters that needed to be flagged. We knew the technology had to do this but the folks at Northwest Hardwoods pushed us to develop it faster.”
To demonstrate proof of concept, Northwest Hardwoods first tested around 100 bundles and compared TallyExpress with other machine tally methods. They followed up this initial test with a three-month pilot, tallying over 5,000 bundles and performing weekly spot checks. The app was 99.5% accurate to a tape measure on the spot checks, with some sites seeing 99.9% accuracy. At that point, the lumber company was confident the app would work.
Developed by Fordaq, a technology company providing solutions to the global forestry and wood products industry, TallyExpress is now used in over 100 locations across the United States and Canada. It is available as both a standalone product and as an integrated component of Agility and eLIMBS, DMSi’s business software offerings from timber to consumer in the hardwood lumber market.
About Northwest Hardwoods
Northwest Hardwoods is the largest manufacturer of hardwood lumber in the US, manufacturing 14 domestic species of the highest quality hardwood lumber. The company also supplies over 20 species of quality imported exotic hardwood lumber and both structural and appearance plywood.
In six years, SRS Distribution has grown by a factor of 14, adding almost 100 branches across 35 states*. As described in a case study from Progress Software, SRS’ speed of expansion is possible through their use of Agility SaaS from DMSi.
(*SRS has continued to grow since the original publication of this article. As of April 2016, they have 153 locations in 39 states).
SRS formed in 2008 with a plan to grow through rapid acquisitions. They wanted to use the same ERP system across all locations in order to reduce confusion. The system would have to be flexible enough to keep pace with SRS’ growth.
Agility SaaS provided the easy scalability SRS wanted. The hosted solution meant they just needed a reliable internet connection to get a new acquisition up and running. Sonya Wells, Vice President and Corporate Director of Information Services at SRS, says Agility makes a big difference during transitions. “Within three days, we finalize the acquisition, conduct a physical inventory using Agility, provide onsite training, and open for business on Monday. Customers walk in the first day and our employees won’t miss a beat.”
SRS has had astonishing success. In six years, they have gone from eight locations to 107. Wells says the SRS Mergers and Acquisition group continues to be amazed at how quickly her team executes implementations. “With the help of Agility, we can do in three days what it takes our competitors at least one month to do. That translates into a significant competitive advantage for us.”
Read the full Progress case study here.
The building materials industry is beginning to embrace new technologies. Forward-thinking managers realize the potential of mobile devices and cloud-based solutions.
But updating a business is more complicated than buying tablets for everyone. As a recent article in Harvard Business Review explains, “Becoming a true digital organization is not just about becoming tech-savvy. It means embracing a new culture and mindset.” Managers who want to lead a digital revolution must make sure they bring the rest of the company with them.
For all its benefits, modernizing a business imposes stress on the people in the organization. If employees rely on phone calls, faxes and notepads, replacing those things with modern alternatives will completely disrupt their world.
For example, CRM systems make sales reps more effective by giving them one place to manage information. But for reps used to tracking appointments in an Outlook calendar, writing product lists in a notebook, and posting reminders on Post-its, a CRM unravels their entire system. They have to perform their job with an unfamiliar tool. Tasks that took five seconds now take five minutes. The fact that the CRM will eventually make them more efficient doesn’t make the transition any less painful.
Managers who want to successfully implement new technologies need to do more than provide training. They have to help employees change their default responses. People should automatically reach for their computer or tablet instead of their phone or pen. And as the same HBR article observes, “Managers and employees will need to navigate the digital frontier together, and this requires a new set of leadership skills.”
Leading a change is different from leading a department. Managers can’t shove their team through the process or get results via sheer force of will. Instead, they need to encourage, support and reward, so employees want to adopt the new technology. The following strategies can help ease a transition.
Clarify the benefits While management may be thinking about the cost-savings of new accounting software, employees are thinking about how much faster it would be to just make a phone call. Managers should talk with their teams about benefits that are both tangible and relevant to them. Give specific examples of tasks that will be easier or busy-work that will be eliminated once people are comfortable with the new resource.
Reward achievement Reinforce the idea that success is possible by celebrating progress. For example, give a prize to the sales rep who registers the most customers on the new web portal, or have a pizza party three months after implementing new software. Identify milestones and track progress in a visible way, such as a chart in the break room.
Be patient Changing behavior is difficult, especially behavior developed over a long period of time. Employees may have been doing their job a certain way for 10-15 years. It’s not realistic or fair to expect them to be equally proficient in the new processes after a few months. When someone hits a significant roadblock, find additional resources alternative methods to help them.
Transforming an organization is more than upgrading infrastructure. The people in that organization must transform as well. People are understandably excited about the possibilities that technology offers. But modernizing a business can’t be a one-man crusade. Managers who focus on the collective success of their team achieve better results than those focused on a personal vision of the future.
Kerry Blusys is a senior account manager for DMSi with over 25 years of experience in the building materials industry.
Tom Matula, director of administration for DMSi customer PMC Building Materials, is featured in a ProSales Magazine article about innovative IT executives. Matula emphasizes the need to include technology in business development goals.
PMC uses cloud-based solutions for much of its operation including DMSi’s Agility in the hosted environment. “The cloud is getting very big for us,” says Matula. Agility in the hosted environment provides PMC with real-time data about things like available inventory and order statuses. It also relieves them of the cost and risk of maintaining their own server.
PMC’s long-term goal is to launch an e-catalog to allow contractors to make online purchases, but they are taking a cautious approach. Matula is laying the groundwork with a series of smaller steps. Search engine optimization (SEO) is increasing visits to PMC’s company site, and analytics tools identify untapped marketing opportunities.
Matula is aware of the challenges and potential risks of e-commerce, but sees a greater danger in entrenching the company in old technology. The wide number of LBM dealers and distributors who still use outdated operating systems such as Windows XP is “scary.”
PMC has been a DMSi customer since its founding in 2008. In a follow-up to the article, Matula touched upon PMC’s go-live experience when launching Agility.
