Like many industries keeping the three plates of consumer demand, skilled labor shortages, and materials availability spinning all at once, building supply companies need to remain nimble and resourceful to continue serving their customers efficiently and sustainably.
With Epicor BisTrack, “ … companies were able to run their businesses to better meet actual demand, which resulted in operational efficiencies, cost savings, and improved business results,” noted an IDC White Paper sponsored by Epicor, entitled The Business Value of Epicor Software for Building Supply Companies, Doc. #US 48832422, March 2022.
In fact, the IDC White Paper calculated that, “interviewed building supply companies will realize benefits worth an annual average of $2.7 million per organization.”
The IDC White Paper findings are based on detailed interviews with 11 small- to medium-sized building supply companies currently using BisTrack. They have an average of 347 employees and a total average annual revenue of $134.6 million. The goal of IDC’s research was to measure the effect of BisTrack technology on the companies’ efficiency, productivity, and bottom line.
Curated Solutions Drive Success
When these companies transitioned from aging, outdated systems to BisTrack, they found that a significant return on investment, an average of 331% over three years, was possible—even with increased competition from national “big box” chains.
The companies use BisTrack to help them stay ahead of customer demand, improve inventory tracking and warehouse management, and streamline financial operations with capabilities like business intelligence and data analytics. As a result, they’re able to remain vital and continue to drive profits despite an unpredictable marketplace.
An example of how improved processes created the foundation for exceeding customer expectations came from Big C Lumber, a 101-year-old operation with 15 locations based in Granger, Indiana. Their employees found that by linking each inventory record to a real visible product (instead of a code), they were able to respond to special orders while maintaining a big-picture inventory view. “The inventory visibility with Epicor [BisTrack] is the most significant benefit for us,” they reported.
On-Time Efficiency
“These companies improved the overall volume of completed business orders by an average of 35%, dispatching and delivering more than 500 additional business orders per week per organization,” the IDC White Paper said.
The on-time orders were not just abundant, they drove efficiency, and on average, put delivery an entire day ahead of schedule. And with BisTrack, it was easy for companies like Nu Way Concrete Forms—a five-location, family-run operation based in St. Louis, Missouri—to alert their customers to the exact status of quick deliveries. “We used to have people walking around and looking for orders,” the company revealed. “With Epicor, we can tell what’s on a truck and where the truck is, and that includes transfers between stores.”
Driving What’s Next
The featured companies and their users also realized benefits like the ability to approach larger, higher-revenue potential customers, as well as:
- More targeted, personalized support at every stage of the ordering and delivery process
- Protected margins and increased profits by running lean, streamlined organizations
With efficiency built into everyday operations, the possibilities for exceeding customer expectations and improving operations are limited only by a company’s vision and goals. The IDC White Paper’s findings bear this out.
