Brookside Lumber Selected BisTrack Because Its Technology Platform Is What They Need to Accomplish Their Goals in a Timely and Economical Manner
Brookside Lumber was drawn to Epicor BisTrack software by its process workflow and modern architecture. But more than that, they saw the Epicor team as a valuable business partner.
A key difference Brookside Lumber noticed about BisTrack software is that its workflow matches the needs of LBM contractor yards to manage processes for superior customer service and efficiency. "The BisTrack software workflow mirrors what we do and puts in place controls and structures that are lacking in other systems," says David Jones, president of Brookside Lumber.
Bethel Park, Pennsylvania's Brookside Lumber was first drawn to Epicor BisTrack software by its process workflow and modern architecture. Before long, they also began to see the Epicor team as a valuable business partner-not just a software provider.
We selected BisTrack because its technology platform is what we need to accomplish our goals in a timely and economical manner. To me, the right architecture and platform are the foundation for driving your technology solution forward.
When Brookside Lumber decided to look for new business software, they wanted a system that was flexible, open, user-friendly, and easily enhanced. "We selected BisTrack software because its technology platform is what we need to accomplish our goals in a timely and economical manner," said David Jones, president, Brookside Lumber, referring to the BisTrack Windows environment with a Microsoft® SQL Server® back-end. "To me, the right architecture and platform are the foundation for driving your technology solution forward. I really like the openness of BisTrack software. I've got total control over the data, and reports are customizable. And, we save because it's hardware independent. With other systems, we would have paid six times the price for servers."
A key difference Brookside Lumber noticed about BisTrack software is that its workflow matches the needs of LBM contractor yards to manage processes for superior customer service and efficiency. "The BisTrack software workflow mirrors what we do and puts in place controls and structures that are lacking in other systems," said Jones.
"We like the way BisTrack software pushes information out to the user," said Marcie Martin, IT manager, Brookside Lumber. "For example, when special items are received, a message is automatically sent to the sales person letting them know it's here. Or, when stock is low or negative, a message is automatically sent to the buyers."
"In the other systems that we looked at, you had to rely on someone to go in and dig the information out of the system, which wouldn't always happen," Martin recalled. "So, the fact that BisTrack software does that for you is extremely beneficial."
Brookside Lumber transitioned from ECS Pro™ software to the BisTrack solution to run the business more efficiently. "The Epicor implementation team made the process extremely manageable," noted Martin. "With guidance and experience from Epicor, we were able to migrate most of the data ourselves. This hands-on approach made us more comfortable with the data that was going into BisTrack and gave us a much better understanding of the software's architecture."
"We feel good about the choice we made to switch to BisTrack software," Martin continued. "I am confident that we made the right decision and that BisTrack technology will support our needs well into the future."
Another major benefit of BisTrack software is its Smart Views functionality that quickly gets information out of the solution for a specific request. For example, Smart Views help Brookside identify receipt variances and customers with no activity. To streamline year-end inventory reconciliation, Smart Views are used to gather data on open orders by product groups and products that have not been counted. "The Smart Views are excellent," said Martin. "Users are amazed by the information that you can get out of the system quickly."
Since implementation, Brookside Lumber has incorporated other components of BisTrack software into the business such as Journey Planner, Scantrack, GPS Insight, BisTrack Cloud, Shift4, and Professional Estimating. One of the most favored applications for the Brookside team is Business Intelligence.
"The Business Intelligence component of BisTrack is an extremely valuable tool," said Martin. "We have the ability to quickly access the data to create reports and documents that are unique to our needs. These can be run on demand or scheduled and pushed out to the users. To date, we have over 100 reports that we have written, in addition to numerous reports that come with the software. The customizable dashboards help keep all areas of our business on top of their progress with key metrics and we don't have to depend on support every time we need data pulled out in a different way."
Professional Estimating adapts to businesses by using your database of SKUs, item numbers, descriptions, and price structures. It has helped Brookside Lumber adapt its system to changing inventory and individual building techniques. "We have used Epicor Professional Estimating for several years and find it to be a fast and efficient way to produce accurate plan take-offs. The ability to import into BisTrack saves significant time and keying errors," comments Jones.
BisTrack Cloud mobile sales software aids the Brookside Lumber sales team with more productivity while on the road, at the job site, and in the yard. "Our sales people that prefer to stay in the field servicing customers can conveniently and quickly find access to pricing, inventory, and orders with BisTrack Cloud. The software is definitely a plus for rapid response to customer inquiries," concludes Jones.
