Grinstead Group

An Activant Prophet 21 Success Story

Features

Activant Prophet 21 Speeds Purchase Processing by 90 Percent

Mark Young, vice president of Grinstead Group Inc. based in Louisville, KY, describes the business as "Distribution on steroids."

Speed is so necessary to the success of Grinstead that the company jumped at the chance to update to Prophet 21 version 9.0. "Prophet 21 9.0 is the finest piece of distribution software on the market today," says Young.

Challenge:

Help a Louisville, KY, distributor of paint and supplies to the automotive aftermarket increase the speed at which it conducts business
Improve efficiencies

Solution:

Activant Prophet 21

Benefits:

Purchase processing speed increased by 90 percent
Improved inventory management
Enhanced customer service

Business at Warp Speed

Grinstead Group provides paint and supplies to the automotive aftermarket, specifically large collision repair facilities in Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio. Among the largest distributors of Akzo-Nobel coatings in the world, Young says the company relies on Prophet 21 to keep them a leader.

"Everything happens very fast around here," explains Young. "We run an average of eight purchase requirements a day. In the past each one took 10 minutes to process. With Prophet 21 9.0 that time is reduced to one minute.

"Our average order cycle - from the time we receive an order to the time it leaves our building invoiced - is about 50 minutes," continues Young. "Our concentration of business is in a very small timeframe, with roughly 85 percent of our sales for the day occurring between 7 and 9 a.m. Prophet 21 9.0's automated cycle counting functionality enables us to make sure we always have what we need when we need it."

The Key to Better Customer Service

"Our customers are businessmen," says Young. "They want to know where they spend their money. With paint and related supplies making up about 10 percent of their total monthly expenditures, they rely on us to keep them informed. Prophet 21 lets us track that data for them and supply them with the information they need."

In addition, as Akzo-Nobel distributors, Grinstead is responsible for training its customers in the use of Akzo-Nobel products. "Thanks to our relationship with Akzo-Nobel, we've become much more service-oriented," says Young. "Fortunately, Prophet 21 can track that."

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