News

The Wholesaler, December 2003

Several years ago, I met a plumbing wholesaler at a trade association cocktail party. We discussed business.

When I asked him if he had thought about invoicing customers and tracking inventory via a computer program or including a Web address on the sides of his trucks.

He looked dumbstruck.

"Plumbers and HVAC contractors are just not computer guys," he said. "They hate technology, let alone the Wholesalers they deal with."

At least five years have passed, and now this couldn't be further from the truth. Increasingly, members of the HVAC and plumbing industries - from apprentices to supply house managers - are turning to technology to streamline processes, increase sales opportunities and service levels, cut costs, and improve supply chain collaboration.

Roger Torri, president of Manufactured Duct and Supply, Inc., a Georgia-based air conditioning supplies wholesaler, firmly believes in implementing technology to handle business processes and increase sales.

"If you're running a small wholesale company, you might be able to get by without any advanced technology to handle your inventory and operations," he said. "But if you want to do any more than that - and if you want to grow - you've got to automate tasks through technology. You just can't function on any organized level without it."

An enterprise software solution - the system on which your business runs - is your main source of technology, and it should come from a company that understands your needs. Your technology partner should know that you handle just as much business through your front counter as you do at your loading dock, and understand that inventory control is crucial.

For example, in the plumbing and HVAC industries, quoting prices for 50 line-item orders is a daily - if not hourly - practice. You need a solution in which you can easily turn those quotes into orders - saving customer service representatives' valuable time and reducing errors. And, since suppliers often offer different customers different prices, you need a solution that will adjust pricing accordingly - ensuring you maintain excellent relationships with your best clients.

If you sell pipe, do every one of your sales and service representatives know - or remember - to offer contractors the accompanying black or gas fittings? You need a solution that solves this issue by automatically "suggesting" products that go with items on a customer's order. This helps you increase sales in an incredibly competitive industry.

Also, because of the nature of the industry, you need a solution that provides excellent tools for inventory management. You need to monitor buying trends to understand which products your customers want - and which ones they don't.

And, because your business might be very seasonal - customers buy air conditioners in the summer and heaters in the winter - your solution must help you turn inventory in a timely manner. You can't tie up valuable dollars in stock that will just sit on shelves.

Technology has changed the way distributors manage their business. According to Dennie Bomar, president, HVAC Sales & Supply Co., distributors once bought as much stock as their warehouses could hold to ensure they always had what customers needed.

"Now, when we sell our last air conditioning unit, I want to unload a fresh supply precisely at that moment," he said.

The ability to transmit real-time information throughout his company has enabled HVAC's employees to adopt to a Just-in-Time buying philosophy - instead of Just-in-Case.

"Using the technology aggressively for a year and a half enabled us to reduce stock levels by more than 17 percent," he said, noting that inventory turns during the same time period increased by 20 percent. "Technology really keeps our material flowing."

Without the right technology, many plumbing and HVAC distributors have floundered. But, with the right technology and tools, many distributors such as Bomar and Torri have prospered.

"There's no question about it," Bomar said. "Technology lets us move boxes more efficiently, reduce overhead, and improve customer service."

Customers are demanding more. Contractors have personal digital assistants (PDAs), and they want to access your Web site - in real time, all the time. Time is money. If they can place an order with you or check stock without stopping by or picking up the phone, they have more time for jobs - and will make more money.

You must give your customers the ability to access your website at any time and without a desktop or laptop computer. Many technology providers now have the answer: They offer PDA integration that enables customers to access your Web site anytime, anywhere.

This helps you increase sales by letting customers order from jobsites. Your outside sales force benefits, too. It's much easier to enter orders from customers locations from a PDA than it is to scribble them down on sheets of paper or type them in on a laptop computer.

Because they probably work with you more than any of their other customers or vendors, your customers see you as an integral business partner. It's not you against them anymore.

You must provide them with the tools and technology that will help them simplify daily business processes while you work to keep costs and prices down.

Customers benefit from superior, convenient service, and you benefit from increased sales and a loyal, devoted customer base. It's all about collaboration.

Back to Top