news

CARY, NC – September 1, 2017 – Mincron, a Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS) company, provider of integrated software solutions focused on servicing the plumbing, heating, cooling, piping, electrical, building materials distribution, wholesale and retail markets, announced today that Nicklas Supply selected K8 to support their commitment to providing quality kitchen, bath and plumbing products.

Nicklas Supply is a family owned and operated plumbing supplier providing plumbing, kitchen, and bath products since 1956, meeting customer needs whether it is commercial or residential products. They offer unparalleled service and the best products from the most reputable names in the industry at their five locations in Western Pennsylvania.

“We are excited to have real-time data metrics that are consistent across the entire platform,” said Matt Nicklas, IT Director and Operations Manager, Nicklas Supply. “We believe K8 to be a very simple, user-friendly platform that is highly customizeable to our unique business needs.”

K8 is a fully integrated core software system including Financials, BI, WMS and CRM making it the complete ERP package. Complete with Sales Order Processing, Purchase Order Control, Stock Management, Integrated Financials, Business Intelligence, CRM, E-commerce Solutions, Warehouse Management, Tool and Equipment Rental, and much more. K8 is available either on-premises or in the cloud.

“We are delighted to add Nicklas Supply to our list of customers,” commented Alan Cross, Executive Vice President for KCS North America. “KCS and Nicklas Supply have a similar culture making us the best ERP provider for their business.”

For more information on Nicklas Supply visit, www.nicklassupply.com.

We are pleased to announce that Jen Slaw former structural engineer and world-record holding expert juggler will present the Keynote address at FUSION17. 

You will be amazed, engaged and inspired with an interactive experience that will equip you with creative and collaborative skills to adapt, be nimble, innovate and grow in the face of change. Jen Slaw will demonstrate how to be more balanced, productive, creative problem solvers, effective collaborators, and agents of positive change.

A former structural engineer and world-record holding "expert juggler" (New York Times), Jen demonstrates how to balance responsibilities, engage a team, and lead through purpose, process, and practice. This interactive keynote session will provide strategies and tools for growth, change management, creative problem solving, and innovation. You will have fun physically experiencing the process of working together to learn something new, cementing concepts that will be remembered long past the conference closing session.

THE POWER OF PRACTICE: BUILDING SYSTEMS FOR SUCCESS

It is critical for leaders and business owners to establish a system of best practices. Systems transform organizations. Actions taken or objectives given without direction, coaching, or proper practice will negatively impact organizational growth and results. Leaders must identify priorities and establish sustainability through consistent practice.

• Learn to step back and assess current practices, determining true cause & effect. 

• Create a collaborative environment built on trust. Learn to delegate and consult with a mentor or advisor to identify priorities and assess system effectiveness.

• Take ownership of the outcome, maintaining focus and commitment to the vision.

• Establish best practices and learn from mistakes, creating consistent habits that over time will lead to performance and results.

Don’t miss this engaging and interactive opportunity.

Register for FUSION17 Today!

Reserve your room at The Sheraton New Orleans Hotel.

We look forward to seeing you in New Orleans, October 15-18 at FUSION17!

June 28, 2017 — HOUSTON, Texas — Mincron, a Kerridge Commercial Systems Company, announced today that Irrigation Station purchased a 26 user on-premises license for our SmartDistributor ERP system, along with SigSmart for electronic signature capture and proof of delivery.

Irrigation Station is a first-class wholesale distributor of irrigation and landscape supplies. Located in Houston, Texas, with an additional branch in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, they provide commercial and residential contractors in Southeast Texas and Oklahoma with the quality products they need for irrigation, drainage, outdoor lighting, water features, outdoor kitchens and other landscape installations.

Irrigation Station had several requirements for a new ERP solution. One essential requirement was to be able to streamline many of their processes allowing for a real-time environment where order information is current. “We have looked at many different systems, and everyone was missing key functionality. We selected Mincron because they can meet all of our requirement,” said Sam Burtch, Managing Partner of Irrigation Station.

The Mincron team will work closely with Irrigation Station to ensure a successful implementation and go-live in the coming months. 

June 13, 2017 — Houston — Over the weekend, Empire Pipe & Supply completed their successful implementation and went live with an on-premise Mincron distribution management software solution. Thanks to the dedicated team at Mincron, and the effort put in by everyone at Empire Pipe & Supply, the implementation was turned around in just five months.

Several Empire employees who had previously worked for another of our customers were instrumental in the reason their company chose a Mincron solution. As Director of Operations Jonathan Lindle described, “They were already familiar with the benefits that the SmartDistributor solution provides, namely its streamlined order processing and its leading inventory management and job management capabilities.”

Empire Pipe & Supply is headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., and has a branch location near Tallahassee, Fla. Founded in 1972, the waterworks distributor has built an outstanding reputation among contractors and municipalities in the Southeastern U.S. Among their broad range of products are materials involved for underground utility work, including steel casing; water meters; ductile iron pipe; and valves and hydrants.

“If it matters to you, it matters to us.”

Mincron, a Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS) company, provides business solutions designed with mission-critical tools that help distributors improve efficiency, increase sales, enhance service, reduce costs — and ultimately boost profitability. It accomplishes this by managing, monitoring and analyzing every facet of distribution operations, and providing users with immediate accessibility to real time information and data. Distributors typically report achieving ROI within just a few years.

Our outstanding product is supported by a dedicated staff who have a “Service First” philosophy. They are dedicated to ensuring the most seamless transition possible when bringing a customer’s new system online. Mincron’s very experienced team has developed an implementation checklist of best practices that customers are guided through. Our staff is there every step of the way, including conducting real-world style training for users. And throughout our partnership, each customer has a dedicated support team who knows them and their business — and whose response time can be measured in minutes or hours, not days or weeks.

About Mincron and Kerridge Commercial Systems

Mincron, a KCS Group company, provides innovative business management solutions that are flexible, scalable and fully integrated. Mincron offers both the SmartDistributor and K8 software solutions, which can be hosted on premise or in the cloud. Our customers range from multi-national publically traded companies to single-location family owned businesses. Typically, customers achieve their ROI within just a few years.

U.K.-based Kerridge Commercial Systems designs and delivers high-performance, integrated ERP solutions that enable distributive trade customers to source, stock, sell and service more competitively. With four decades of experience, they are thought leaders in trading and management technology. Learn more by visiting our website, www.mincron.com.

Press Contact:
Mary Jo Martin, Marketing Manager
Mincron Software Systems
mjmartin@mincron.com
281-999-7010 x3010

June 7, 2017 — Houston, Texas — The May issue of Supply House Times featured the Premier 150, the publication’s annual ranking of distributors with the largest sales volume in the plumbing; pipe, valves & fittings; and HVAC/R markets.

Rankings are determined by the sales volume each company reports from the previous year. While individual companies’ volumes are kept confidential, Supply House Times released several overall statistics gathered from the survey:

• More than half of the distributors among the Premier 150 reported a sales volume ranging from $50 million to $199 million

• Plumbing distributors on the list reported $12.8 billion in total sales

• The HVAC/R distributors realized $13 billion in sales

• Distributors in the PVF market, which has struggled in recent years, had the highest total, with $15.1 billion in sales

• There is bullish optimism among distributors in all three market segments, with 92% expecting sales gains in 2017

Mincron, a Kerridge Commercial Systems Company, congratulates all the deserving distributors included among the Premier 150, and we particularly applaud the achievements of our customers that were recognized:

• #2 — HD Supply (Waterworks Division)

• #3 — Watsco

• #6 — Hajoca (LCR/M operations)

• #10 — MORSCO (Fortiline operations)

• #15 — Groupe Deschenes

• #22 — Dakota Supply Group

• #39 — N.B. Handy Co.

• #46 — Plumb Supply Co.

• #63 — Plumbing Distributors Inc.

• #70 — Central Supply Co.

• #85 — Blackman Supply Co.

• #109 — Acme Refrigeration of Baton Rouge

• #116 — Hinkle Metals & Supply Co.

• #149 — Columbia Specialty Co.

We are incredibly proud to be your business partner!

Click here to view the complete Premier 150 report.

As the report’s introduction noted, “The companies on the list are successful for many reasons — including a willingness to adapt to industry changes being one of them.”

The introduction also shared a comment from Mincron customer Michael Taylor, President of Long Beach, Calif.-based Columbia Specialty, who described the improvement in that state’s business conditions: “The California economy is gaining momentum into 2017, which includes increasing activity in commercial and industrial construction.”

Learn more about Mincron and our business management solutions!

About Mincron and Kerridge Commercial Systems

Mincron, a KCS Group company, provides innovative business management solutions that are flexible, scalable and fully integrated. Our customers range from multi-national publically traded companies to single-location family owned businesses. Typically, customers achieve ROI on their investment within just a few years. U.K.-based Kerridge Commercial Systems designs and delivers high-performance, integrated ERP solutions that enable distributive trade customers to source, stock, sell and service more competitively. With four decades of experience, they are thought leaders in trading and management technology.

Press Contact:
Mary Jo Martin
Marketing Manager
mjmartin@mincron.com
281-999-7010 x3010

HOUSTON — FUSION17 will be the first annual combined user conference for customers of both Mincron Software Systems and Dancik International. It will be held October 15-18 at The Sheraton Hotel in New Orleans. Conference registration is now open, and we invite you to join us!

It is an existing time for Mincron and Dancik, which are part of the growing Kerridge Commercial Systems group of companies. This conference gives us the opportunity to join forces as we continue to grow and look build even stronger relationships with our customers.

FUSION17 will bring together industry leaders and experts from around the world, ensuring a varied program full of educational and networking opportunities — and, of course, a bit of fun thrown in, too.

The agenda will include guest speakers, the sharing of ideas among customers, and breakout sessions focused on all areas of our software solutions to ensure that customers are leveraging their investment with Mincron and Dancik to improve their company's operating performance.

All Mincron and Dancik customers are invited to attend. We recommend the conference for corporate executives, IT personnel, accounting, sales and operations managers and team members, branch managers and training managers, warehouse managers, purchasing agents — everyone in your company can find benefits in attending!

Early bird registration discounts — 35% when companies register three or more attendees — are available through July 2, and conference registration closes on September 8.

We have structured the registration fee / hotel registration fee slightly different this year. For previous conferences we charged a small registration fee and wrapped the food and beverage costs into the nightly hotel rate. This year, those costs have been included in the conference registration fee, and customers will handle their own hotel registration directly with The Sheraton.

Register for FUSION17.

Reserve your room at The Sheraton New Orleans Hotel.

If you have any questions regarding the conference, please email Jonathan Lindle at jlindle@mincron.com or Lisa White at lwhite@dancik.com.

We look forward to seeing you October 15-18 at FUSION17 in New Orleans!!

Laissez les bon temps rouler!!

April 6, 2017 — Houston, Texas — It took less than three months for A-H Distributors to implement the Mincron warehouse management solution at their new 150,000-square-foot Distribution Center in New Brunswick, N.J. Project Manager Rene Jones described the process as “very simple” and added that the staff got confident with using it during their preliminary training sessions.

The location is ideal — near major roadways that provide easy access to the DC’s five shipping bays for inbound and outbound trucks. Currently A-H Distributors holds about 7,000 SKUs of plumbing, heating, electrical, PVF, drainage and specialty products in its inventory.

Jones, who has 20 years of experience improving warehouse operations as the founder and President of Total Logistics Solutions.

“Part of my expertise is process flow,” he noted. “The Mincron automated system will be very advantageous to A-H Distributors. Everything in that environment revolves around efficiency and accuracy, and this will help them maximize both.”

The Mincron StockSmart Warehouse Management System allows distributors to maintain a 99.9% inventory accuracy level while increasing the speed with which staff can receive, pick and ship product.

“Our solution automates warehouse workloads, minimizes disruptions and errors, and enables management to react and respond quickly to customers’ special needs,” said Mincron Director of Operations Jonathan Lindle. “It also helps distributors capitalize on their use of available space, equipment and personnel.”

Jones agreed. “This system allowed A-H to install higher shelving, which gives them a greater capacity for inventory,” he said. “And it works hand-in-hand with their turret material handling machines, which allows staff to dramatically increase their efficiency.”

A turret might best be described as a forklift on steroids.

“In a typical warehouse environment with forklifts, drivers are always on the lookout for the aisle and shelf they need,” noted Jones. “They also have to stop, turn and raise the forklift each time they handle a product. All of that adds more time to the process.

“A wire guidance system in the floor that is tied into the A-H warehouse management solution runs the turret at the new DC. Product is scanned as it is received, and then the system does the rest until it is in their customers’ hands. When the driver locks an order into the system, a wire literally guides the equipment to the exact location. As it gets closer, the lift starts rising so it is in the perfect position to automatically and accurately handle the product.”

Because the DC is new, A-H Distributors has no baseline with which to measure its ROI. But Jones is confident that the Mincron system will pay for itself quickly.

“It generates reports that calculate productivity levels for every warehouse activity,” Jones said. “Being able to analyze that data and make any necessary adjustments is an incredibly valuable tool. And the system won’t let the driver pick the wrong item or amount needed. That type of accuracy saves distributors significant time and money in the warehouse.”

As Lindle described, “Mincron’s warehouse solution is designed to be extraordinarily comprehensive and yet be highly flexible. It works equally well with small branch warehouses and massive distribution centers like A-H. And it effectively drives the processes of strictly structured environments as well as it does for those that are rapidly changing and unpredictable.”

About Mincron and Kerridge Commercial Systems

Mincron, a KCS Group company, provides innovative business management solutions that are flexible, scalable and fully integrated. Mincron offers both the SmartDistributor and K8 software solutions, which can be hosted on premise or in the cloud. Our customers range from multi-national publically traded companies to single-location family owned businesses. Typically, customers achieve ROI on their investment within just a few years.

U.K.-based Kerridge Commercial Systems designs and delivers high-performance, integrated ERP solutions that enable distributive trade customers to source, stock, sell and service more competitively. With four decades of experience, they are thought leaders in trading and management technology. Learn more by visiting our website, www.mincron.com.

Press Contact:
Mary Jo Martin
Marketing Manager
mjmartin@mincron.com
281-999-7010 x3010

April 4, 2017 — HOUSTON, Texas — TWC Distributors has signed an agreement to become Mincron’s newest customer. They have chosen our SmartDistributor ERP solution, and plan to be “live” in 2017. TWC is based in Sarasota, Fla., and last year moved into a new headquarters designed by President Tim Milligan. The company operates 10 locations across Florida and Georgia.

Founded in 1989 as an agricultural irrigation distributor, TWC soon expanded to take advantage of the rapidly growing landscape irrigation and supplies market. Since then, they’ve continued to expand their product lines to meet their customers’ changing needs. Their offering now ranges from pumps and filters to septic systems, pond supplies, outdoor lighting and holiday decorative lighting.

According to TWC Technology Manager Tim Millligan Jr., TWC likes the strength of the IBM Power System. He added that they are looking forward “to gaining efficiency, more accurate inventory tracking, and improving their bottom line.”

Milligan, who served as the Project Leader for the search of a new ERP system, stated “the decision was unanimous among the entire team to select Mincron.” He is excited to get started with the implementation, and went on to note several other reasons for choosing the Mincron solution:

• Smart Distributor is very user friendly, which was a big factor.

• Everything that the software has to offer fits their needs as a distributor.

• Their employees will become more productive, and be able to perform their jobs even better.

• The 30-year reputation that Mincron has built.

"We are looking forward to doing a lot with Mincron,” Milligan shared. “We plan to implement a cycle-counting system, go as paperless as we can, and implement a bar-code system. We are also excited to increase our profit margins because we will be able to easily see where we are currently weak on our price plans.”

He added, “I have to say that Mincron has been very easy to work with and have been very professional in everything that has transpired thus far. I’m excited to get started with the implementation!"

About Mincron

Mincron, a KCS Group company, provides innovative business management solutions that are flexible, scalable and fully integrated. Mincron offers both the SmartDistributor and K8 software solutions, which can be hosted on premises or in the cloud. Our customers range from multi-national publically traded companies to single-location family owned businesses. Typically, customers achieve ROI on their investment within just a few years.

U.K.-based Kerridge Commercial Systems designs and delivers high-performance, integrated ERP solutions that enable distributive trade customers to source, stock, sell and service more competitively. With four decades of experience, they are thought leaders in trading and management technology. Learn more by visiting our website, www.mincron.com.

Press Contact:
Mary Jo Martin
Mincron Software Systems
mjmartin@mincron.com
281-999-7010 x3010

HOUSTON — Blackman Plumbing Supply Inc., a Mincron customer since 1988, recently upgraded and went live on version 12.1 of their core ERP system along with version 2.0 of their StockSmart automated warehouse management system. Blackman is planning to implement several more of our business solutions in the near future.

Headquartered in Bayport, N.Y., where they operate a 250,000-square-foot Distribution Center, Blackman Plumbing Supply has 22 fully stocked branches and showrooms in New York and New Jersey that serve the greater NYC metropolitan area. The company distributes plumbing, industrial, waterworks, tools, HVAC and outdoor living products and supplies. In 2016, Blackman entered the Florida market with a 9,000-square-foot showroom in West Palm Beach that features plumbing, tile, lighting and stone.

Blackman’s history dates back to 1921 when Sam Blackman opened a small plumbing supply company in Brooklyn. Among the company’s key historical highlights:

• Opened their first branch in 1940 in Flushing, N.Y.

• Entered the HVAC market in 1995.

• Named Robert Mannheimer the President, CEO and Chairman in 2012 following the death of Richard Blackman, son of the founder.

• Signed an historic contract in 2014 making Blackman one of the only stocking distributors of the three major plumbing lines — Kohler, American Standard and Toto.

To learn more about Blackman, visit www.blackman.com.

Mincron’s comprehensive ERP solutions give distributors the strategic tools and competitive edge they need to drive growth and improve margins. This functionality maximizes efficiency, reduces costs, increases sales, enhances service — and, ultimately, achieves greater profitability.

The StockSmart warehouse management system facilitates accurate and swift order picking and shipping, while maintaining 99.9% inventory accuracy. It is designed to work equally well with small branch warehouses as well as massive distribution centers. The system automates warehouse workloads, minimizes disruptions, and enables managers to react and respond quickly to meet customers’ special needs. It also guides distributors to make the best use of available space, equipment and personnel.

About Mincron and Kerridge Commercial Systems

Mincron, a KCS Group company, provides innovative business management solutions that are flexible, scalable and fully integrated. Mincron offers both the SmartDistributor and K8 software solutions, which can be hosted on premise or in the cloud. Our customers range from multi-national publically traded companies to single-location family owned businesses. Typically, customers achieve ROI on their investment within just a few years.

U.K.-based Kerridge Commercial Systems designs and delivers high-performance, integrated ERP solutions that enable distributive trade customers to source, stock, sell and service more competitively. With four decades of experience, they are thought leaders in trading and management technology. Learn more by visiting our website, www.mincron.com.

Press Contact:
Mary Jo Martin
Marketing Manager
mjmartin@mincron.com
281-999-7010 x3010

March 7, 2017 — HOUSTON, Texas — Industrial Supply magazine selected Mincron to be one of the companies interviewed for a Software Update feature. The article begins on page 24 of the March/April issue, and a section with comments from Mincron’s Director of Operations Jonathan Lindle is on pages 27-28. Lindle shares some great information about Mincron’s robust Vendor Rebates module; our new browser-based dashboard application that allows users greater flexibility; as well as our comprehensive e-commerce solution, WebSmart B2B and B2C.

Mincron also has a new advertisement (shown here) that appears on page 29 of that issue.

To view the March/April Digital Edition of Industrial Supply, please click here.

In related news, we will be attending the Industrial Supply Association Annual Convention April 22-24 in Denver. Mincron will have a booth in the convention hall on Monday, April 24 during “Supplier Day,” during which we’ll also be taking part in the Network Now meetings. And we look forward to meeting many distributors in their booths as we walk the convention floor on Sunday, April 23, for “Distributor Day,” as well as during other networking opportunities.

About Mincron Software Systems

Mincron, a KCS Group company, provides innovative business management solutions designed specifically for hard goods distributors. Our flexible, scalable, fully integrated ERP systems drive productivity and sales, improve service and reduce costs — ultimately boosting profitability. Mincron offers both the SmartDistributor and K8 software solutions, which can be hosted on premise or in the cloud.

Mincron’s 100% implementation success rate builds a strong foundation for the partnerships that we value with our customers, which range from multi-national publically traded companies to single-location family owned businesses.

Press Contact:
Mary Jo Martin
Mincron Software Systems
mjmartin@mincron.com
281-999-7010 x3010

We take great pleasure in inviting you to Fusion’17, the combined user conference for all Dancik International and Mincron Software Systems customers. Dancik and Mincron are part of the Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS) Group of companies. It is an exciting time for us as we continue to grow and look for opportunities to build stronger relationships with our customers.

Fusion’17 will bring together experts from around the world ensuring a varied program full of learning, networking opportunities, and fun. The agenda will include guest speakers, and breakout sessions focused on all areas of your software to make sure you are getting the most from your investment.

Fusion’17 will be held at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, October 15-18, 2017. Fusion’17 is expected to be an engaging and interactive user experience. Experts from Dancik and Mincron will be available throughout the conference to share knowledge and answer questions. There will be lots of fun and networking opportunities as well!

Fusion’17 promises to be a great event for all Dancik and Mincron users! Save the date October 15-18, 2017 for Fusion’17.

Registration information for Fusion’17 and the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel will be available soon.

Members of the Midwest team in Traverse City include (from left) Jimmy Mowry, Ron McPherson, Jay Hallan, John Semeyn Jr. and John Semeyn Sr.

HOUSTON, Texas — Midwest Refrigeration Supply Company, one of Mincron’s newest customers, has successfully gone live on SmartDistributor 12.1.

The family owned HVAC/R wholesaler, founded in 1945, also provides in-house engineering services and rental tools. In addition to headquarters in Traverse City, Mich., the company has two locations in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

John Semeyn Jr., the fourth generation of his family at Midwest Refrigeration, believes the SmartDistributor ERP system will be instrumental in achieving their strategic long-term goals of growth, streamlining inventory and improving productivity, and opening new locations in Northern Michigan.

He was extremely pleased with how Mincron managed the implementation process and the hands-on support provided by the Mincron team. Semeyn added that the transition was the ideal opportunity for the company to make improvements to their data organization and item master list, and create a product labeling and description system that simplifies product searches.

“When I was interviewing software providers, it meant a lot to me that the Mincron sales guys had come from careers in distribution and were recommending a system they had first-hand experience using,” Semeyn said. “They know the needs of a business like ours, and how important it is to have a seamless transition when implementing a new system.

“I can’t emphasize enough the high level of support we received from everyone at Mincron. They followed through and delivered on the promises they made during the sales process. Whenever we called, a person answered the phone. Every time we had questions, our account manager was right there for us. And when we had some turnover in our accounting staff, Mincron even sent one of their trainers to help with our back office and ensure they were comfortable using the system.”

Semeyn also praised the staff at Midwest Refrigeration for their loyalty and efforts during the implementation.

“My biggest fear at the start was having them turn on me and not get on board with learning the new system,” he said. “But they really stepped up to the plate. We included them from the beginning in our meetings with Mincron to map out the implementation. And we spent time doing personal training at each location to increase their comfort level. SmartDistributor is so intuitive and easy to navigate that our staff was able to grasp it quickly and see the value and benefits it would provide us. I am so proud of all of them, and of my Dad — who has really embraced it, even though it took me several years to convince him we needed a new software solution.”

Semeyn said the time, effort and resources involved in the decision-making and implementation process have been well worth it.

“We could see operational improvements after just a few days,” he noted. “And within two weeks, I felt like everyone was already proficient in using the system.

“For wholesalers interested in exploring a new software option, I’d advise them to do their homework and research. Check out the people you’re going to be partnering with and be confident that they are going to follow through on their promises throughout implementation and into the future. The Mincron team was amazing to work with and totally put me at ease. Their on-site support was critical to our success. We couldn’t be more pleased with the process and early results. SmartDistributor was the tool we were missing to help us build our business to the next level.”

About Mincron

Mincron Software Systems, a KCS company, is a leading provider of innovative, powerful software solutions for wholesale distributor, logistics companies and other businesses requiring tightly integrated enterprise software solutions. Mincron serves customers with exceptional care, training and implementation. Over its 34-year history, the company has maintained a 100% implementation success rate. Mincron assists 16,000 active users in over 1,700 locations throughout the U.S. and Canada that distribute $18 billion of durable goods annually.

Press Contact:
Mary Jo Martin
Mincron Software Systems
mjmartin@mincron.com
281-999-7010 x3010

November 2016

HOUSTON, TEXAS — Empire Pipe & Supply has chosen to partner with Mincron Software Systems, a leader in providing complete ERP software solutions specifically targeted for durable goods wholesale distributors. Empire, a waterworks distributor based in Birmingham, Ala., with a second location in Tallahassee, Fla., will now run its operations on Mincron’s SmartDistributor core distribution management solution.

Mincron extends a warm welcome to all at Empire as they join the Mincron family of customers.

HOUSTON, Texas — Mincron is excited to announce that one of our newest customers, Midwest Refrigeration Supply Company, has successfully gone live on SmartDistributor 12.1.

Midwest Refrigeration is a fourth-generation family owned business that has proudly served HVAC/R contactors since 1945. In addition to distributing commercial refrigeration and HVAC products, they provide in-house engineering services and rental tools. Headquartered in Traverse City, Mich., Midwest Refrigeration also has two locations in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula; they plan to add more locations in Northern Michigan in the future.

Midwest Refrigeration’s leadership believes their new ERP system will help them achieve their strategic long-term goals of growth, streamlining inventory and improving productivity. Learn more about why Midwest Refrigeration Supply selected Mincron by visiting the News Center on our website at www.mincron.com, you can also learn more about Midwest Refrigeration at www.mwref.com.

November 2016

Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS) a global company headquartered in the UK has reached an agreement to acquire Integrity Software, based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and its successful suite of products. This acquisition is a key strategic investment for KCS in South Africa and a positive development for Integrity Software.

Click here to find out more:

HOUSTON — Mincron is delighted to announce that new customer R.L. Wurz Company has gone live on SmartDistributor 12.1!

R.W. Wurz, a leading construction materials distributor based in Cleveland, spent several years researching distribution software before selecting Mincron as their software solution partner. President Tom Lavelle said, “The two primary reasons we selected Mincron were their system excellence in the distribution industry and the quality of their people.”

R.L. Wurz offers a complete selection of specialty caulk, sealant, waterproofing, concrete and masonry products from top manufacturers. Its primary customers are contractors, architects, engineers and property managers. The company stays on the leading edge with the latest in products, LEED certifications, green building technology and warranties — and now the SmartDistributor fully integrated distribution management solution!

Mincron’s core solution, SmartDistributor, is a full ERP system that gives distributors the tools they need to most effectively manage, monitor and analyze all aspects of their business. Those capabilities maximize distributors’ efficiency, productivity and service — and ultimately, their profitability. Lavelle believes that Mincron’s solution will provide significant opportunities for the company.

R.L. Wurz was founded in 1933 by Ray L. Wurz, who was a pioneer in developing porcelain steel buildings and, despite the business conditions of The Depression, was able to build engineering systems while establishing a network of suppliers and customers. In the late 1950s, General Electric proposed that R.L. Wurz — their largest customer in Ohio — begin distributing its silicone sealants. That was the beginning of the company’s distribution business.

Lavelle, who had built a solid reputation in the construction supply business in Ohio, acquired the company in 2010. Since then, R.L. Wurz has opened locations in Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, expanded their sales force and brought on additional product lines. Much of their growth is credited to Lavelle’s commitment to customers.

They also built a large new warehouse that was designed to improve shipping/receiving efficiency and grow their inventory to better serve customers. SmartDistributor’s warehouse management and inventory control solutions will be instrumental in furthering those initiatives.

Mincron’s highly experienced team thrives on developing new, more efficient methods for distributor to perform routine tasks. These innovations give distributors new avenues for economic growth and competitive strategies for their company’s futures.

 “Service First” is the philosophy that the Mincron staff has in dealing with customers. It begins in the initial planning stages and consistently continues going forward. Customers are not just a number; each customer has a dedicated support team that knows them and their businesses.

The staff at Mincron also knows how to listen. Much of their new product development is done as the result of customer roundtables or special requests. That’s why they are proud to say that Mincron is Distributor Driven, by Design.

HOUSTON, Texas — Putnam Pipe, an independent and locally owned company serving the water, sewer and storm water industries since 1985, recently signed a contract with Mincron executives to convert to the Mincron SmartDistributor™ core ERP solution. Putnam, a Mincron customer since 2010, has locations in Hopkinton and Taunton, Mass. President David Putnam credits the combination of his team’s experience and long-term dedication to customer service for the company’s three decades of successful operations.

Putnam’s father, Elliot Putnam, founded the company after a multi-decade career in the water and sewer utility industries. His goals were to build a business based on the principals of integrity, service and fair competition that would offer competitive pricing, product knowledge and outstanding service.

David Putnam came on board in 1986, focusing on municipal and contractor sales. He continually grew his knowledge of the business and when his father retired in 2003, David succeeded to the position of President. In addition to extensive employee knowledge and strong relationships, Putnam has capitalized on the use of the most modern technology available. After upgrading to Mincron Release 12.1, Putnam decided to take the next step and convert to SmartDistributor, as well as become a subscriber of Mincron’s new SmartCubes frequent update program, to stay current with the latest technology available.

“Mincron has provided the perfect platform to allow our business to operate seamlessly on a daily basis and grow into the future,” said Putnam. “They understand distribution, know where we are headed, and provide unparalleled support for all functions of our business. Software is their primary product, but their people really make the difference.” 

Putnam users will participate in a four-hour training session with Mincron staff. The transition is a fairly simple one, with most of it centered on the differences users will experience in navigation. SmartDistributor is a complete distribution management system for customers ranging from multi-national corporations to single-location, locally owned businesses. It is tailored to meet our customers’ specific needs and easily adapt as your business grows and changes. SmartDistributor basically serves as a wholesaler’s command center, giving you the tools needed to most effectively manage, monitor and analyze all aspects of your business. Those capabilities maximize efficiency and productivity — and ultimately profitability. It is a Windows-based solution with easy point-and-click navigation and workbench-like design for users, and has an Executive Dashboard that provides immediate accessibility to critical, real-time state-of-your-business data for key management.

Mincron’s highly experienced team thrives on developing new, more efficient methods for distributor perform routine tasks. These innovations give our customers new avenues for economic growth and competitive strategies for your company’s future. Our staff operates with a “Service First” philosophy toward customers that begins in the initial planning stages and continues throughout our partnership. Customers are not just a number at Mincron. When you need support, 24/7/365, you’ll be dialing our Houston headquarters, and will speak with someone who knows you and your business. Their response time to your issue can be measured in minutes or hours — not days or weeks.

We also listen. Much of our new product development is done as the result of customer roundtables or special requests. That’s why we’re proud to say that Mincron is Distributor Driven, by Design.

HOUSTON — At the 2016 Mincron User Group Conference, Mincron announced the upcoming launch of SmartCubes, an innovative new method to more frequently get software updates into customers’ hands. The first SmartCube was released this summer! 

The SmartCubes concept is a result of Mincron’s desire to further improve the customer experience. These “byte sized” software updates will be released three to four times annually, which will simplify customers’implementation, ease the learning curve, and lesson the interruption to their businesses. SmartCubes will regularly add value to customers’ software solutions, enhancing their operations, business practices and service levels. They will also augment the agility of Mincron’s product development team. 
Features included in the first SmartCube version are:

•  A new Executive Dashboard that gives executives a real-time overview of their company’s business in an easy-to-use graphical format. It was developed based on customer input from a breakout session held during the 2015 User Group Conference. Available to SmartDistributor GUI users, the Dashboard presents Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that measure sales, inventory and financials. Customers can view this information by company, division, region or branch.

• A wide screen format for the Stock Status function provides much easier viewing for users. It puts more information at their fingertips, and alleviates the need to frequently toggle between screens. This is available to SmartDistributor GUI users.

• The workflow alert management system has been enhanced with a summarized view of triggered events and the ability for executives to take action by quickly reviewing and resolving the event notification. They can also filter events by selecting the specific job titles/executives to receive notifications for certain types of events.

• The rollout of SmartCubes is just one highlight from a very busy and exciting summer at Mincron that promises new opportunities for both the company and its customers. Kerridge Commercial Systems, a UK-based distribution software provider, acquired Mincron in July and quickly but thoughtfully began the transition process.

As KCS Executive Vice President for North America Alan Cross described, it was important to everyone at KCS and Mincron that business continued as usual during the transition. “A successful integration of the business is key to ensuring that our existing customers are not distracted by the acquisition,” he remarked. “However, being part of the KCS Group — which serves more than 800 global customers and 70,000 users —will provide the Mincron team with the resources and support they need to channel growth in both products and services, including new offerings such as a cloud-based software model.” 

Stay tuned for more launches and news to come from Mincron in the near and longer term! 

HOUSTON — Mincron has unveiled a fresh, stylish look that complements that of its new parent company. 
As announced in July, UK-based Kerridge Commercial Systems acquired Mincron and its successful SmartWare suite of products. KCS is easily recognizable in the European market by its signature magenta and graphite branding — and they are now splashing that color scheme across North America with their acquisitions of Mincron and Dancik International, a distribution-focused software provider in Cary, N.C.

Throughout its nearly four decades in business, Mincron has been dedicated to the highest level of service, leading to loyal, long-term relationships with their customers. KCS is equally as committed to helping distributors accomplish what they call “the four S’s”— four critical elements that help ensure the profitability of distributors’ businesses: 

• Source Effectively
• Stock Efficiently
• Sell Profitably 
• Service Competitively. 

This philosophy is so ingrained that it is graphically represented by four wavy lines that create a stylized “S” shape in the flag of the logos used by Mincron and all KCS Group companies.

In addition to the logo, one of the first initiatives to reflect Mincron’s new branding as part of the KCS family was the complete redesign of its website — a significant project that was accomplished in just two weeks!

“It was great teamwork ‘across the pond’ between our Houston office and the UK-based marketing staff,” praised KCS Executive Vice President Alan Cross. “I’m very proud of these two teams that quickly got down to business and worked exceptionally hard. Feeling part of the KCS Group is an extremely important part of the integration process.”

Mincron’s website is often its first introduction to potential customers as prospects are doing significantly more online research than ever before. So it’s important to convey the right messages and image. It’s also a great source of news and updates for existing customers, which helps strengthen those relationships and ensure continued confidence in Mincron’s business practices and capabilities.

The updated Mincron website is comprised of sections including:

• Overviews of the industries Mincron serves
• Features and benefits of Mincron’s SmartWare suite of products, including SmartDistributor, its core ERP solution
• The range of services available to customers from Mincron and its business partners
• A close-up look at Mincron’s leadership, philosophy, business partners and key reasons for a distributor to select Mincron as its software provider
•  A News Center that includes press releases, along with photos and brief descriptions of industry and customer events attended by Mincron staff
• Career opportunities at Mincron
• Testimonials describing some of Mincron’s best practices in dealing with customers
•  A password-protected Customer Portal. 

About Mincron

Mincron, part of the KCS Group of Companies, is a full-service provider of innovative, powerful software solutions for wholesale distributors, logistics companies and other businesses requiring tightly integrated enterprise software solutions. Its SmartWare solutions, highest-quality development and unmatched support give customers the business-specific tools and services they need to succeed. Mincron serves customers with exceptional care, training and implementation. Over its 34-year history, Mincron has maintained a 100% implementation success rate and an 88% customer retention rate.  Mincron assists 16,000 active users in over 1,700 locations throughout the U.S. and Canada that distribute $18 billion of durable goods annually.

Press Contact:  Mary Jo Martin
    Marketing Manager
    mjmartin@mincron.com
    281-999-7010 x3010

Mincron, the Mincron logo, SmartWare, SmartDistributor, StockSmart, ScanSmart, FabSmart and ConnectSmart are trademarks of Mincron Software Systems.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.  © 2013 Mincron Software Systems.  All rights reserved.

30TH  JUNE 2016

Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS), a global company headquartered in the United Kingdom, has reached an agreement to acquire Mincron Software Systems, based in Houston, Texas, and its successful suite of products. This acquisition is a key strategic investment for KCS and a welcome development for Mincron. The companies will form one of the strongest ERP offerings for the distributive trades in North America. 

KCS is the market-leading and award-winning provider of solutions with over 800 distributive trade customers worldwide, focusing on wholesalers/distributors/retailers and merchants in the construction, industrial and other sectors.

In parallel, Mincron has a 30-year history of delivering ERP solutions to a similar customer profile i.e. businesses that need to Source Effectively, Stock Efficiently, Sell Profitably and Service Competitively. The acquisition of Mincron by KCS follows the successful acquisition and integration of Cary, North Carolina-based Dancik International in July 2015.

Mincron will continue to focus on product innovation, including maintaining and supporting the existing SmartDistributor product suite while providing customers access to other products and services from the KCS portfolio.  

Speaking about the acquisition, Ian Bendelow, KCS Group CEO commented, “This is another key strategic acquisition for us and our second in North America in as many years.

"It strengthens our geographical presence in the North American market and provides a further platform for growth in this important region. Mincron aligns with our successful business strategy of focusing on trading and business management solutions for the distributive trades, including wholesalers, distributors, retailers, merchants and resellers.

"Our customers will benefit from this acquisition through greater strength and depth in our North American team to support our functionally rich solutions to meet their business goals & challenges.”

Wendy Berger, General Manager of Mincron stated, “The acquisition by KCS brings together two great companies with similar history, culture and customer profile. The combined resources will further strengthen the KCS brand in North America and I look forward to being part of the Group and leading the Mincron team into a new era of opportunity.”

As Executive Vice President for KCS Group in North America, Alan Cross will support Wendy and the team and help to ensure that that benefits of being part of the larger group are available to all our customers.

SmartDistributor serves as a wholesaler’s command center. It provides mission-critical tools for the most effective management, monitoring and analysis of every facet of a wholesaling business. Those capabilities maximize efficiency, productivity and, ultimately, profitability. All of this is done through a Windows-based interface with easy point-and-click navigation and a workbench-like design that provides immediate accessibility to information and data, and integrates with Microsoft Office.

John Semeyn Jr. is the fourth generation of his family at Midwest Refrigeration, and believes the conversion to SmartDistributor will be a key factor in helping the company achieve their strategic long-term goals. He spearheaded a multi-year search process during which he met with various ERP vendors. But Mincron stood out.

“Our former system’s functionality left much to be desired,” Semeyn said. “It required labor-intensive processes and work-arounds, so despite our great team, we were not gaining efficiencies. The time was right for us to upgrade to a much more robust software system. The Mincron system provides all the features we are looking for, especially when it comes to streamlining inventory and eliminating waste of both time and resources.

“During our search, we got very positive feedback on Mincron from other wholesalers around the country — many of whose businesses are at similar stages of forward-thinking growth that we are. The final deciding factor was the people. When I talked with [Sales Executive] Terry Dotson and met many members of the Mincron staff, I knew they were the people I wanted to work with. It is a great product that is backed up by a great team.”

Semeyn attended this year’s Mincron User Group Conference in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to learn more about the system, and spend time with the team and other customers. The experience solidified his decision. “Even though we haven’t finalized our implementation yet, going to the conference was so beneficial to me, because of the face time I was able to get with so many Mincron leaders and customers who are experienced with the system and had great advice. Converting to a new software is an expensive commitment that affects every area of our operations, so it’s a very big decision. Attending the conference really reassured me that I chose the right company to do business with.”

Mincron is extremely proud of its “Service First” philosophy of doing business and the long-term, loyal relationships they have built with customers. Customers are never a number at Mincron; each is assigned a dedicated support team who know them and their businesses well. And their response time can be measured in minutes, not days or weeks. Mincron is also dedicated to ensuring the most seamless transition possible when bringing a customer’s new system online. Their very experienced team has developed an implementation checklist of best practices that customers are guided through, and Mincron staff are there every step of the way, including critical real-world style training for users.

Midwest Refrigeration is now going through the final stages of implementation, and Semeyn is in countdown mode. “We’re at T-minus 30 days, and I can’t wait,” he said. “This was the perfect time to really clean up our entire system with product labeling and descriptions that will improve our ability to search for products. Our training sessions have gone very smoothly, and I’m proud of our team for their positive and willing attitude to make this change, which will help better position our company for the future.”

Midwest Refrigeration was founded in 1945 and in addition to its Traverse City headquarters, has two locations in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It is currently led by the third and fourth generation of the founding family — John Semeyn Sr. and John Semeyn Jr. The son wasn’t originally planning on a career in HVACR wholesaling; instead, he studied mechanical engineering and built a career in that field for a number of years. But in 2008, he decided to return to the family’s roots and join his father, believing he could have a positive impact on the business and make a difference in its future. “It’s been a great situation for all of us, because my Dad has a world of experience in the business, and I have added a fresh perspective with some new ideas to spur our growth. Our business has been very good, in fact, we’re now back to our pre-recession numbers. We’re confident that Mincron’s SmartDistributor will help us make even more improvements. I want to thank the entire team at Mincron for their help throughout the process. They have made each step of our implementation very smooth.”

###

About Mincron

Mincron Software Systems is a leading provider of innovative, powerful software solutions for wholesale distributors, logistics companies and other businesses requiring tightly integrated enterprise software solutions. Mincron serves customers with exceptional care, training and implementation.  Over its 34-year history, Mincron has maintained a 100% implementation success rate and an 88% customer retention rate.  Mincron assists 16,000 active users in over 1,700 locations throughout the U.S. and Canada that distribute $18 billion of durable goods annually.

Press Contact:        Mary Jo Martin

Mincron Software Systems

mjmartin@mincron.com

281-999-7010 x3010

Mincron, the Mincron logo, SmartWare, SmartDistributor, StockSmart, ScanSmart, FabSmart and ConnectSmart are trademarks of Mincron Software Systems.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.  © 2016 Mincron Software Systems.  All rights reserved.

STRENGTHENING CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS, INSPIRING WITH A HARD-HITTING
GUEST SPEAKER AND UNVEILING EXCITING NEW LAUNCHES THAT ARE COMING SOON!
 
HOUSTON, Texas — The natural landscape, idyllic setting and spectacular views of the Coeur d’Alene Resort were an enchanting divergence from the breadth and depth of discussion on the latest software and technology developments at the Mincron User Group Conference April 3-6.

Each attendee’s multi-level guest room in the resort’s tower included a fireplace for the chilly nights and overlooked the 25-mile-long, 10-mile-wide Lake Coeur d’Alene, once described by National Geographic as one of the five most beautiful lakes in the world. The Resort’s floating boardwalk is nearly ¾ of a mile long, 60-foot bridge and 362-slip marina were built with 16,000 cedar logs.

Interestingly, the name Coeur d’Alene itself reflects a strength in doing business — a practice Mincron has been dedicated to throughout its own history. Numerous American Indian tribes were spread across the Pacific Northwest and Northern Great Plains, but one in particular impressed the French fur trappers and traders who began to do business in the region in the late 18th century. The tribe’s experienced trading practices led the French to begin calling them “Coeur d’Alene,” meaning “Heart of the Awl” in reference to their sharp business skills. In fact, one of the Frenchmen described the tribe as “the greatest traders in the world.”

Mincron takes great pride in the way they have chosen to do business, with a laser-like focus on high-quality software solution development and a service-first philosophy when it comes to taking care of its customers. And the annual conference is the perfect illustration of the effectiveness and interconnection of those practices — it is an opportunity for Mincron to showcase its latest launches, as well as a chance to really listen to customers and further strengthen the existing bonds that have been built. Many of Mincron’s launches over the years have been developed as a response to feedback they’ve gathered from customers.

This year’s event kicked off with a Welcome Reception Sunday evening on the Lakeview Terrace followed by dinner. It was an opportunity for everyone to reconnect with those they had previously met, make some new friends and unwind together while soaking in the breathtaking views.

The Opening Session on Monday morning began with a welcome by Director of Client Relations Jonathan Lindle, followed by an overview by President Wendy Berger of Mincron’s growth in new customers and product direction, including the introduction of SmartCubes a new way for customers to regularly receive enhancements, and the ongoing partnership with Texas A&M University.

Director of Product Development Greg Neal then took the stage to expand on product announcements. Stay tuned for upcoming press releases on details of each of these new initiatives; in the meantime, here is a sneak peek at the exciting launches Mincron has planned for 2016.

• SmartCubes. Beginning with Release 12.1 in May, Mincron will begin offering smaller, more frequent releases. These SmartCubes are expected to be released four to six times annually, giving customer quicker access to the latest developments, as well as easier implementation and simplified training for your users.

• SmartDistributor will soon have a new executive dashboard with key performance indicators and drill-down capability, workflow event alerts, wide screen stock status, as well as an enhanced item prompter that is customer specific.

• WebSmart Gen III, for B2B and B2C commerce, that features a highly illustrated, detailed and integrated Web commerce.

• SigSmart, an enhanced signature capture app that can be used for deliveries or counter sales, with or without truck routing. It allows users to attach pictures to orders and make delivery notes and exceptions.

• ShowSmart, a three-part showroom app that includes a greeter, customer showroom shopping app and sales associate app.

• ScanSmart, which enables both Apple and Android devices to scan products from a warehouse or counter area.

• Comprehensive Vendor Rebate Tracker that makes it easier to manage all aspects of rebates due.

• Mincron is the software of choice for the Industrial Distribution program at Texas A&M. Mincron is supporting classes, labs, speaking engagements and field trips to customers.

As one customer noted in the follow conference survey, “Thanks for all of the effort you put into planning these conferences. You were very generous with your hospitality. The location, facilities, speaker, food and entertainment were all first class. It definitely sets you apart from other software vendors.”

A new customer commented, “I had a great experience at my first Mincron User Conference. Everyone was really friendly and fun to be around. I really liked the pace of the event; it was a perfect mix of business sessions and networking fun. It’s exciting to hear about all the new developments. I came home with some great take-aways that will benefit me and help my company be even more successful.”

Out of the box keynoter
To be at the cutting edge of technology, Mincron has had to think outside the proverbial box. And this year as a special treat for its customers, Mincron brought that same attitude to the table when selecting a guest speaker. Jay Dobyns’ thrilling catches for the University of Arizona earned him the adulation of cheering Wildcat fans and All-Pac 10 first team recognition in the mid-1980s. After college, he traded in his helmet, cleats and pads for a much more dangerous — and far less glamorous — assignment as a Special Agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms (ATF). Over his 25+ year career, Dobyns was part of more than 500 undercover operations, including some of the most high-profile criminal and terrorism events in the U.S., such as the Los Angeles riots, the Branch Davidian standoff, Columbine High School massacre and Murrah Federal Building bombing. But he is best known as one of the only people to have ever successfully infiltrated the Hells Angels. As “Jaybird Davis,” he spent two years undercover with the extraordinarily dangerous Operation Black Biscuit. Dobyns later chronicled that experience in his memoir No Angel, which became a New York Times best seller and has been translated into nearly 20 languages. It is currently in production as a feature film.

During his presentation, Dobyns shared some riveting behind-the-scenes professional and personal stories from both his football and undercover career, some of which drew laughs and others, gasps. He very candidly and authentically described both his successes and his struggles — and the lessons he learned from each.

Throughout his presentation, you could have heard a pin drop. People were on the edge of their seats listening to his words and stories. And they showed their appreciation for Dobyns’ heroism, humility and honesty with a rousing standing ovation at the end.

As one long-time customer noted, “I’ve never seen a standing ovation like that at this conference before. Kudos to Mincron for thinking outside of the box and hosting a true American hero to inspire us.”

Dobyns’ easy-going approachability is a sharp contrast to his appearance, and was also praised by many customers. “It was great that he shared so much time with us and attended all of our functions. It really felt like we got to know him as a person. He was so engaging — what a character!”

Balancing work with some fun, too
Each day was filled with interactive educational sessions focused on various Mincron solutions and best practices, as well as hands-on learning opportunities. There is a lot of information to absorb over the three days of sessions. So Mincron always makes an effort to provide social and networking opportunities for customers throughout their conferences. This year was no exception. Each night featured a delicious dinner, beverages and music.

Monday evening’s event was a definite highlight. Following a reception in the Expo center, which featured booths which showcased Mincron’s products and its business partners, everyone boarded a boat at the resort marina for a one-hour sunset cruise on the lake. It docked at the Hagadone Events Center, a spectacular 11,000-square-foot venue with amazing views, huge fireplaces, a TV to watch the nail-biter Final Four championship game — and terrific classic dance music by the Rhythm Dawgs that had attendees on their feet and showing their favorite moves.

Mincron also set aside one afternoon for organized off-site activities, which included zip-lining, a gold mine tour and gondola ride, and a golf tourney. As Lindle noted, “Unlike the conferences that many of us attend every year, at Mincron’s User Conference we try to balance the educational opportunities with inspirational guest speakers, such as Jay Dobyns, and plenty of networking activities. We plan conference dinners every night so that attendees can meet other users, Mincron staff and business partners. We also schedule additional networking options to give our attendees the ability to do things as a group that they might not be able to do at home, such as zip-lining through the trees at Coeur d’Alene! Our goal is that our attendees return home inspired and armed with new contacts and new ideas garnered throughout the conference.”

All in all, the Mincon User Group Conference is designed to increase customer engagement, facilitate conversations and strengthen the bond between Mincron, its customers and its service provider partners. No one is a number or a stranger at Mincron. And that is very evident to anyone attending the conference.

As one of the business partners noted in an e-mail to Mincron’s leadership following the recent event, “The face to face time we get with customers is so valuable to us, and to building a strong relationship. I think the customers really benefited from being able to stop by our table throughout the day and ask questions about their business and environment, etc. Congratulations to all for putting together another flawless conference! Coeur D’Alene was absolutely beautiful; the facilities were terrific and I still miss the view from my room! We also appreciated the chance to join customers for zip-lining — I think risking our lives together bonded us for life!”

In closing, Wendy Berger commented, “This conference provides us a valuable opportunity to spend time with our customers. We can share our specific announcements as well as our vision for the software going forward. We learn so much from our customers, about their businesses, their challenges, and their needs. This really helps us as we plan for new development going forward.

“We also enjoy just sitting down and chatting with our customers, who are like family to us. In today’s fast-paced, competitive world, we know it’s not easy for our customers to make time to participate in an event like this. We we are so grateful they do, and that they see the value in spending time with us too!”

About Mincron
Mincron Software Systems is a leading provider of powerful software solutions for wholesale distributors and serves customers with exceptional care, training and implementation. Over its 34-year history, Mincron has maintained a 100% implementation success rate and an 88% customer retention rate. Mincron assists active users throughout the U.S. and Canada in over 1,700 locations, and customers rely on Mincron to distribute $18 billion of durable goods annually.

Press Contact: Mary Jo Martin
Mincron Software Systems
mjmartin@mincron.com
281-999-7010 x3010

Mincron, the Mincron logo, SmartWare, SmartDistributor, WebSmart, SigSmart, ScanSmart, ShowSmart and SmartCubes are trademarks of Mincron Software Systems. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

HOUSTON, TEXAS — Mincron Software Systems, a leading provider of complete ERP distribution management solutions for durable goods wholesalers, recently appointed Mary Jo Martin as Marketing Manager for Mincron.

Mary Jo has dedicated the last two decades to covering the plumbing, HVAC and industrial PVF markets for leading industry publications, and since 2002 was Editorial Director of The Wholesaler. She spent much of her time on the road building relationships with wholesalers, manufacturers and reps throughout the country, as well as supporting various associations and buying groups.

At Mincron, that extensive experience will allow Mary Jo to cultivate a full-scale marketing effort that supports the company’s executive, sales, product development, implementation and customer service teams. Among the areas she will concentrate on are:

• Spotlighting the latest in Mincron’s innovative product launches, programs, partnerships and services

• Sharing testimonials in print and online that illustrate the tremendous loyalty between Mincron and its customers, as well as providing real world examples of the ROI and benefits customers realize from Mincron solutions

• Launching an encompassing and active social media presence that adds another level of communication and engagement with customers, while increasing Mincron’s overall visibility

• Boosting Mincron’s industry footprint through active involvement with national and regional associations and groups.

“Mincron has built a successful business over the last three decades because of our unwavering dedication to innovative product development and our ‘service first’ philosophy, both of which help customers achieve better bottom line results,” said President Wendy Berger. “The addition of Mary Jo’s experience, relationships and long-standing reputation in the industry will be a great benefit to both Mincron and our customers, as she will accelerate and broaden our marketing and communications efforts. You’ll be seeing and hearing much more from us on a regular basis! And on a personal level, she is an ideal ‘fit’ with the Mincron team.”

Mary Jo’s familiarity with Mincron and its staff was key in her decision to make such a significant career move. “As a journalist covering Mincron’s conferences for many years, I’ve witnessed first-hand the camaraderie among the staff, as well as the depth of their customer relationships,” she said. “I am delighted to join such an outstanding team and continue participating in this industry that is so special to me. I look forward to implementing marketing efforts that showcase the tremendous work being done daily within Mincron, enhance our customer engagement, and help further the industry to which we are dedicated.”

Mary Jo will continue to be based in Dallas. She has a degree in Sports Marketing from the University of Iowa, and remains a proud member of #HawkeyeNation. You are welcome to follow her on social media for a close up view of her adventures with Mincron, the industry and life  — find her on Facebook at maryjomartintx or @maryjomartin on Twitter.

And please be sure to follow Mincron Software Systems on social media!. You can link directly to our pages by clicking on: Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

About Mincron

Mincron Software Systems is a leading full-service provider of complete ERP software solutions for wholesale distributors and serves customers with exceptional care, training and implementation.  Over its 34-year history, Mincron has maintained a 100% implementation success rate and an 88% customer retention rate.  The company has a Net Promoter Score™ of plus 24 — two times higher than the average U.S. company. More than 1,700 customer locations throughout the U.S. and Canada rely on Mincron to help them efficiently and and profitably distribute $18 billion of durable goods annually.

Press Contact:         Mary Jo Martin

                                Mincron Software Systems

                                mjmartin@mincron.com

                                281-999-7010 x 3010

Copyright © 2014 Mincron Software Systems. All rights reserved. SmartDistributor is a registered trademark. FabSmart, Mincron, and the Mincron logo, are trademarks of Mincron Software Systems. All other product or company names mentioned are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Houston, Texas—Mincron Software Systems, a leading full-service provider of complete ERP software systems for wholesale distribution, today announced the successful implementation by Fence and Deck Connection of Mincron’s SmartDistributor ERP System and Mincron’s FabSmart™ Complementary Application for Light Manufacturing Services. The multi-company implementation includes Fence and Deck Connection’s sister companies, Fence and Deck Direct and Monument Supply. The Fence and Deck companies are leading distribution businesses for fencing, decking, railing and fabrication in the state of Maryland.

To encourage the synergy between its companies, Fence and Deck selectedSmartDistributor for its robust capabilities for multi-company processing and accounting. Fence and Deck companies are now able to easily transfer materials between companies without having to perform inter-company buying transactions. Fence and Deck is also leveraging SmartDistributor enhancements for time-saving automation for enhanced consolidated project invoicing. Taking advantage of Mincron’s robust suite of Complementary Applications, Fence and Deck also implemented Mincron’s FabSmart for Light Manufacturing Services for their railings business. FabSmart streamlines Fence and Deck’s in-house fabrication process with powerful features for tracking raw materials and reporting the accurate cost of finished goods.

“With Mincron’s ERP solutions, we’re automating our multi-company functions for transfers, invoicing and reporting to streamline our business management and operations,” said James Rubush, Co-Owner & President, Fence and Deck Connection. “These new capabilities are crucial to our plans for growth and expansion, and with the system’s integrated tracking and reporting tools, we’re able to maximize our margins while we offer great service and the best pricing to our customers.”

“We’re happy to announce the successful SmartDistributor implementation for Fence and Deck companies, and we’re excited to work closely with them in the years to come,” said Wendy Berger, President, Mincron Software Systems. “Fence and Deck is another example of how Mincron works tirelessly to ensure our customers achieve and exceed their goals—every day, all day—by putting service first and making sure they succeed from day one with our technology.”

SmartDistributor is Mincron’s core solution for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) with comprehensive mission-critical tools for powerful distribution business management, monitoring, and analysis. Enabling complete, enterprise-wide control of inventory management, sales order processing, purchasing and financials, SmartDistributor offers a flexible Windows-based Graphical User Interface (GUI) with dynamic point-and-click navigation. A workbench-like design gives users an efficient one-screen view of customer details, product information, inventory status, orders, contracts and bids. This intuitive design and powerful capabilities help customers save time and reduce costs so they can focus on serving their own customers.

FabSmart is a SmartDistributor Complementary Application specifically designed for Light Manufacturing enabling make-to-order, assemble-to-order and engineer-to-order services for items such as kits or combinations that can be sold by offering in-warehouse assembly. Products can be fabricated based on regional specification sheets, grade of raw materials can be refined, and metals can be fabricated all while the system tracks the processes and costs associated with the fabricated items.

HOUSTON, Texas—Mincron Software Systems, a leading provider of complete solutions for durable goods distributors, today announced the selection of its SmartDistributor™ Solution by W.A. Bragg & Company, a leading distributor of residential and commercial plumbing, electrical and irrigation supplies, along with major appliances. With corporate offices in Augusta, Georgia, W.A. Bragg maintains six branches in Georgia and South Carolina. W.A. Bragg will use powerful SmartDistributor capabilities to enable advanced order processing and handling, and to streamline their multi-branch inventory replenishment.

“We’ve found the comprehensive ERP solution we’ve been looking for,” said Brian Bragg, President of W.A. Bragg & Company. “Mincron’s SmartDistributor gives us a common platform for our business processes, information, applications and inventory – across all departments and locations. A good example of the benefits of this new platform is our ability to tap into all our existing resources with real-time online order processing with which we can enter an order with a single transaction that will ship from any branch, or vendor.”

SmartDistributor inventory management, replenishment and purchasing utilizes Mincron’s proprietary flexible inventory replenishment methodology that allows wholesalers to:

Reduce “lost sales” without increasing inventory levelsMinimize the need for surplus inventoryRespond quickly to back-order and low stock situationsReceive pre-price increase alerts with quantity adjustment recommendationsPromote and allow for transferring surplus quantityIncrease service levels and inventory turnsUtilize “cross-docking”Enable easy access to company-wide inventoryDecrease the number of “item touches”
“SmartDistributor benefits multi-branch distributors like W.A. Bragg,” said Wendy Berger, President of Mincron Software Systems. “With an accurate view of their entire business across locations, W.A. Bragg will maximize productivity and efficiency while minimizing surplus inventory and costs. We’re excited to work hand-in-hand with them to implement SmartDistributor.”

SmartDistributor is the Mincron core solution for wholesale distributor Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) with comprehensive mission-critical tools for powerful business management, monitoring, and analysis. Enabling complete, enterprise-wide control of inventory management, sales order processing, purchasing and financials, SmartDistributor offers a flexible Windows-based Graphical User Interface (GUI) with dynamic point-and-click navigation.

SmartDistributor is available today. Email info@mincron.com or call 1-800-299-7010 for details.

HOUSTON, Texas—Mincron Software Systems, a leading provider of complete solutions for durable goods distributors, today announced that Lion Plumbing Supply, Inc., a leading distributor of pipe, valves, fittings, fixtures, tools, supplies and accessories, is implementing Mincron SmartDistributor™ Solution for ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and will use it to consolidate business-wide operational processes and will also implement Mincron ScanSmart™ Application to enhance their use of RF (Radio Frequency) Technology for barcode scanning. Lion’s use of Mincron solutions will powerfully reinforce business efforts to stabilize cost-effective inventory management, improve employee efficiency, and streamline order processing.

“The time is right for Lion to gain all the advantages of a partnership with Mincron and their comprehensive SmartDistributor ERP system,” said Paul Gentile, President and COO of Lion Plumbing Supply, Inc. “The complete automation of our business will allow us to further enhance the ways we serve our customers which, in turn, positively impacts the way our customers serve their customers. Mincron delivers the platform and tools we need to manage for increased efficiencies, growth and long-term success.”

SmartDistributor provides mission-critical tools for powerful business management, monitoring and analysis and control of inventory management, sales order processing, purchasing and financials. The use of SmartDistributor with ScanSmart allows wholesalers to maximize efficiency with full integration of an ERP System with RF Technology to “go paperless” with barcode scanning and accurately track, manage, and replenish inventory while reducing handling and repackaging.

“Mincron knows our business inside and out,” said Pauline Levesque, Controller/IT. “During our ERP solution evaluation process, Mincron’s “hands on” approach and expertise was clearly evident in their software and distribution business expertise. We’re very confident that Mincron will be there for us every step of the way.”

“We’re looking forward to a long and successful partnership with Lion Plumbing,” said Wendy Berger, President of Mincron Software Systems. “Lion is a company a lot like us: they’ve been around for a long time, they’re experts at what they do, they’re focused on customer service, and they treat their customers and employees like family. These important similarities will make for a strong, productive relationship.”

SmartDistributor enables complete, enterprise-wide control of inventory management, sales order processing, purchasing and financials. Its flexible Windows-based Graphical User Interface (GUI) with dynamic point-and-click navigation makes the system easy-to-use and offers a workbench-like design one screen management of all a wholesalers’ needs. SmartDistributor is available today. Email info@mincron.com or call 1-800-299-7010 for details.

CARY, NC – June 15, 2016- Dancik International, provider of integrated software solutions focused on servicing the building materials, lumber, floor coverings, home décor, electrical and plumbing distribution, wholesale and retail markets, announced today that Milwaukee Builders Supply, Inc. has selected K8 to support their substantial wholesale building materials distribution business.  K8 is a fully-integrated Business Management solution for LBM distributors, wholesalers, suppliers and retailers.

Milwaukee Builders Supply was founded in 2004 and quickly grew to be one of the largest wholesale building materials distributors in southeastern Wisconsin. They have experienced many of the issues associated with using a manual system; inadequate stock control, inability to meet accounting requirements, identifying sales opportunities and general business concerns. Success and growth have brought about a need for an integrated solution to support streamlined processes and further expansion.

Milwaukee Builders Supply was introduced to Dancik International at the North American K8 product launch at the International Builders Show (IBS) held in Las Vegas, January 2016. “I was impressed with K8 from the first demo at IBS and continue to be impressed by the robust nature of the system, and the knowledge and expertise of the Dancik team. We evaluated K8 against multiple competitive products in the US market, and K8 stood out above the rest as the clear choice for us. It was obvious to me that K8 was the software we must deploy,” stated John Lambie, President, Milwaukee Builders Supply, Inc.

K8 was able to fulfill all the company’s business requirements. K8’s integrated modules include in-store sales, online sales, price and margin control, promotion management, financials, inventory management, business intelligence (BI) and customer relationship management (CRM), all provided in a fully hosted solution by Dancik International.

"Alan Cross, KCS Executive Vice President North America, stated, "It's a testament to the strength and depth of the software that enabled the MBS team to select K8 ahead of well-established North American ERP providers, and we are delighted they were able to make that decision. The Dancik team now look forward to achieving a successful implementation." 

Genesee Tile is a wholesale distributor and retailer of tile, flooring material and carpet.  Genesee Tile is a family owned and operated business for more than 40 years, first opening for business in 1973.

Go Live – Navigator and Selection Sheet Manager

Genesee Tile completed installation and go live on Navigator and Selection Sheet Manager.  This is the 2^nd of two companies in the Genesee Tile umbrella to go live with Dancik.  Genesee Tile, the flagship of the two companies previously used Profit21 as their ERP.  Genesee Tile operates branches in Burton, Kentwood, Farmington Hills, and Sterling Heights, Michigan.

BJ Cokley stated, “We have been looking forward to this for two years.”  

By deploying Navigator and Selection Sheet Manager, Genesee Tile will increase operational efficiency while providing enhanced service to their customer base.

No matter how you and your customers contact each other, via your website or e-commerce site, through telesales or phone calls to branch stores or head office, via your trade counter or retail store, or on email or social media, your customers want the exchange to be consistent, personal and intelligent.

Omni-Channel Commerce: What Goes Wrong?

This 2016 survey of more than 1700 consumers in the UK and mainland Europe, the US and Australia shows that 98% use more than one channel to engage with suppliers, with the average number of channels being 5.6.  A third use more than seven channels. However, only 24% of these consumers had seamless experiences; the rest reported challenges in switching from one channel to another.

While the survey respondents were customers of telecoms, financial services, and insurance providers, these issues are no less real or important for suppliers in the distributive trades.

Key challenges that frustrate customers include:

• Inconsistent information: for example, product codes on the website don’t match those in the printed catalogue. Telephone sales staff aren’t aware of an offer that was made via an email campaign.
• Information, actions or account history don't transfer between methods; for example, telesales staff offers a discount that doesn’t appear when the order is placed later online. A customer wants to use the e-commerce site to duplicate an order that was originally made in person via the trade counter, but only the online order history shows up.
• More than one sales person works on the same issue: for example, a customer places a complex sales order including work orders that need to be fulfilled. When the same customer calls back with another instruction, they have to repeat all the original details to a new sales person.

The research revealed the top five omni-channel customer service experiences that customers enjoy are:

• My issue is resolved immediately (51%). Customers don’t want to wait. However they have chosen to approach your company, there is something they need, and it’s likely to be preventing them from getting on with their business.  Resolving their issue immediately may be as simple as having the right information on your e-commerce site.  This means not only ensuring that the site is up to date at all times, but also structured so that the information can be easily found.
• The rep already knows what I need and provides me with an immediate solution (49%). While your sales staff can’t actually be clairvoyant, they can appear to be if they have access to up-to-date, detailed customer information, such as account profile and order history, responses to marketing campaigns, credit information, personalized offers and discount information and targeted upselling and cross-selling suggestions.
• The rep knows what I already did in a self-service channel (42%). This requires you to take a customer-centric view of all activities, not a product, branch or sales centric view, and it requires customer account information to be updated in real-time.
• My information/actions are forwarded from department to department (42%). So accounts are aware of a returned order, and don’t invoice for it; marketing are aware when the key decision maker changes role; delivery drivers know when customers have introduced a new goods received procedure.
• My routine needs are answered proactively (40%). You proactively contact customers when you are aware of a problem, before they have a chance to contact you. You remind customers about a quarterly order – and proactively check whether they want a duplicate order for their new branch.  You proactively email a quotation before the customer has got off the phone. 

Combining these experiences with a reliable and fully integrated ERP system, you will be able to offer your customers the best service possible.

Managing your warehouse in a cost effective and efficient way is one of the key components of a successful business.

That’s why our most recent version of K8, K8 Babbage, is our most comprehensive and reliable release to date. As with our other modules, our warehouse management software, can assist you in achieving effective warehouse management.

What are the key features?

• Products can be picked on a handheld device. This means that you can react to your customers’ orders without reliance on paperwork. This is much quicker and more efficient and therefore means you give your customers the best service possible.
• Easy to use and intuitive. The K8 software has been designed to make it as easy as possible for you to manage the stock in your warehouse.

Receive a FREE warehouse tip sheet via email

• Anytime anywhere access - Chrome-based browser access allows you to use tablets and a wide variety of desktops to access vital information. This allows you to look at up to the minute information wherever you are and make informed decisions based on the data. This is a tricky one because browser client doesn’t support WMS apart from the ability to view data.
• Links with other K8 modules – Like the rest of K8, the WMS module is fully integrated with our other modules meaning that you can keep tight control over your stock, sales, purchases, movements and replenishments in your warehouse and different branches.
• Improved warehouse management putaways – To save you time, the system can allocate your products automatically to your storage bins. It uses the physical attributes of your products and your storage bin to calculate this. You can also change the destination bin and number on LPN labels yourself manually if required.

What can it do for your business?

The highly advanced software can assist with your stock and returns; shipping and receiving; putaways, picking and pick-face replenishment.

It can also work cross-dock and across bulk stores and accessed on hand-held devices to facilitate efficient management throughout your warehouse space.

Denver Hardwood Company is a wholesale distributor of hardwood flooring and installation products serving the states of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming. The company’s focus is on hardwood and laminate flooring. They are partnered with a broad spectrum of best-in-class manufacturers to provide a wide selection, quality, and innovation demanded by flooring contractors, flooring retailers, architects and design professionals.

Go Live - Navigator
​Denver Hardwood Company has just completed installation and go live on Navigator.  This is the 2^nd of six companies in the Denver Hardwood umbrella to go live.  The Denver Hardwood Company is the flagship of the six companies.  North Georgia Flooring was the first company in the Denver Hardwood Company umbrella to go live.   Additional companies will go live over the coming months.

By deploying Navigator, Denver Hardwood will increase operational efficiency while providing enhanced service to their customer base. 

What does Omni-Channel Commerce mean?

Put simply; it means engaging with your customers, for sales, marketing, and customer services, across multiple channels, in such a way that they have a consistent experience of your organization, regardless of channel or device.

But my customers are tradespeople or other businesses, not consumers.

Please read on. Research by Forrester shows that B2B customers’ expectations have shifted: they expect the same level of omni-channel service from their business suppliers as they get from consumer retailers.

Isn’t this just a new name for multi-channel?

Good question.  There is some debate about this. However, we see the difference as being:

Multi-channel: Using more than one channel to engage with customers.  For example, selling online as well as having a trade counter, or having a social media presence as well as using direct marketing. A multi-channel approach is more tactical and reactive than an omni-channel approach: the channels are discreet, and there is no attempt to give customers a seamless experience.

Omni-channel: Using more than one channel to engage customers, and having an overall strategy that ensures that customers have the same experience, regardless of channel AND regardless of the device they are using to engage.  Where a multi-channel approach can be seen as supplier-centric, omni-channel puts the customer at the center.

For example, a customer could search your inventory and order online from their mobile device, log in later and amend the order from a PC, receive delivery tracking information via text message, and message your customer service department via Twitter to report a problem with delivery.  The customer would expect their account and order information to be updated in real time and to be accessible across each of these platforms.

Sounds complicated. Why do I need this?

Three reasons. 

1.      Your customers want it: Two-thirds of B2B suppliers surveyed said that their customers are expecting omni-channel capabilities. The study showed that B2B buyers want the same fulfillment capabilities, inventory visibility, convenience and functionality they are used to as consumers.

2.      It will increase customer loyalty and drive profit: 72% of B2B companies surveyed said omni-channel customers are worth substantially more to them, and 51% said these customers have a higher lifetime value. 83% agreed that ‘we will drive more sales and profit by becoming an omni-channel company.'

3.      Your competitors are doing it: 87% of B2B suppliers surveyed agreed that ‘to serve today’s customers we have to improve our omni-channel capabilities.' 86% agreed that ‘becoming an effective omni-channel company will be critical to our long-term success.’  

OK, I’m in.  Where do I start?

The research concludes that suppliers must leverage technology to serve savvy buyers. The companies surveyed were installing or upgrading e-Commerce systems, investing in order management and using data and analytics to understand how best to provide personalized experiences for their customers. Building an omni-channel strategy requires an integrated approach across all touchpoints in the B2B buyer journey, as well as the right platform to provide that integrated approach.

CARY, NC – May 18, 2016- Dancik International provider of integrated software solutions focused on servicing the building materials, lumber, floor coverings, home décor, electrical and plumbing distribution, wholesale and retail markets announced today that BR Funsten & Co. have agreed to license K8 and Web Builder for up to 200 users to include professional services and hosting. Dancik is delighted that BR Funsten & Co. selected K8 to support their growing building supplies distribution business across the West Coast of the United States.

BR Funsten & Co. serves as the parent company to both the Tom Duffy Company and Commercial Solutions and provides the most comprehensive group of products and services across all flooring channels. Founded in 1956, BR Funsten & Co. has grown into one of the ten largest flooring wholesalers in the nation. Since acquiring the Tom Duffy Company, the business has evolved from primarily a flooring distribution business to a leading building supplies distributor with 28 branches across California, Arizona, and Nevada.

"K8 will provide us with the capability to continue to expand the business with the confidence that we have the right system and functionality to support our business objectives and enhance our customer service capacity. K8 was a clear choice for us," stated Anne Funsten, President of BR Funsten & Co.

Alan Cross, KCS Executive Vice President of North America, said, "We are a delighted that BR Funsten & Co. has selected K8. We have worked closely together to understand their business model and in turn, demonstrate the strength and depth of the software to meet their business goals."

The project is expected to commence without delay with both BR Funsten & Co. and Dancik eager to move to the implementation phase. The Dancik project management team will be working closely with BR Funsten & Co. in the coming months to ensure a successful go-live.

'Enterprise Resource Planning’ is a term that was coined in the 1960’s but the software that we know today was only developed in the 1990’s. Essentially the concept revolves around the requirement for real-time information and the streamlining of business processes, particularly as enterprises grow.

Initially, when a business has seen some expansion it is run using disparate systems governing finance, HR, and stock control. This is ok in a small business but can very quickly become over-stretched and cumbersome as the business grows.

ERP Software Revolutionizes Business Processes

The way that ERP software revolutionizes business processes can be seen throughout the various departments in any given business. With the business management system software, each of the business units - from HR through procurement, finance to delivery - is integrated, providing distribution information as part of the core business model. This ensures accurate and real-time information on stock, cost, and scheduling; all the way through to the shipping schedules in the route to market. For the majority of enterprises, this streamlines working practices on the floor as much as the information flow to management.

With separate spreadsheets and standalone applications there is a great deal of re-keying required to provide reports on capacity, stock management, and sales data, but with ERP these are all integrated into a system that talks to each business unit and the information can be pulled into reports encompassing many aspects of business.

The uses of this kind of streamlining process are evident for those at the top of the chain. Providing real-time information makes any inefficiencies glaringly obvious and makes dealing with these issues a more efficient and timely operation. Whether it is a distribution issue or procurement, the information provided by the integrated systems will flag both underutilization and lack of capacity. It will also highlight overspend in any area of the business so that decisions to reallocate budget is more clear cut.

How much will an ERP Solution cost your business?

Historically, the cost of implementing such business software has been a barrier to growth for some businesses. This barrier has now lessened as the variety of options have grown. Modular provisions are ideal for tailoring the software to your individual business model but still provides clear automated core business operation processes.

The bottom line for your business is your customers’ satisfaction, and ERP Software will contribute to ensuring your customers continue to purchase from you. By making your processes smoother, and fulfilment of orders more streamlined, any issue with distribution will be highlighted in advance, giving you time to align expectation or relocate stock to fulfil orders. Good communication with your customers and the end user is imperative to maintaining a positive brand image in these days of social marketing.

In summary, although there is a significant outlay involved in buying into the ERP software solution for your growing business, the returns you will reap will ensure it is of significant value for the future of the business. Management and employees can make better decisions faster and streamline your efficiencies for an advantage in the marketplace.

The Coverings’16 trade show has come to a close, and our follow-ups are well underway. It was a pleasure meeting so many people seeking integrated business management solutions as well as building stronger relationships with current customers. More than 23,000 industry professionals attended, and 1,100 global companies exhibited the latest products and cutting edge technology.

The Dancik team stayed busy for the duration of the trade show providing Navigator demonstrations, answering questions and listening to our customers. In addition to the activity at the booth, DNav-crm was featured in the software showcase. Our own emerging industry expert presented DNav-crm to a large and interested crowd.

The Dancik team had a fantastic time in Chicago, and we would like to thank everybody who stopped by to meet the team and learn more about Navigator. The Dancik products will be showcased at many upcoming events and trade shows as we strengthen our influence in the flooring, tile, home décor, and wholesale distribution markets.

Stock control is all about balance: having sufficient goods available that any item can be supplied without delay, without tying up too much money in stock.  Sounds simple, but whether you're a wholesaler, distributor, supplier or retailer, carrying hundreds, thousands or millions of products, getting stock control right is both complex and crucial.

Why is stock control important?​

Lots can go wrong.

• Having too much stock: A 2013 report into the finances of 1,000 top US companies found that, between them, they had nearly half a trillion dollars ($459 billion) unnecessarily held in inventory, due to inferior practices. As well as tying up money in stock, having too much stock can result in you paying too much for storage, or risking goods becoming obsolete, or perishing.

• Having too little stock: As well the risk of letting your customers down, too frequent ordering incurs additional handling costs, and ordering in smaller amounts won’t get you the best prices from suppliers.

• Poor visibility and control: Poor control leads to errors such as selling the same stock twice, duplicating orders, and failing to take supplier lead times into account.

Methods of stock control

Many depend on industry and type of stock. Some of those most relevant in wholesale distribution include:

• Fixed order quantity or fixed time period: Ordering a fixed quantity, or at a pre-determined time is simple, but not particularly flexible or responsive to the reality of fluctuations in demand.

• Setting stock control levels: It is more effective to create a set of detailed inventory levels such as maximum, minimum, re-ordering and danger level. This method relies on frequent stock checks to ensure it is accurate.

• ABC method: This involves allocating items or ‘stock control units’ (SKUs) to categories A to C depending on contribution to sales, and then focusing stock control efforts accordingly. This method relies on understanding how to categorize SKUs as well as being able to react to change. For example, do some items move fast in summer months but more slowly in winter?

• Perpetual inventory control: Continuous updating of inventory levels based on transactions. This method is superior to conducting periodic stock takes, but can’t be done manually and relies on using stock control software.

• Cycle counting: Ongoing stock taking of a small sample of SKUs at a time, in order to cycle through the entire inventory. This is less time consuming than full stock checks, and feeds into perpetual inventory control, correcting for lost or broken stock or scanning errors.

Stock control software

Manually keeping track of all of this data can be a massive headache.  This is why so many wholesalers, distributors, suppliers, and retailers use stock control software.

Automated stock control systems not only make it easier to keep track of your stock levels, they enable you to analyze inventory data to uncover opportunities to improve. A 2011 study found that best in class supply organizations can improve inventory levels by between 20% and 50% by employing analytical tools.

 Advantages of stock control systems include:

• Visibility for informed decisions: you have the data you need to conduct inventory analysis and implement and track improvements.

• Centralized control over branches: you can coordinate so that each location has the stock it needs, despite differences in demand.

• Links to other systems: integration with sales order processing and purchasing reduces paperwork, increases efficiency and improves accuracy.

• Customer service: having the right goods in stock will enable you to offer short lead times and consistently deliver on time, in full.

With a fully integrated system, you can keep yourself updated on how much stock you have and what you might need in future.

Grady to focus on continued growth with Navigator (DNav) and building market share for K8

April 6, 2016- Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS) provider of specialized software solutions, services and support focused on delivering fully integrated trading and business management solutions to distributive trades customers servicing the building materials, lumber, floor coverings, home décor, electrical and plumbing distribution, wholesale and retail markets announced today that Greg Grady has been appointed Vice President of Sales for North American operations.

Grady has spearheaded the Dancik sales efforts in North Carolina for over five years, helping the business to grow throughout that period. Since KCS acquired Dancik in July 2015, Grady has accelerated sales, both in terms of market share in flooring with the DNav solution but also building a pipeline for K8 in the general construction sector. Grady has developed an effective, and highly successful sales team. Because of Grady’s efforts, KCS is already making its mark in a very competitive market. The company fully expects that sales and marketing functions in North America will need to expand as they continue to build a significant presence.

As the business grows further in North America, Grady will lead the sales function, building strategies to win significant market share for K8 in all sectors of the distributive trades and also ensure the existing market strengthens with DNav in flooring.

Grady assumes the role of VP Sales – North America with immediate effect and will report directly to Alan Cross, who assumes the role of Executive Vice President of North America.

“North America offers KCS a tremendous opportunity,” said Ian Bendelow, CEO, Kerridge Commercial Systems. “It's essential that we have the right leadership in place to make sure we maximize that potential. I’m sure everyone will give Greg all the support he needs to continue to grow Dancik and build a strong presence for KCS in North America.”

*Dancik International is part of the Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS) Group of Companies. 

Contact us at info@dancik.com

Dancik International is proud to have Spartan Surfaces join our customer base.

CARY, NC – March 28, 2016- Dancik International provider of integrated software solutions focused on servicing the building materials, lumber, floor coverings, home décor, electrical and plumbing distribution, wholesale and retail markets announced today that Spartan Surfaces have agreed to license Navigator, Sales Portal and DNav-bi (formerly RADAR).

Spartan Surfaces is a leading sales and consulting group specializing in commercial flooring alternatives. Spartan’s geography encompasses the Mid-Atlantic market from Virginia through New York as well as regions in the Midwest. The company strives to be a game changer in every area from product selection to education to customer service. Taking a human-centered approach, Spartan prides itself on great people dedicated to great products, great families, great friendships and great happiness. Every single team member helps pave the way to exceptional flooring interiors so that every project looks extraordinary.

Spartan Surfaces will be replacing their in-house business management system with Dancik’s integrated enterprise management solution (DNav). The competition was heavy on industry specific solutions and saw Dancik win out over Gartman among others.

The project commenced immediately with both Spartan and Dancik eager to move to the implementation phase. The Dancik project management team will be working closely with Spartan Surfaces in the coming months to ensure a successful go-live. 

For more information on Spartan Surfaces visit, www.spartansurfaces.com. 

Contact us at info@dancik.com

Dancik International is proud to have Van Art Furniture join our customer base.

CARY, NC – March 21, 2016- Dancik International, provider of integrated software solutions focused on servicing the building materials, lumber, floor coverings, home décor, electrical and plumbing distribution, wholesale and retail markets, announced today that Art Van Furniture have agreed to license Navigator, DNav-bi (formerly RADAR) and DNav-edi (formerly CMS). 

Art Van Furniture, the number one furniture and mattress retailer in the Midwest, operates 47 furniture stores and 54 PureSleep Mattress Stores in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Dancik will facilitate their burgeoning flooring business which is a significant part of Art Van’s strategic path forward.

Art Van recognized Dancik’s thought leadership in the flooring retail and wholesale distribution space and their experienced IT staff determined Dancik to be the best fit now and for the many years ahead. Dancik won out against industry specific solutions as well as generic ERP vendors looking to expand their footprint within the flooring and home décor space.

The Art Van implementation project is expected to launch in August 2016 so the Dancik team will be working closely with Art Van in the coming months to ensure a successful go-live.

For more information on Art Van Furniture visit, www.artvan.com. 

Contact us at info@dancik.com

Cross to focus on building the Kerridge Commercial Systems and Dancik Brand across USA and Canada

March 18, 2016- Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS) announced today that Alan Cross will take permanent responsibility for North American operations. Cross will relinquish responsibility as COO for the group and focus on helping to continue building the KCS and Dancik Brand across USA and Canada as the KCS Senior Vice President North America.

“Our acquisition of Dancik has been a tremendous success,” said Ian Bendelow, CEO, Kerridge Commercial Systems. “I believe our colleagues in North Carolina and customers there feel the same way. It has also proven to us that there is a tremendous opportunity for KCS through our Dancik operation in North America.”

Having guided KCS and Dancik through a very smooth integration program Cross is looking forward to focusing on North America to ensure that a very significant operation with K8 and Navigator (DNav) is built. Clearly North America is a huge market and there are huge challenges, opportunities and lots of work to be done. It’s important for a long standing Executive member of the Group to be there to spearhead the efforts. Dancik customers and prospects will appreciate with this appointment, just how serious the company is about North America.

With a strong presence in Europe, Africa, North America, and beyond this will help cement the position as a leading supplier of solutions to the distributive trades and create even better capability, opportunity, security and future for customers and the company’s own people.

“I’m sure everyone will give Alan all the support he needs to build Kerridge Commercial Systems Group in North America.” Ian Bendelow, CEO, Kerridge Commercial Systems

*Dancik International is part of the Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS) Group of Companies. 

Contact us at info@dancik.com

Supporting multi-branches a key factor in choosing K8.

18th May 2015: Braytons supplies their products across South Africa and also to neighboring countries. Their product range includes roof trusses, laminated beams and structural lumber. Their services include plotting full scale drawings for contractors; onsite visits and site measurements; and sales and delivery of their products.

Bradley and Clayton Tiley, Directors of Braytons Timbers, said: “We couldn’t support the multi-branch scenario on our current system, nor could the system cater for the volume of transactions we have to process on a daily basis. K8 offered us a great solution to manage all our needs going forward, specifically the multi-branch functionality.”

Des Nangle, Managing Director of KCS* SA, commented: “K8 has been the choice of software for many timber merchants, with key functionality like stock by tally specification and tally length in metres, centimetres or millimetres, key to the succesful running of a timber yard. We are very pleased to have Braytons Timbers join our timber customer base and we are confident that K8 will support their current and future business aspirations”.

The installation will be a SaaS setup with 30 users.

The project will start with the first installation at Braytons’ Johannesburg branch and will be quickly followed by the Dundee branch, KZN.

*Dancik International is part of the Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS) Group of Companies. 

“Our focus is on service, as reflected in our ‘Create something beautiful’ slogan.  K8 has enabled us to enhance this, giving us access to a wealth of information at a single click.”    

Matthew Johnson, Managing Director, Tileflair

Challenge: inter-branch trading, partner support, IT strategy

Tileflair is the largest, privately-owned tile distributor in the South of England.  It offers an extensive range of high quality tiles - sourced from around the world - and has been supplying the trade, contract and retail sectors since 1972.  Tileflair has nine outlets, an online shop and a central warehouse located in Bristol.

Moving with the times

Tileflair’s initial need was for a system to handle inter-branch trading, to replace a previous system where processes were cumbersome. It was also looking for an IT partner that really understood the tile business.   It opted for a distribution system, rather than an EPOS product.  The system went live in December 1998 and, in 2007, Tileflair upgraded to K8.  Then, in May 2015, it upgraded to the system’s latest version.

 “Our aim is to get the best return that we can from K8 - to enhance our efficiency and service.  Each branch now has its own dashboard, which provides better insight into the business, not just in terms of sales but also customer trends, margins, stock turnover, etc.  The fact that we’ve got access to this information - and can access it from the sales screen – means that we’re always ready for a sale.”

“The data warehouse module is promising too, giving far more information than we’ve been able to access in the past, without having to run multiple reports.”

Resilient, reliable and responsive

“Crucially, K8 has proven to be very resilient; it’s never frozen or locked-up!  And, we’re now looking forward to exploring other system features, in addition to the most used ones, so that we can gain full advantage from K8.”

K8 goes mobile - and other efficiencies

Tileflair’s next upgrade will include browser access.  iPads have become key selling tools for its sales team and it will enable them to access the system in a truly mobile sense, rather than steering customers back to the counter to check stock, etc.

“Having browser access will enhance the whole customer experience.    And, we’re now also trialing the delivery management system and will be testing the warehouse management system from January 2016.  Our aim is to continue to enhance our internal productivity, to really understand our customers’ needs and to make our business as efficient as it can be.“

Gains and benefits

• Complete reliability and enhanced efficiency.
• Intuitive, menu-led processes that can be instantly accessed from the sales screen.  Easy to use – more time can be dedicated to the customer.
• Flexible sales order processing, accessible from one screen.
• Inter-branch trading capability – better stock utilization, improved customer service.
• Accurate reporting and management information – effective decision making.
• Forecasting tools invaluable – improved ordering, saves time, more effective use of working capital. 
• Quick and efficient automated processes – smoother, controlled and more efficient operation.
• A platform for expansion of branch network – minimal IT investment impact.
• Online support calls via secure extranet – issues recorded without delay, saves time.

K8 is a fully integrated Trading and Business Management solution for distributors, wholesalers, merchants and retailers. Combining a suite of modules, it helps you source effectively, stock efficiently, sell profitably and service competitively.

K8 is designed to help you get closer to your customers, build profits, and manage your margins. From your sales team, to your back office, K8 has been developed by distributive trades experts to improve the day-to-day performance of your team.

There is growing evidence that companies that focus on improving their supply chain performance achieve much better financial and operational results than their competitors.  The companies that top the list for optimizing their supply chain in a 2013 Price Waterhouse Coopers survey perform 70% better, on average, than the companies at the bottom. They:                                                                                  

• Deliver ‘on time in full’ (OTIF) at 96% compared with 79% for the bottom companies
• Average 15 inventory turns a year compared with 4
• Make an average profit margin of 16% compared with 7%.

Despite this, only 45% of companies overall said their companies view the supply chain as a strategic asset, and just 9% said the supply chain is helping them outperform their peers.  So why are so many companies missing out on this opportunity?  Perhaps it’s because managing the supply chain is hard.

Operating in wholesale distribution, you know that sourcing the right product at the right cost is key to achieving margins, sales and service. Your business depends on product quality, price, differentiation and availability.  But you also know how challenging it is to get the supply chain right.

The top four strategic sourcing process challenges

1. Accurate forecasting of demand. Critical, because overstocking ties up capital and takes up space, but understocking has the potential to lose customers.  There are many ways of forecasting demand, but the most effective depend on having the right data and analytics . If you have visibility of how sales vary by season or geography, by product or category, or by branch or customer type, you can uncover trends and adjust your predictions accordingly.  Lacking accurate data, many firms have to rely on educated guesses, or on replicating past orders.

2. Managing margins. Competition is fierce and margins are tight so it is vital to negotiating the best pricing and rebates for your business.  Again, accurate forecasting is essential if you are to influence suppliers in your favor.  If you can’t commit to predicted sales volumes with confidence, you may be leaving money on the table.

3. Managing suppliers. You probably have an instinct for which of your suppliers are the best – but wouldn’t it be great to know, at a glance, how each is performing? Which suppliers give you the best prices and offer the best lead times? And how are they doing against SLAs such as OTIF, or quality metrics? Additionally, if a supplier fails to deliver, where do you go next? Trusting instinct isn’t enough when it puts your own customer service at risk.

4. Managing the purchasing process.  When you are managing the complexity of hundreds of products, multiple branches and numerous suppliers across varying geographies, anything you can do to cut down on administration will save you time and money. Whenever there is a manual process involved in linking sales orders to purchase orders, stock and the accounting system, risk of error increases as well. This can be costly and damage customer relationships. 

Effective sourcing solutions

There is currently a huge opportunity to differentiate by optimizing your supply chain – but as more and more competitors wake up to the possibilities, the advantage will dwindle.   It is not easy to overcome any of these challenges, but without investing in effective business processes and technologies it becomes even harder.

The right trading and business management solution  is one that gives managers complete and accurate visibility of business operations and enables them to take control, improve performance and delight customers. And investing in delighted customers will give additional returns; when your customers optimize their supply chains too, it’s the highest performing suppliers that will make the cut.  

What is BI for Wholesale Distribution?

BI stands for Business Intelligence, which is an umbrella term for the tools and systems that enable a company to gather, store, access and analyze corporate data, so as to make better decisions and improve performance. 

BI software is big business, and its growing fast, with the market for BI tools predicted to be worth $114 billion by 2018.   Hardly surprising, when research shows that investment in BI can offer a tenfold return.

Why use BI for Wholesale Distribution?

Wholesalers, distributors, suppliers and retailers are under particular market pressures that mean that they need high quality information and analysis in order to survive. Those pressures include:

• Complexity of operations: Typically, distributors carry massive numbers of products, deal with diverse supply chains and serve many different customers and customer types.
• Market change: The growth of the internet has disrupted how wholesalers, distributors, suppliers and retailers do business. To be competitive, it is no longer enough to just offer e-commerce, firms need to operate seamlessly across all channels. 
• Escalating customer expectations: Again, the internet has changed how customers buy. B2B buyers now expect the same high levels of service, fast delivery and keen pricing that they get on the top consumer retail sites.
• Narrow margins: Profit margins have been squeezed further in recent years. In particular, traditional bricks and mortar operators are finding it hard to compete with ‘online only’ companies, which have much lower overheads. Firms need to adjust the balance by increasing volumes, finding efficiencies or offering new services.

What is BI used for in Wholesale Distribution?

Some of the main applications include:

• Sales analysis: Enables you to uncover trends and spot gaps and opportunities; sales analysis feeds into forecasting, sourcing, promotions, stock control and inventory management.
• Customer analysis: Enables you to identify trends in customer behavior, needs and satisfaction; customer analysis feeds into strategic marketing, relationship management, retention and acquisition strategies.
• Supplier analysis: Which are the best and worst performing suppliers across a variety of metrics such as lead times, payment times or quality? Understanding this enables you to streamline your supply chain and ensure you get the best prices and discounts.
• Marketing analysis: Enables you to track your marketing efforts across all channels to understand which promotions were most successful and to inform marketing strategy.
• Inventory analysis: Enables you to understand how to control your stock to reduce inefficiency and avoid out of stock situations.

Four Signs Your Business Would Benefit from BI Software:

• Are you relying on paper based systems? Moving to automated tools would save time taken filing and retrieving paper documents, reduce the risk of loss or damage to documents, and make it much easier to share and collate information.
• Do you have lots of data but no information? Your data may be stored electronically, but you find it hard to know what it is telling you as the reports you need are difficult or time consuming to run. 
• Is it hard to get consistent information? If different departments and individuals within your business have their own spreadsheets, it can be hard to collate the information, or get a consistent view. 
• Do you have a sense that you could improve your business processes, or a need to improve your profitability but you are not sure where to start, or how to measure success? BI tools will help you analyze the current situation, uncover opportunities to improve and track the success of improvement initiatives.

Do you have the tools and systems in place that enable you to gather, store, access and analyze corporate data, so as to make better decisions and improve performance? Wholesalers, distributors, suppliers and retailers need high quality information and analysis in order to survive. How will you gather, analyze and act on the data within your company?

The week of January 19-22 was a very busy week for Dancik International! Design & Construction Week^® (DCW) featured the co-location of International Builders Show (IBS) and the National Kitchen & Bath Association’s Kitchen & Bath Industry Show^® (KBIS). This year, DCW also included the International Window Coverings Expo (IWCE) and The International Surface Event (SURFACES). This mega-event, held in Las Vegas, brought together more than 110,000 builders, general contractors, remodelers, designers, flooring professionals, as well as product specifiers from around the globe. Dancik embraced the challenge and came out on top.

The week began with the International Builders’ Show. This was our first opportunity to introduce K8 to a large crowd in the North American market. The IBS team was led by our Senior Pre Sales Consultant and K8 expert. They stayed busy talking to potential customers and demonstrating the robust capabilities of K8.

SURFACES started one day after the start of the IBS show. The SURFACES team diligently presented Navigator demos during the 3 day event. Existing customers and new prospects were impressed with Dancik, our products and how we are moving forward. Dancik was well represented as a professional and progressive software company.

We all share a sense of pride in our accomplishments during Design & Construction Week^®. Two Dancik teams, two trade shows, two new booths, new branding, a new product and more connections than we can count would have been a challenge for some but for Dancik it was a success.

The high energy Dancik team will continue to be busy at upcoming events and trade shows as we strengthen our influence in the flooring, tile, home décor and wholesale distribution markets.  

Guest Column: Clear strategy, execution led to successful integration
January 18, 2016 

Dancik International, a US-based Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS) company, recently hosted their 2015 CONNECT user conference in Cary, North Carolina.  With more than 100 delegates representing nearly 50 customers, CONNECT 15 was a great success by every measure. 

CONNECT 15 was used to introduce KCS to the Dancik customers and to share product strategies. Customers took the opportunity to play an active role in the event by providing crucial feedback both individually and as a group, networking with other Dancik Customers and, most importantly, having some fun along the way! 

Mitch Dancik, founder of Dancik International, opened CONNECT 15 with the rationale behind the recent acquisition of Dancik by KCS. This was followed by an introduction to Ian Bendelow (KCS CEO): Ian outlined the history of KCS, their market profile and their typical customer base.

The two day event comprised a series of presentations, breakout sessions and demonstrations. Speakers and topics included; Alan Cross (KCS COO) who presented what Dancik have delivered over the past 12 months and their future plans, including a published and accessible roadmap via the Web and the potential to introduce other KCS Products into the Dancik portfolio, such as Web-Builder, K-Print and an interface to K8 GL financials.

Mark Mashewske shared the Dancik product roadmap and a prototype of the new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) product. David Anderson and John Gulas highlighted ways customers can save money and run a more efficient warehouse and Marie Sutherland encouraged attendees to consider if they’re leaving money on the table by not fully leveraging their existing technology investment.

The highlights of the programme were Dancik customers sharing their success stories. LuAnn Doyle from Ohio Valley Flooring gave advice about implementing Navigator.  George Young from TranSouth Logistics talked about their success with Integrated Warehouse Management System (IWMS).  DJ Lee from Professional Flooring Supply shared his experience with the benefits of using Sales Portal. Jeff Dudzik from Virginia Tile shared tips for encouraging a culture that embraces change and drives for operational improvements.

An extremely popular event was The Navigator Order Challenge! Delegates could compete against each other to post the fastest time to place an order through Navigator. Congratulations to Tina Boyle from Louisville Tile Distributors who won the challenge, entering her order in less than 30 seconds!

“At Dancik we are continually looking to build our relationships with our customers, developing our solutions and services in line with their needs. Customer conferences, like this one, help us to facilitate that. If our customers are going to take time out of their extremely busy schedules, it was vital that their interests were at the heart of the event. I believe this factor, combined with the desire by our customers to maximise the opportunities and potential of their IT investment, led to the fantastic turnout and all-round success of the event.” Mitch Dancik 

We are excited to introduce K8 at IBS 2016, which will take place January 19-21, 2016 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. IBS 2016 is the largest annual light construction show in the world, every year attracting 50,000 visitors from more than 100 countries.

The Great K8 Order Challenge

Don’t miss your opportunity to participate in the Great K8 Order Challenge. Anyone is welcome to come and visit our booth #S2662 to have a go. The task is simple – raise and complete a 4-line cash sale as quickly as you can. The winner will walk away with a great prize! But, even if you don’t win the Great K8 Order Challenge you could still win an iPad or Apple Watch which will be raffled of daily.

Stop by booth #S2662 to learn more about Dancik International, K8 and for the opportunity to win an iPad or Apple Watch!