In Depth: Tech tools

DMSI for iPhone — DMSi’s Agility ERP is designed to manage every aspect of a dealer’s operation, including procurement, delivery, and accounting, helping to eliminate mistakes and wasted time. An accompanying app allows users to quickly view and place orders.

A new Sales Portal for the Ponderosa ERP system provides dealers’ customers with 24/7 browsing, shopping, and account management. Customers also can configure, view, price, and order door systems.

Seljax sales, estimating, and 3-D design tools increase speed, accuracy, and presentation of estimates. Platform options include 3D House, 3D Deck, 3D Stud Frame, and 3D Post Frame.

Customer benefits

For dealers or employees still using primarily pen and paper, the biggest hurdle is trust. But the cost savings and accuracy assurances associated with software systems are hard to beat. “The system is not going to lose track of an order. It can alert you if it sees hiccups or delays down the line,” McCarville says. “That’s the data-mining element that technology brings to the table. It can sense when things don’t add up. And it can alert you so you can address it before your customer knows the difference.”

“The bottom line is businesses are trying to adopt technologies that get them closer to their customers, that allow them to provide better service,” Spillane says.

Ponderosa Software has introduced a range of tools for its ERP software designed to do just that. This includes a Sales Portal, a secure website providing dealers’ customers with 24/7 access to buy products, look at inventory, and manage their accounts. It has a “CPQ” (configure, price, quote) tool built into it, in which customers can configure door systems, see them in real time, get pricing, and submit a sales order at their own convenience. The portal is fully branded for the dealer’s business, like an extension of their website.

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Outside sales reps can use Ponderosa’s Mobile Sales Desk to pull up a customer’s history, current orders, and more to respond to inquiries and concerns in real time.

“Builders are looking for apps that make it easier to buy product, check on delivery status, etc.,” Spillane says. “Technology is pervasive now, so everyone’s looking to understand what the opportunities are and put it to good use.”

In many cases, the technologies are saving time outright. For example, MiTek’s SAPPHIRE Supply allows dealers to do material estimates by getting accurate quantities of materials from a virtual 3-D model, which means actual costs of a project, from a material standpoint, are accurate and verifiable prior to construction. “The SAPPHIRE technology takes a historically low-ROI task, such as material estimating, and turns it into a task that can open up new value-add opportunities for customers,” says McFall. “Dealers are then able to expand the level of service they provide through a task that historically was simply an expense of doing business.”

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ResiCAD offers estimating and drafting technology minus the technology by providing those services for the dealer. The company provides estimates within three days, complete with the dealer’s branding.

Tracking trucks

Mobile technology is also giving dealers more insight into their deliveries, drivers, and truck fleets, another advancement that can increase efficiencies and save time and cost, while also enhancing safety.

Ponderosa’s Mobile Fleet Manager, an add-on for the ERP, allows the dealer to conduct real-time road optimization, study traffic patterns to re-route trucks, pinpoint delivery ETAs, and track deliveries.

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Epicor is also targeting the fleet with its BisTrack Delivery app, now available for both Android and iOS. This tool captures signatures and images as well as automatically updates order status.

GPS Insight provides tailored telematics solutions for lumber fleets, including truck and trailer tracking and E-Logs, which the company says are government-mandated as of Dec. 18 of this year. Marketing Director Ryan Driscoll says the telematics from GPS Insight can help improve safety by identifying unsafe driving behavior, keep track of maintenance and preventative services, reduce fuel costs by optimizing routes, coach drivers on how to improve fuel efficiency, and reduce labor costs by tracking hours and wasted time. GPS Insight also integrates seamlessly into Epicor’s BisTrack product.

“We are finding that dealers … are far more receptive to this technology than ever before,” Driscoll says. “Chances are if you aren’t using it, you know someone who is. Telematics used to be a nice-tohave tool, and now it is a must-have. The decreases in operating costs and risk and increases in revenue and efficiency are all too big to ignore. Plus, it literally makes managing a fleet easier.”

DMSi has introduced a Proof of Delivery app, which allows drivers to see routes, provide detail on accepted/ refused deliveries, and provide full photographic proof that the items were delivered and the jobsite wasn’t damaged. All the data can be viewed by customers as well as the dealer, and the data gets pushed back to the ERP.

Implementation hurdles

As with any change, implementing new technologies and tools, whether a full-on ERP system or a simple app, requires buy-in from top to bottom as well as a commitment to proper setup and training.

“Software alone is not the only answer; owners, general managers, and operations managers should enforce the needed changes to produce the desired outcome,” says Maiuri. “Return on investment will come slowly if staff fails to use the solution as the designers intended.”

Getting team members on board requires top-down commitment, McCarville says. “It’s in the culture to provide great customer service, so if technology can help make that customer experience better—that’s key for everybody. Have a culture of management backing these decisions and understanding how it makes a difference.”

“It’s always key to make sure there’s buy-in at the top level,” agrees Hodge. “These types of changes have to be driven from the top, with a belief that it’s the right thing to do and good communication about why you have to make the changes and the benefits.”

McCarville stresses the need to provide the right training and a suitable adoption timeline. Most software providers not only provide initial training and setup help, but also ongoing faceto- face support, training for upgrades and new tools, and even annual user conferences.

Parchomchuk also cautions against biting off too much too soon if the staff is new to technology. Phase in tools and get procedures and workflows in place, he advises. This will allow for a smoother transition, which in turn will help instill confidence among employees when the next wave of tech implementation comes around.

The time and monetary investment can pay off, however, in the form of greater accuracy, improved efficiencies, and time savings, along with happier, more satisfied customers.

“In our increasingly competitive industry, dealers need to provide industry- leading ways of collaborating on projects to help protect their customer base and their profit margins,” says McFall. “Being able to truly partner with a builder or contractor on a project and provide more than a list of materials is something we see resonating with customers across North America.”

Product-specific solutions

Along with tech tools from dedicated providers, a handful of manufacturers have developed software solutions that make it easier or more efficient to use their products. Here are a few of the options available:

Simpson Strong-Tie: The connector manufacturer offers several options to support product selection and use. Its Component Solutions Director and Truss Studio software, for example, allow users to create 3-D models, create truss and panel designs and optimize them for production efficiency, generate bids, send truss designs to Strong-Tie for engineering seals, and generate production reports and automated machinery files.

Weyerhaeuser: Javelin whole-house structural design software allows dealers or builders to create a complete model of the project’s structural frame to specify products and track vertical loads. Functionality spans from conducting quick material take-offs to providing specific details on every member in the structure. Color coding and unique labeling help avoid installation errors, material list options ensure the list matches what ships, and collaboration tools help identify problems before materials arrive on site.

Boise Cascade: BC Connect provides project management, optimization, and material lists. The system is accessible anytime, anywhere from any device. Other programs include BC Calc, a cloudbased single-member sizing program; BC Framer, a 3-D drafting program for creating floor and roofing layouts; BC Fast-Plan, designed for customers that don’t need all the power of BC Framer; and BC Estimator, a rapid estimating tool that can pull a material list from an existing design.

LP: SolidStart Design Software helps optimize selection of the company’s SolidStart I-Joists, LVL, and LSL engineered wood components. The program applies loads, conducts vibration analysis, checks holes, applies wind loads for I-joists, and digitally submits designs for review.