Schaefer Sash & Door Improves Millwork and more with Activant Falcon
Executive Summary
Using Activant Falcon® since 2006, Schaefer Sash & Door’s millwork,
special order, and quotes and bids processes have improved.
Inventor y is more accurate, which saves time and improves buying
decisions. Performance Driver Suite provides key decision makers
with quick, accurate snapshots of business performance.
Growing Company Needs Robust Millwork Solution
After starting as a door and window company 25 years ago, Schaefer Sash & Door expanded
rapidly by adding a hardware division carrying a full line of hardware and lighting, and by
starting a lumber company. Having outgrown the capabilities of its Woodware system,
Schaefer implemented Falcon in June 2006.
“The Falcon Millwork module was one of the big reasons we implemented Falcon.
We needed more accurate tracking of our millwork inventory. Our previous solution didn’t
automatically transfer materials inventory as windows and doors were built. We had to enter
the transfer transaction manually, and more often than not, we circumvented the system.We
were forced to physically count to know what inventory we had,” explains Paul Schaefer,
co-owner. “The Activant account manager told us how the Millwork module would work
and it’s done exactly that. All of our expectations were met.”
Falcon automatically transfers inventory as millwork orders are built and delivered. In
addition to improving raw materials, work in process and finished goods inventory tracking
with Falcon, Schaefer’s millwork process is now more efficient. “The flow of millwork tickets
has improved. Order information is properly entered and the workflow runs better.
Millwork specialists print their tickets and know exactly what they need to build that day.
They pull their materials and start working,” describes Paul.
Streamlined Quotes, Orders and Special Orders
The Schaefer sales team appreciates their new ability to convert quotes to orders with a click.
“With Falcon we enter orders more efficiently and shifted one person to do inside sales
part-time and spend the rest of her time coordinating between sales and the shop to make
sure that orders flow smoothly,” says Paul. “We didn’t have someone to do that before. It’s a
much better use of a resource than re-typing orders.”
The special order process also runs more smoothly, giving Schaefer a competitive
edge in the slow housing market. “We enter a special order and can then track it to
know when it comes in. In the past, an order could come in and we may, or may
not know about it for a couple of days. Now we get that information instantly,”
continues Paul. “With the housing decline, the builder market is more competitive.
Our ability to use information to deliver better customer service is more important
than ever before.”
Accurate Inventory Leads to Better Buying Decisions
Schaefer’s inventory is more accurate, which results in lower adjustments at year-end and
provides the purchasing team numbers they can trust. “I think the biggest benefit since we
switched to Falcon is that the inventory is a lot more accurate. We have the confidence that
when Falcon says we have 12 of something, we believe the system and don’t double-check
by going out and manually counting,” explains Paul. “We save time and make better
buying decisions.”
Performance Driver Suite Dashboards Improve Business Management
A few months after going live on Falcon, Schaefer added Activant Performance Driver Suite
to provide its management team with the ability to monitor the business with easy-to-use
dashboards. “Performance Driver Suite gives us a quick snapshot of all the important
business information we need. We can see our divisions separately or all together. When we
had questions before, we had to go to paper reports and/or build a spreadsheet to find the
answer. Now it’s all right in front of us,” says Paul. “It’s very powerful to have instant access
to key information in a format that’s easy to understand. My father who is not a ‘computer
guy’ uses Performance Drive Suite throughout the day to track sales, inventory, receivables
and cash flow. It’s a wonderful tool!”
“We knew our Millwork operation would run better on Falcon. The added bonus is that
everything runs better on Falcon. And we easily monitor our entire, complex operation
with our Performance Driver Suite dashboard. With the business slowdown, we have a
competitive advantage with Falcon,” concludes Paul.
