An Activant Solutions customer since 1987, Hanneke Hardware uses Activant Eagle™ for Windows to its full extent to increase customer service, improve employee productivity and increase revenue. Hanneke uses Activant iNet™ to provide customers with the ability to place orders and monitor their account status via the Internet. Document Management saves thousands of dollars each month by reducing the resources required to generate invoices and statements. Managing orders with Do it Best are simplified with built-in Activant Eagle inventory management capabilities.
Activant Eagle for Windows is a competitive advantage
Hanneke Hardware has been a fixture in St. Louis for 75 years. At three locations, 35 employees currently generate approximately $5 million in annual sales. Two locations are focused on commercial customers including contractors, school districts, local governments and property management companies. One location is a traditional retail storefront. The major challenge facing this small chain is effectively competing against big boxes (Home Depot, Lowe's), as well as major industrial distributors such as Grainger, McMaster Carr, etc. Hanneke meets this challenge by having the knowledge and service to solve customers' problems.
Several years ago, Hanneke's president began an initiative to compete and grow the business by using technology. He felt that, by offering e-commerce and other technology enhancements, Hanneke could better compete, without adding or expanding physical locations. Hanneke currently has 26 Activant Eagle for Windows users and takes advantage of the full suite of Activant Eagle modules.
Activant Document Management saves thousands every month
With 70% of its sales to commercial customers, Hanneke generates nearly 10,000 invoices monthly. One employee spent approximately five hours every day just filing invoices. In addition, a crew of four employees spent at least one full day each month producing statements. After implementing Activant Document Management and Signature Capture, Hanneke saves five hours every day and now uses only two people for four hours to generate statements. This combined savings represents one full-time headcount.
"With Document Management we went from one person spending five hours every day filing invoices to none. We cut the resources required to generate month-end statements by 75%. When a cashier quit last year, we didn't replace her. Other employees cover her shifts with the time savings from Document Management which saves Hanneke thousand of dollars each month," stated Tony Miller, president of Hanneke Hardware.
Improved inventory management
Activant Eagle inventory management capabilities combined with good business practices give Hanneke the ability to effectively manage more than 40,000 SKUs in inventory. Weekly reports indicating negative items on hand, monthly cycle counts on items with an extended cost greater than $300, and having employees note "empty pegs," combine to improve inventory accuracy year round, make annual physical inventory much easier, and most importantly have popular items on-hand when customers need them.
Hanneke runs re-stocking order reports, based on Activant Eagle suggested order quantities, twice each week. Store managers then quickly verify order quantities and send the orders to Do it Best. Given Do it Best's high level of shipment accuracy, Hanneke only counts the high dollar value items and automatically accepts the rest of the order directly into inventory. This saves tremendous time and allows Hanneke to work with Do it Best as a "just in time" inventory partner which reduces the amount of cash tied up in inventory.
Increasing customer service and improving business management
Activant Quick Recall grids, Smart Look-up, and high-speed credit card processing improve customer service. Quick Recall grids replaced a huge service book that contained pages and pages of prices and SKUs for glass, pipes, wire, lumber, etc…Now employees simply type a descriptive word into Activant Eagle and a grid appears with all the related sizes and prices. The resulting order is written in a fraction of the time.
Hanneke recently implemented Activant iNet to allow customers to view their accounts online and will ultimately allow them to order product online without coming into or calling the store. Customer service is increased from this self-service solution by empowering customers to work on their schedule, and by freeing Hanneke to spend more time focusing on challenging customer questions and orders.
Behind the scenes, Hanneke relies on Activant Eagle's Business Advisor module to monitor all aspects of the business. Hanneke management now receives daily reports to review sales, margins, cash flow and accounts receivable.
"Business Advisor is one of the most powerful tools I have. I use a report every morning that highlights the previous day's sales, product gross margins, credit receipts, and much more. In less than three minutes, I have a good picture of what occurred the previous day," said Miller.
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Snow's Home & Garden "One of the biggest competitive advantages we have with Activant Eagle for Windows is our ability to react quicker than big box stores. We are constantly armed with the information" Sid Snow, President & CEO
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