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Distributors Warehouse Inc. (DWI)

Video

Activant Delivers Efficiency and Profitabilty for Distributors Warehouse

Distributors Warehouse Inc. (DWI), headquartered in Paducah, Kentucky, has played it safe, and enjoyed profitably, for more than 70 years. With Activant A-DIS® and J-CON® systems, DWI has been able to expand while reducing data processing personnel by 20 percent. Products like AConneX® and Cover-to-Cover™ enable DWI to serve customers more efficiently and more quickly than ever before, facing big-hitting competitors head-on. Real-time reports enable DWI managers to evaluate inventory and profitability and make recommendations for product lines, stores and the warehouse.

Data Flows Every Direction, no Paddle Required, with AConneX

Paducah lies at the confluence of two great waterways, the Tennessee and Ohio rivers, making it an attractive location for commerce since the early 1800s. Pioneer entrepreneurs would fan out from Paducah, using horses and mules to pull flatboats upstream to farms, logging camps, trading posts and other settlements. Since 1934, DWI has been supplying auto parts to Paducah and points beyond, expanding into markets now better served by megabytes than mules. Today’s operation includes 19 corporate store locations and one distribution center, serving six states from Indiana to Arkansas.

DWI depends on AConneX to keep data and orders flowing up and downstream, from manufacturers to the distribution center, then to corporate-owned stores and independent jobbers and service dealers. Steve Korte, DWI’s President, is thrilled with the product. “AConneX has speeded up everything. We have become a lot more efficient at every level of our business. And our counter personnel are much more professional than ever before. They can look up a part, tell whether it’s in any of the distribution centers if unavailable at the store, and respond to customers’ questions in seconds.

We’re now able to tell customers exactly when they can expect a special order part—at noon that day or the next morning. Before, we were calling for parts or using dial-up technology that was extremely slow. Customers just aren’t willing to wait that long.” Steve says his favorite part of the Activant system is the high-speed connectivity that goes beyond the distribution center and jobber stores to manufacturers and service dealers. “High-speed Internet has opened up access to manufacturer sites that we would hate to lose now. AConneX is also fast becoming an efficient channel for us to sell products to service dealers.”

Get the Picture with Cover-to-Cover

DWI recently installed Cover-to-Cover, allowing counter personnel to instantly view manufacturer data directly from the part lookup screen. Cover-to-Cover includes product photographs, specifications, warranty information, technical service bulletins (TSBs) and much more. “The installation and usage of Cover-to-Cover is very simple,” reports Steve. “Once you get it on the PC, you’re ready to go. Our counter people love it.”

Fine Tuning Inventory and Profitability with Real-time Reports

“I generally take a broad-brush approach to analysis, looking at a broad-spectrum of management reports on sales, profitability and inventory turns every day. Our managers drill-down even deeper, especially on a store-by-store basis, to compare monthly totals to last month and last year.”

DWI credits A-DIS with helping their buyers evaluate inventory demands and stock the right mix of products. “In our business it will always be tough to manage inventory, but A-DIS has helped us tremendously,” says Steve. “If our managers see that sales are up or down, or inventory turns are decreasing, they can make adjustments to inventory levels or price to ensure that the product line becomes profitable over the long term. We want to make sure every line is viable for our business.”

Employees Recognize the Activant/DWI Commitment

When DWI installed A-DIS several years ago, employees viewed the investment as a commitment to its business, demonstrating that owners and managers had plans for future growth. “Employees were impressed that we were ‘going with the Cadillac’ of computer systems,” says Steve. DWI looks forward to implementing new Activant solutions in the future, including Document Imaging and The Paperless Warehouse.™. “It’s nice to have the support of a company that’s always one step ahead of us,” admits Steve. “Activant develops products, sees what’s working with other distribution centers like ours, and encourages us take advantage of those new products and systems.”