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Whether it be in manufacturing, installed sales, or just plain old building products distribution, ProSales 100 members clearly are beginning to adopt advanced technologies in the quest for increasing efficiencies and productivity while cutting costs. In fact, the number of dealers that reported an intention to spend more than 1% of overall sales on IT and e-commerce shot from 3% in 2006 to 11% in 2007 (see “Percentage of Sales the ProSales 100 Plan to Spend on IT Products and Services,” right). “Tech is definitely picking up in the industry,” says van Tilburg. “I think the supply chain is maturing and many of us are starting to play in the big ERP stuff–the J.D. Edwards, the Oracles, and the SAP technologies.”
E.C. Barton’s Rainwater says that as dealers develop stronger technological backgrounds they’ll naturally crave more IT. “We are all getting a taste for it and we want more,” he explains. “At E.C. Barton, the more technology we have, we think the better.”
Causeway used 2006 to continue tech investments in document management, dispatch and delivery, bar coding, and steel engineering programs. “As an industry we get a D-plus in terms of getting on board with this,” says Whiddon. “It was a big step for us, too, but it is a time-saver, and we’ll continue to invest in the training and software upgrades moving forward.”
All Hands on Deck
Of course, technology and value-added profit centers aren’t sufficient ballast by themselves. The age-old “it’s all about the people” adage is becoming increasingly relevant as dealers in the ProSales 100 look for growth while running tighter ships in 2007 and beyond.
Tindell’s van Tilburg credits the success of his company’s installed sales unit to an experienced and motivated crew. Westminster, Colo.-based Alpine Lumber Co. (No. 38) and VNS report that training sessions by Bill Lee and Rick Davis, respectively, kept their sales crews pumped during the slowing market, and 84 Lumber and National Lumber both cite hiring additional outside sales reps as key growth catalysts.
Despite the dark builder climate, 2006 was no time to be treading water. Many dealers aggressively plowed capital back into personnel and facilities, and those who were proactive in that regard envision being at the forefront when markets rebound. “We will continue to take advantage of other opportunities where other companies are not necessarily as aggressive as we are and are not necessarily looking at the long term in my estimation,” says Kaitz, pointing in particular to National Lumber’s state-of-the-art panel plant that came on line in 2006. “We’ve come to understand this business over the last 75 years, and there are downturns. As difficult as they are to deal with while they are happening, they ultimately are a good opportunity for us to build for the future.”
The ProSales 100’s future is obviously anyone’s guess. In the short term, expect a flotilla of value-added pro sales vessels roaring through the choppy waters at ramming speed, and anticipate competitive action when the market winds begin to turn more favorably. “We’ve built a new drive-through warehouse in Bangor, and we are building another drive-through lumberyard in Portland that will allow us to service the entire state of Maine and northern New Hampshire,” says Mike Hammond, vice president of Belgrade, Maine-based Hammond Lumber Co. (No. 74). “Those are long-term decisions. We are only in a short-term lull, and over the next 20 years I, for one, would like to do some damage.”
