One of Activant's original 100 customers, Sterling Supply has serviced the general tool distribution industry since 1935. Ten years ago, they decided to emphasize on cutting tool commodity management programs. "We institute vending machines on the floor and track customers cost per unit for each tool and each product group," says Jim Dingeman, president of Sterling Supply.
Challenge:
- Allow a Ferndale, MI-based industrial distributor reach customers and markets via the Internet
Solutions:
- Activant B2B Seller
- Activant Acclaim
- Activant Trading Partner Connect
Benefits:
- Find, research, and access new markets
- Flexibility to migrate to other value added functionality
Keeping Up with the Times
With a new -found niche in the industrial distribution field, Sterling Supply renewed their focus on technology and hired a new IT director in 1997. Upon Linda White's arrival, she led the company's migrate from Activant XL to Activant Acclaim. "We did some serious looking at Activant's competitors and didn't find any other company that offered enough benefit for us to move to a new system," recalls White. "We stayed with Activant and have grown with them."
White has kept Sterling on Acclaim's upgrade path to take advantage of the flexibility that it offered with regard to other functionality. "We want to take advantage of Trading Partner Connect and B2B Seller," says White. "Because we are so focused on running the day-to-day operations in our business, we wanted a solution that would allow our software provider the opportunity to run our Web site."
Support And Service
Both White and Dingeman recognize the drastic changes that their industry has faced, but are quick to state that service still sells. "Industrial distribution has changed dramatically over the last 10 years," says White. "It used to be that customers would buy from you because they've known you for so long. That doesn't work anymore. You have to bring value-added services along with goods that you offer. It has gone pretty much full circle the past 10 years from just selling product to not only selling the product but all of the other services and support."
Sterling Supply offers an elaborate and thorough service system through their Activant solutions. "We are able to offer an extensive support and service program to our customers through our Activant solutions," says White. "The Internet has opened many new markets to us and we need to provide the same outstanding service to those customers as our traditional ones. From Just-In-Time delivery to streamlining transaction and reducing costs, our customers expect a lot and our Activant solutions enable us to do that successfully."
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