Success Stories

It might seem counterintuitive to take a bird's eye view when drilling for details, but for Brad Slocum, business development manager at Burmeister Electric Company, a high-voltage electric equipment and supplies wholesaler based in Minneapolis, that's the best way to analyze business trends.

Looking to gain a new understanding of their business at every level, Burmeister implemented Activant's Knowledge Management Center (KMC), an executive information system, along with Activant Prophet 21, a leading, Windows-based enterprise solution.

Designed as a tool to help executives access, analyze, manage, and respond to business information in a timely manner, KMC summarizes sales, inventory, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and open orders in an easy-to-navigate, dashboard style via the Web.

Adaptation

According to Slocum, KMC's main value for Burmeister has been its inventory analysis capabilities, which pointed out discrepancies soon after implementation. "It was information we pulled from KMC that led us to review how we handle our scheduled orders," he says.

After looking at inventory graphs in KMC, they saw that almost 50 percent of their on-hand inventory was being allocated for orders that were not to ship for several months. "We watched as the amount of allocated inventory kept growing, and we knew things were out of proportion," Slocum says. "We've since adapted the way we allocate items in Prophet 21 to help us meet our monthly inventory goals while maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction."

Evolution

Activant realizes that distributor's needs are constantly changing and continues to develop KMC with the functionality distributors like Burmeister need. "The ability to separate non-stock and direct-shipped items from actual warehouse inventory is huge for us," says Slocum. "We can see true inventory turns, which will aid us in our forecasting and goal setting."

Burmeister's sales team sees benefits from being able to isolate inventory groups as well. "By breaking out product groups, we can spot inventory that isn't turning and figure out why," Slocum says. "Were able to put more focus behind the products that turn the fastest."

Slocum also likes the availability of item service level graphs. Designed to look like a speedometer, the graphs track line items, quantities, and sales. "By looking at these graphs, I can tell exactly where we're not meeting our on-time commitments, because there's a discrepancy between the number of line items and the quantity," he says.

"KMC throws spotlights on every aspect of our business - from inventory levels and turns to sales - to alert us to trends and help us achieve our goals," Slocum concludes. "If you're looking for an analysis package that cleanly integrates with Prophet 21, there's nothing quicker or easier."

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