Success Stories

When Kathy Wallace reflects on the 25 years she has spent in distribution, she views 2002 as the year the stars aligned and tremendous opportunity grew out of tremendous adversity.

Not six weeks after the national appliance distributor where Wallace spent the previous 20 years closed, she found her way to Englewood Marketing Group (EMG) during a period of growth and diversification. When Wallace arrived, EMG was in the process of shifting their focus toward becoming a full-service marketing organization distributing to retail chains, department stores, and leading dotcom businesses.

While this sudden growth held great promise, it raised questions about what type of technology would be best suited to manage the remodeled version of EMG. According to Wallace, the team at EMG was already in the process of evaluating Activant Prophet 21™, and after analyzing the solution's capabilities in light of their new business model, the answer was clear.

"After doing the diligence, we collectively decided that Prophet 21 made the most sense for us as we moved forward," Wallace explains. "Prophet 21 fit because it was designed for our industry, so we knew nothing would need to be retrofitted to match our business model."

Convenience Breeding Confidence

Wallace's life in distribution begins, simply enough, out of convenience. Looking to reenter the workforce following her pregnancy, Wallace joined the accounts payable department of a local appliance distributor because of its close proximity to her home and newborn daughter. Using this position as a springboard, Wallace climbed the ranks, eventually serving as vice president of logistics before the closure in 2002.

Those first 20 years, Wallace says, cemented her fondness for distribution, and more importantly, built a wealth of industry knowledge. "Throughout these years, I learned what it means to be a national distributor of small appliances, so I stayed with it and it's brought me to where I am today," she says.

Today, with a quarter-century of experience under her belt, Wallace is in a unique position to understand how the distributor's role has evolved, and what it will take to keep them relevant into the future. "It used to be that we were regarded as a middle man who would increase costs, but because EMG focuses on improving service levels, we've proven our value to both the manufacturers and the retailers," Wallace says. "We deal in services that bridge the gap between these two, allowing each to do what they do best."

Instrumental in furthering this relationship is technology, which Wallace sees as an indispensable tool every distributor must harness to maintain lean, effective operations. At EMG, technology is the key to handling the minutiae - from coordinating stocking and delivery logistics to monitoring compliance and standards - so business can expand while the headcount does not.

"Distributors do not have the margins to have bodies thrown at them, so technology has to do the work of many," Wallace explains. "We rely on technology to keep our distribution model viable, and Prophet 21 fills that need by stripping costs out of the equation and allowing us operate a lean business model."

Outpacing the Curve

As the technology chosen to usher in a new era at EMG, much of Prophet 21's immediate impact was measured in how well the solution allowed the company to adapt to changes and hit the ground running. Wallace cites the familiarity presented by the Windows-based, SQL server foundation of Prophet 21 as a key reason why EMG's employees were able to make the solution perform so well, so quickly.

"The Windows look and feel reduced training time, allowing our people to hone in on important operational activities, such as real-time allocations of product, which is critical in distribution," she recalls.

From a logistics perspective, Wallace views Prophet 21 as a tool they can leverage to exceed customer service expectations and further their success. "Prophet 21 frees up our customer service department to focus on how to best address each individual customer's needs," explains Wallace. "Automated order processing allows orders to flow without much human intervention, so we achieve this with only five dedicated customer service people.

"For example, by using the tools available in Prophet 21's order processing module, we can release a spread order for 260 stores to two warehouse locations in one step," she adds. "The logistics puzzle this type of order management presents would be staggering if not for the functionality of Prophet 21 - our customer service department would double in size if this kind of technology was not available."

After nearly five years live on Prophet 21, Wallace has confidence in Activant's ability to continue to provide the tools that gave EMG its start back in 2002. "Our growth relies on using technology to constantly remain one step ahead of the curve," Wallace says. "I view Activant as an enabler we will continue to rely on to provide us with what we need to put our processes and practices into action and achieve our goals."

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