Success Stories

Activant Prophet 21 Helps Electrical Distributor Cut Costs and Maintain Competitive Edge

Becker Electric, an Ohio-based electrical supply giant, has built its reputation on consistently keeping the right products in stock at the right time. "If our customers need something today, they know they can get it from us," says Dave Adkinson, company president.

Adkinson admits that keeping the appropriate balance of SKUs in the warehouse can be a daunting task. And, without the right inventory management tools, it can require a larger-than-necessary capital investment.

Prophet 21, Activant's Windows-based, SQL-Server enterprise software solution, provides Becker's employees with the tools they need to better handle significant stock levels. With Prophet 21's advanced, inventory management functionality, stock levels dropped by 15 percent over two years without affecting customer service.

"That's $1.8 million that's not sitting on our shelves," Adkinson contends. "Prophet 21 has given us the tools we need to drive inventory investments down while maintaining excellent fill rates."

Perhaps even more importantly, Prophet 21 has enabled Becker Electric to decrease dead and slow-moving inventory levels by at least 50 percent. "We've returned a lot of that stock to our vendors and have hundreds of thousands of dollars back in our pockets," says Tom Snyder, MIS manager.

Maintaining a Competitive Position

Becker Electric was founded in the 1920s, when John A. Becker sold electrical parts and accessories out of his bedroom. "The electrification of America was still in its infancy," Adkinson says. "There were only about a dozen items to stock and sell to the public."

Now, with seven locations in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, the company stocks thousands of SKUs, handles hundreds of thousands of orders each year, and is a market leader in every region it serves.

Prophet 21 helps the company maintain its competitive position by streamlining processes and reducing costs. After two years on the solution, Becker realized a significant decrease in direct labor costs thanks to increased efficiencies. "Because all of our data is now online, people aren't running around searching for information or walking out to the warehouse to check stock," Snyder says. "If there's a problem with an invoice or an issue with a delivery, we can track everything right through Prophet 21."

Adkinson agrees: "It's allowed us to keep people at their desks, at their phones, so they can better serve our customers. This, of course, translates into productivity." He adds that a $50 order takes just as much time and as many steps to process as a $250 order. "Prophet 21 enables us to be more efficient in all of our processes so we can stay competitive -- and in business -- during tough times."

Increased efficiency resulted in a 24 percent decrease in direct labor costs, saving Becker hundreds of thousands -- if not millions -- of dollars per year.

A Partnership that Works

Prophet 21's robust functionality is designed for all hard goods distributors, but includes specific features valued by electrical distributors. "We saw a company committed to the electrical industry," Adkinson says. "That's one of the reasons we felt so comfortable moving to Activant."

Activant's strong financial background and focus on research and development were also reasons Adkinson and his staff felt comfortable partnering with Activant. "Our two previous software packages came from small businesses," Adkinson remembers. "They were pretty good packages in their days, but one company went out of business and the other was sold. We're not comfortable betting Becker on that kind of company. We felt a lot better partnering with Activant because of its financial strength, resources, and longevity."

Adkinson and Snyder also make good use of Activant's extensive Professional Services Consulting and Support offerings to maximize their use of Prophet 21. "Even though sales volume has dipped a little bit in the last couple of years, our transaction volume is higher than ever -- more orders, just smaller -- and we have fewer employees to handle all of this," Adkinson says. "We just don't have a lot of time for rework. We've received amazing support over the past several years that's helped us avoid a lot of mistakes and improve the way we use the solution."

Adkinson concludes: "Activant has been there to help us, and we know that we made the right decision."

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