HPM’s BisTrack system ties together the operations at their lumberyards and various manufacturing locations and helps them position competitively to a mixed contractor and retail clientele. They utilize the hosted BisTrack system to minimize computing service disruption due extreme weather or seismic activity. HPM also makes extensive use of the BisTrack mobile, remote, and web-enabled technologies to improve efficiency, productivity, and customer responsiveness.
Efficient purchasing, receiving, and delivery
“One of the things we liked about BisTrack was the concept of suggested ordering,” Borsting recalled. “Orders are driven from the system now, as opposed to having to go check what’s low in the yard. Previously, it was a lot of manual work to enter Do it Best or Emery Jensen orders. Now, it’s literally just a few clicks to order a significant amount of product and volume right through BisTrack Mobile Warehouse. It takes about half the time to receive stock using BisTrack mobile receiving.”
“Dispatch and delivery is much more efficient as well,” said Borsting. “Before, we used a third party dispatch and delivery package and tried to connect the systems together, which is never an ideal scenario. With BisTrack Journey Planner software, we were able to reallocate two dispatch positions to other parts of the business.
A single, connected system
“To be successful in the industry and really be a one-stop shop, our services include wood treatment, truss, wall panel and door manufacturing, and custom metal roofing,” said Borsting. “They are mini businesses with unique sets of operations, and BisTrack has brought them together.”
“Work orders are now tied to sales orders,” she continued. “We’re seeing everything in one place. There’s a new level of understanding and appreciation of how we’re all connected.”
Sales team keeping pace with growth
“BisTrack has definitely helped us significantly increase volume without having to add more staff,” said Borsting. “Our sales people have said that without BisTrack, they would have been buried. We would have had to hire someone to help, or pay overtime, or farm out that work somehow.”
She also noticed higher levels of motivation and engagement in the sales team, because sales targets and day-to-day sales and margins activity is visible to each of them on their BisTrack dashboards. “Morale and overall satisfaction has come up because of this visibility. They feel empowered to manage the whole life cycle of their transaction. When I see a sales associate who is now seeing the big picture and thinking outside the box and coming up with ideas on how we can improve the business, I know we’re in a good place.”
Eliminating manual AP entry
BisTrack AP Automation is a quick and easy way to streamline accounts payable (AP) processing. “AP Automation was a no-brainer,” stated Borsting. “In fact, the idea of using optical character recognition technology to eliminate manual process was very intriguing. Because we interact with thousands upon thousands of suppliers to support our various businesses, it’s important for us to adopt efficiency where ever possible, so we saw AP Automation as really an opportunity for our accounts payable team to get away from a lot of manual entry and really become key players in other financial decisions.”
“AP Automation has saved each AP team member as many as 8 hours per week on invoice entry. This is a significant time savings for us,” said Borsting. “For a company that is employee owned, it is really important for our AP staff to be able to contribute ideas on how to become more efficient. Suddenly when you take 4-8 hours of invoice entry away, your AP team is much more present and active in projects. Where we might have had someone chained to a desk in the past, now they are able to be key players shedding a light on a part of our business that is not well known. AP Automation is essential, I don’t know why any business would hesitate doing it.”
Intelligence brings competitive advantage
“We invest in technology because we believe it gives us a competitive advantage. We use almost everything that BisTrack software has to offer. Looking at BisTrack data on our laptops and tablets is a common part of our culture now,” said Borsting. “We couldn’t imagine ourselves not using the mobile applications. We know they improve efficiency and productivity.”
“We have even given our contractors BisTrack analytics, because we believe we can help them attract new business,” she concluded.
