American Metals Supply

American Metals Supply Achieves Best in Class Business Performance with Epicor Eclipse

American Metals Supply Co., Inc. is a leading wholesale distributor of sheet & coil steel, prefabricated duct & fittings, and a complete line of HVAC products. As a third-generation family-owned and now woman-owned business, they have been serving HVAC contractors since 1962.

An Eclipse customer since the late 1990s, they had outgrown their previous ERP system and wanted to move to a new technology solution that could help grow the business. Today they have revenues of over $100 million and eight locations across the Midwest, serving twelve states, all while relying on Eclipse technology advancements to support this growth.

Best in Class Performance for All

American Metals Supply continues to outperform in the HVAC industry by being laser-focused on their core expertise. Since they do not carry equipment, they need to continually find ways to drive efficiency into their business to remain competitive.

Brandon Gregory, Supply Chain Manager describes their culture as having a lean strategy, with a team given autonomy that continually looks for ways to improve. A self-proclaimed efficiency junky, Brandon has used Eclipse Software to help his small purchasing team operate effectively. The purchasing process has not always been so smooth. “We used to have different people doing the buying as a secondary function when I joined. Normal practice was to key all the purchase orders by hand based on reading a printed sales history report.” Brandon used the suggested PO queues and his artificial triggers feature to streamline the process and improve their productivity exponentially. He stated, “Eclipse has helped us become so efficient in purchasing that we can finish purchasing in half a day and spend the second half of the day working on projects that help us move forward.”

Their focus on efficiency has helped them turn their stock over 6 times a year, and they keep their dead stock of anything over 200 days old to under 2% of their total inventory.

“It’s all math and communication” Brandon states, “the simplicity is what sets us apart.” They also keep a close watch on their sales and gross profit per employee as a benchmark to their success.

Disciplined and Numbers Driven

Successfully selling 300K tons of steel in a 12-month period requires having a close eye on sales results. American Metals Supply has used Epicor Data Analytics (EDA) to seamlessly integrate with Eclipse to pull information into dashboards that they can use to quickly view their sales activity.

When the COVID-19 crisis hit in early 2020, they were able to quickly adapt by using EDA to modify their dashboards and monitor new metrics to drive even more efficiency. Using analytics to closely monitor A/R data, including metrics such as days to pay, week over week receivables, and existing credit limits, they improved cash flow by reducing ADP by over three days.

Using the right information in an easy-to-access format, gave the company the ability to avoid reducing headcount, unlike so many of their peers in this challenging market environment.

Flexible Integrations

American Metals Supply does not have a showroom. Approximately 90% of their business is done via delivery. In addition to EDA, American Metals Supply has used other third-party solutions that have been integrated into Eclipse.

Having an eCommerce presence, powered by Eclipse partner Second Phase, allowed them to serve customers quickly without customers dropping by their facility. Utilizing iPads with an app from a solution partner, Innovo, each driver has their own device, removing the need for paperwork and customer contact, while increasing efficiency and flexibility.

Brandon has found that Eclipse Software is simple to use. Using the Eclipse API, his team and the company overall has been able to easily integrate other unique tools needed to run their business. He said “Eclipse is a huge tool and every year we find features we weren’t using that help us grow our business. I joined American Metals Supply as a part-time warehouse guy for beer money in college. Who knew leaning heavily on one tool would set me on my career path and be the thing that allowed me to provide for my family?”