Developing an advanced ordering and distribution system for a leading national building industry supplier
Complex ordering systems
Primesource is a provider of fasteners and other building materials with distribution centers across North American and the Caribbean. With 3,000 employees and 42 distribution centers, coupled with a diverse mix of product types and SKUs, they needed a supplier and a fulfillment company who could keep up.
Challenge
Primesource, with over 40,000 SKUs, has one particular product line, a printed product, that has over 6,000 variations. Orders are frequent but vary greatly between customers and stores. They needed a means of keeping their customers stocked and labeled that was dependable, and affordable.
Primesource had outgrown its previous vendor. They needed a robust ordering system and a means of distributing those orders quickly and effectively.
Solution
Partnering with Markitplace LLC
Markitplace was actually contacted by Primesource’s previous vendor, who asked about ways to meet their needs. After learning what would be involved, they offered to make the connection between Markitplace and Primesource and remove themselves from the mix. To their credit, they recognized that part of customer service is to realize when a customer’s needs are outside of your capabilities.
Primesource agreed to a 30-day period to develop and test the new ordering platform. Not only did Markitplace provide the platform, but they integrated Warehouse Management Software so orders could flow through the system, from order placement to fulfillment with tracking.
Today Markitplace is providing much more than the original printed materials. They now provide all the hardware necessary to hang product and signage.
Result
By partnering with Markitplace, Primesource was finally able to solve their most difficult supply chain issues, once and for all.
Key Benefits Realized
- By giving their employees access to Markitplace support team (by dedicated phone line or chat module), they now have the benefit of a buffer between field ops and corporate.
- Reduced lost password and sign-in issues because of the incorporation of SSO.
- Cost center billing.
- Peace of mind that comes from knowing there is a proven and scalable system in place