Partnership delivers results for Nuline
Knowing what to expect and how to proactively plan has led to record results for Nuline Technologies, one of Chicago’s leading residential electrical contractors. And Gexpro’s information sharing is a large part of their success.
Nuline CEO Richard Traub can give concrete examples that show his 1994 decision to make Gexpro his number-one supplier has paid off. “Gexpro has gone all out to meet our needs in terms of both equipment and organization – especially when it comes to deadlines. We tried to establish the same level of cooperation with other distributors but we never achieved the results we’d hoped for,” says Traub. “In Chicago, where the residential market has plummeted by some 50%, our business in this sector has only fallen by 10%,” he explains. “Furthermore, thanks to Gexpro’s flexibility, we can focus on the competitive advantages of the B-to-B transactions in the market as well.”
Key to this success is an interactive forecasting and planning system implemented in 2007. It shares information between Nuline and Gexpro systems, delivering a unique level of insight for product needs – both day-to-day and six-weeks into the future. “This allows us to be more responsive and at the same time to better manage our stock inventory and our relations with our suppliers,” explains Jim Watson, Gexpro account manager. This robust approach allowed Nuline to secure the electrical installation of 1,500 residential homes at the Great Lakes Naval Base for the U.S. Navy. Completion is scheduled for 2009.
Timesaving tools for ordering
Working together for more than two years, Gexpro and Nuline created an automated purchase order tool that generates an average of 200 purchase orders per day, without a single piece of paper or any manual procedures. This system saves Nuline eight hours of labor each and every day. At the same time, it reduces the error inherent in manual processes.
e-kits cover e-verything
Always looking for more ways to improve the productivity of their working relationship, Gexpro and Nuline created a family of custom e-kits to deliver all the rights products for an application. These kits list all the products necessary for a project at each stage of construction. Once an e-kit has been registered on Gexpro’s system, all the products needed for that kit’s application (which could total hundreds) can be ordered with a single e-kit number. “We no longer have to record all the stock numbers in a repetitive fashion. This time saving helps reduce the risk of errors,” explains Shafohi Alamgir, Pricing Specialist. Every day, Gexpro ships some 200 e-kits for Nuline.
Knowledge and performance from understanding
The systems, personal relationships and continual improvement in the Nuline-Gexpro relationship has allowed both companies to develop insights that help them achieve outstanding performance, thriving even in a down market. Perhaps CEO Traub sums it up best, “We understand each other because we each know and appreciate the other’s abilities. It’s this relationship that is the key to our success.”