Case Study

Streamlining its Operations -
Miller Janitor Supply Automates Warehouse with DDI System Distribution Management Software

For more than three decades, Daryl Miller has been running a thriving janitorial supply business. In 1972, he began working for his brother's contract cleaning company. Four years later, he bought out his sibling's business and changed the name to M&M Janitorial Supply. As years passed and new customers were added, Daryl moved the company to its current location in Normal, Illinois under the name of Miller Janitor Supply. In the beginning, Daryl would cold call prospects in the morning and deliver supplies in the afternoon, while his wife managed office duties. Today, Daryl's son Tom and his wife work in tandem for the family-owned business. Miller Janitor Supply is a single-location wholesaler of janitorial supplies with a customer reach of about 30 miles of Normal, IL.

According to Tom Miller, the reliability of the technology system is paramount. Unfortunately, Miller's previous technology solutions were not the answer to running his operations efficiently. In the past, Miller Supply used a general accounting solution to track orders and store customer and product data. That is, until one day, the solution's vendor discontinued its already horrid customer service. "It was a common occurrence to call this vendor and receive a response from a customer service agent three days after the fact," said Tom Miller, Vice President of Miller Janitor Supply. "While the accounting software was sufficient, we were handwriting all customer invoices. The combination of that tedious process and the cutback of support led us to seek a more comprehensive distribution package."

Miller and his wife attended a local trade show to find a replacement solution. "We saw demos of every solution at the show and found that most charged high maintenance fees." Just as they were about to give up, Tom noticed the DDI booth. At the booth, DDI President, Adam Waller provided details on the company's distribution system and arranged a demo at the Miller facility. That day, Tom set up three other in-house demos, along with a webcast demo.

After finishing the evaluation of each solution, Miller Supply selected DDI for a number of reasons including price, range of customer service, reasonable maintenance fees, and its ability to execute conversion of data from the old system into the new DDI software. "Unlike other distribution vendors, DDI was willing to help with the conversion process, which was critical for us," said Miller. "We were further reassured that our decision was the right one because DDI did not require us to purchase new computers, thereby keeping our current Windows platform infrastructure intact. The other vendors wanted to migrate us to new operating systems like Linux."

Miller Supply installed the DDI System in February of 2003 with DDI techs leading the conversion process. "Data transferred to the new system included item numbers, prices, customer master files and vendor information," Miller said. "I was pleasantly surprised how the techs truly came with the right attitude and were open to our suggestions and willing to customize the system to our needs."

Miller has seen tremendous value from the DDI System streamlining his billing process. "With the DDI System, we have been able to generate customer invoices and include them when the supplies have shipped. Previously, invoices would be sent long after shipping. This is one of the many custom features DDI has provided," he said.

Miller has also optimized the system's built-in features including an automatic fax option that allows them to fax documents to customers and vendors directly from their computer - at the click of a mouse. He has also utilized the search completion fields. "If I'm searching for a customer or product, I can type the first two or three letters, and the system will intuitively list names and items that begin with those letters," he said. The order pad feature has also proven valuable to Miller since it archives a history of customer purchases. "If an existing customer wants to purchase more mops and buckets, I don't have to manually find those products - I can check their order history instantly," Miller added.

Miller says he is extremely happy with the DDI System, not only in terms of functionality, but also customer service and low cost. "Some of the other vendors wanted $80,000 for the system," he said. "Not only does DDI deliver for well under that range, but they provide excellent, responsive customer support. "Tom also takes full advantage of DDI's free downloadable upgrades.

Each month, Miller generates customer reports on sales and cash receipts, among others. In the future, Miller may consider DDI's bar-coding and Signature Capture features as he continually expands the power of his system.