COMPANY Profile DMSi
Software firm prospers by focusing on LBM
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GERMAN, PRESIDENT and c.e.o. of DMSi Software, just celebrated his 30th anniversary with the company. In a business environment of mergers and hostile takeovers, it’s unusual to find a software executive with such long tenure. But it’s German’s steady presence and personal involvement that has made DMSi a leading provider of inventory and business management software to the building materials industry. DMSi started out in 1976 creating custom-made inventory management systems. Their clients represented multiple industries, including water supply companies, camera equipment AL
providers, wine sellers, and building material distributors. German joined DMSi on April 1, 1983, to “handle the business side of the company.” (When his wife learned he had left his promising CPA job at a Big 8 accounting firm to work with a little start up, “she thought it was an April Fools joke,” laughs Cal.) When the original owner wanted to sell the business in 1986, Cal became a 50-50 owner with Jim Hassenstab. Even though they “didn’t know how to write a line of code,” Cal and Jim recognized how to grow this little company: specialization. Narrowing the business’s focus would allow them
DMSi PRESIDENT Cal German, celebrating his 30th anniversary with the company, says the company has succeeded in large measure by specializing in the lumber industry.
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Building Products Digest
October 2013
to build a better product for customers. And so began DMSi’s transformation into an expert in one particular industry: building material supply. German and Hassenstab visited their existing building material supply clients, learning the ins and outs of the industry, the unmet needs and frustrations of these customers. Then they started altering the design of their software to address those needs, and the modern concept of DMSi was formed. Senior software engineer Terri McQuistan has been a programmer at DMSi since 1982. She describes the pre-Cal and Jim version of the company as “basically contractors for hire.” The wide variety in their customers’ industries meant each job was an isolated project. It was about fulfilling individual requests rather than developing long-term strategy. Once German and Hassenstab decided to focus on one industry, the entire atmosphere at the company changed. The emphasis on a total solution persists in current projects. DMSi’s Agility ERP system has functions specifically designed for each segment of the building material supply chain, from wholesale to retail, and lumber to roofing and siding. “For the last 30 years it’s totally about customer service,” says McQuistan. “We’re about finding the best solutions that can benefit all of our customers.” Today, DMSi has grown into a company of 90+ employees. It serves over 360 customer accounts, supporting thousands of physical locations with 12,000 active users. Typically, once a business has achieved that kind of growth, owners will retire to a more remote role and leave customer care to their managers and employees. But German continues to take a personal Building-Products.com