VVhere's your eb site?

r|'!HERE are few American indusI tries as venerable and down-toearth as the lumber business. It's not uncommon to see third-generation owners in bluejeans helping unload a truck rather than freshly hired out of business school, dressed in a suit, and hiding in their offices behind computer print-outs.

Consequently, it should come as no surprise that there are hundreds (in fact, likely thousands) of retail and wholesale lumberyards across the country with no presence on the Internet. In a random survey by The Merchant Magazine of 50 independent lumberyards across the U.S., 38 of them-or 167o-had no Web site.

"Site-less" dealers have ample excuses: Web sites cost too much to create. They cost too much to maintain. They won't generate revenue and offer no concrete value. We don't know how to build one or who can build one for us. We're too busy to worry about such "luxuries." We're not even sure we understand what a Web site is.

Yet, increasingly even the smallest businesses are discovering that customers expect them to have a Web site as much as they expect them to have a phone number.

The most important thing is not how elaborate your site is, but simply having one. It can be simple and inexpensive to set up and maintain-little more than an online version of a company brochure. Tell us who you are, what you sell, and how and when to get ahold of you.

Bells and whistles-including fancy graphics, downloadable order forms, customer registration and electronic sales-make a site work harder, but are optional.

Many businesses hire a professional Web design firm to produce their site, but as the process becomes more mainstream, there are plenty of money-saving alternatives. Contact the computer department at the local junior college to find a student designer. Ask around your own business to see if an employee has the skills or knows someone who does.

Or, with moderate technical and design competence, you can build a site yourself. Inexpensive and even free templates are available that don't require a great deal of design expertise. You can also purchase Web-editing software, such as Microsoft FrontPage and Macromedia's Dreamweaver.

Another common approach for dealers is contacting their buying coop. Do it Best, for example, offers members three options: store-specific information.

Do it Best site, such as www.nilsons.doitbest.com. For a $250 set-up charge and $15 monthly hosting fee, members receive a template-produced site managed by the co-op. Members can manage some information, such as store-specific specials.

Independent site, such as www. gillroys.com. Members create and host their site on their own, and for $10 a month connect to Do it Best for the shopping experience.

"Our intent is to make having a site as affordable and effective as possible," said e-commerce manager Brian Reed. In fact, he said the program is

More than

three-quarters

of independent lumberyards surveyed had no Web site.

designed as a money-maker, since participating dealers receive 100Vo of the profit on all sales in their area.

Whoever designs your site will be able to assist in registering (and periodically reregistering) your domain name. A list of accredited domain registrars also can be found at www.InterNIC.org.

create custom Web sites with minimal technical and design expertise.

. Domain only, such as scottys. doitbest.com. For $15 a month and no set-up fee, members are included in the e-commerce program with a cobranded page, but can offer no other

The final expense is hosting on a Web server-the equivalent of monthly rent for your slice of Cyberspace. With a little research, you can find a company to host a basic site for well under $10 a month.

No matter your course, adding your own Web site can be a quick, painless and affordable procedure.

Activant Solutions

Activant now has a complete business management solution for smallto medium-sized wholesale distributors. Activant Eagle for Distribution streamlines order entry. inventory management, accounting, pick/pack/ ship flow, and other critical business functions. The product combines business management technology with tools that automate and deliver comprehensive customer information.

Capabilities include Active Architecture, for easy installation, use and maintenance; Active Knowledge, for accessing customer-specific data, and Active Service, for better servicing customers.

DMSi

A new hosted service, Agility Jump-Start, removes old-fashioned time barriers and provides distributors of lumber. millwork and other building materials with immediate access to purchased software. For distributors switching to DMSi's Agility software, it means rapid implementation, dramatically less business inrerruption, and a shorter learning curve.

Making Agility immediately avail- able through the Internet eliminates the implementation time lag associated with waiting for locally hosted hardware to be installed, configured and ready. Distributors can begin loading data into Agility modules within one or two days of selecting it for their business, or on the heels of system training if preferred, through the Jump-Start plan.

Agility Jump-Start provides 45 days of free Web-based hardware and software access for up to five different branch locations.

E nterprise Computer Systems

ECS Dashboard, a business intelligence tool, deciphers data, analyzes it using advanced Online Analytical Processing, and presents it in a useful, intuitive display-either on a desktop or on the Web. It makes raw data useful so users can identify problems. recognize opportunitics, measure performance, and predict trends.

Create charts for everything from gcneral profits & losses to specific. minute-by-rninute analyses of mission-critical operations. Key infbrmation is ettortlessly distributed to those r'vho need it company-wide.

ProBuild Systems

ProBuild has released Dealer Edition version 2.6 of its BuyMetrics commodity buycr softrvare . featuring complete support for special orders and allclrving vendors to receive electronic copies of purchase clrders.

The Web-based personal prcductivity software automates the routine aspects of collecting data. crunching numbers, entering purchase orders. and tracking vendor perfbrmance. It recognizes the importance of relationships in the supply chain and is designed to enhance traditional relationships and provides valuc tcl both buyers and sellers.

Progressive Solutions

Progressive Solutions recently unveiled a North American version of its bisTrack sofilvare popular in the U.K.-for building industry suppliers.

The comprehensive. Windows-based distributiorr managcment s()lution allolvs dealcrs and distributors the ability to integrate all aspects of their business.

Also offered is a nerv major release of its flagship product, Lumber Track business software tbr manufacturers and r'vholesalers. The architecture and improved features in Version 7 lvill be of intcrest to new and existing users rvishing to up-9rade.

In addition, increased functionality has becn added to the Tag Track and Data Collection systems complete tag printing, bar code reading. tallying and inventory management soluticlns.

WoodPro

WoodPro 2000 Wood Treatment softrvare no."v offers advanccd features designed to handle thc unique requirements of the treating industry.

Features includc Inventory Control. to minimize uscrs' investment in stock and depot rcsources; Shipping & Scheduling application, fbr effbc- tive delivery, tracking and monitoring; Recommend to Treat option. fbr generating treatment lists and subsequent treatment orders, and a treatment module, to capturc the cost of treatment at each stage of the process.

World Wide Wood Network

To enable suppliers of Home Depot, Lolvc's and other retailcrs to become UCCNet compliant in 2005, W3Net has added UCCNet data synchronization services to its suite of eBusiness solutions.

The firm also has introduccd supplier-managed inventory for consignment and program sales replenishment and collaborative business software for individual c()mDanies.