Order Entry Via The Internet

Order entry has evolved from hand-written multi-part forms and early computer-based systems with limited power to customer remote entry systems based on dial up concepts, electronic faxing with the onset of EDI, electronic catalogs on standalone PCs, and laptop-based systems for outside salespeople. The next generation is here: Internet-based business transaction systems.

Building product distributor Iron City Sash & Door Co., Pittsburgh, Pa., is currently accepting orders online with their new EntryNET program, a Web-enabled order entry system developed by DMSL ITon City's Web site is precise and functional, featuring company information, a graphic of their service area, links to window and door manufacturers, email shortcuts, and a "Dealer Only" area where participating dealers can build and submit orders, get quotes, inquire on order status, review and edit previous quotes, and upgrade existing quotes to orders.

Some argue customer service suffers from automating the order entry process with customer-enabled ordering systems. Is it really easier to pick up a phone and place an order? What if your supplier is already on the phone taking orders from another customer? Dealers are left waiting or have to call back at an inconvenient time-wasting valuable time and money.

Internet order entry systems allow for anytime, day or night ordering. "(Our customers) like to do business at their convenience, not at our convenience," explains Dick Scherer, system manager at hon City. "In a lot of cases, that convenience is after hours. With EntryNET, they can access our Web site, open the program, enter their user name and password, and begin placing their own orders."

He adds, "If you aren't sure how your customers will respond to this convenience, ask yourself how often you stand in a teller line to get spending cash versus the convenience of an ATM.''

Additionally, with Web-based business-to-business ordering systems, the end user has complete control over the order. He can select the items, make changes to the order, enter desired ship dates, and more. "The one thing our retailers like most about our system and the Internet is that they like to control their orders," Scherer says. "They don't like the fact that they have to fax or phone it to us and have them get misinterpreted. They know when they place an order in EntryNET, they placed it themselves. They can view it and know it is exactly what they want. And, with its instant order acknowledgement, they have immediate confirmation of their order."

Recycled Waste Exempted

Wood treaters have gained a special wastewater exclusion from the federal Resource Conservation & Recovery Act.

After years of lobbying by the American Wood Preservers Institute and others in the industry, the EPA has amended the definition of solid waste to exclude recycled wood preserving wastewaters and spent preservatives. Previously, treaters had to report, as waste, process waters recycled and used repeatedly in the treating process.

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EDI Tops With Distributors

Electronic Data Interchange is the most widely utilized technology among building material distributors, according to a recent North American Building Material Disnibution Association study.

EDI is used by 49Vo of respondents, the lnternet by 47Vo, bar coding by 22Vo, and Vendor Managed Inventory by 9Vo. Computer Telephony Integration ranked fifth.

Distributors annually spend an average l.83%o of total gross sales on technology and, O,SVo on technology naining and education.

Vinyl Siding May Bump Wood

Vinyl siding is projected to capture roughly half of the total siding market by 2001, largely at the expense of wood, according to a new Freedonia Group study.

In three years, vinyl's share of the siding market should grow from 4l%o (38 million squares) to over 49 million squares, while wood-based siding drops from 1996's227o to l3%o in 2001. Reportedly, wood-based siding has higher maintenance requirements and installed costs, and alternatives become better at mimicking wood's natural benefits.

As fiber cement siding and acrylic stucco panels find good acceptance, stucco, stone and related products will show particularly large gains. Metal panels, for industial uses, and brick will increase steadily.

Despite a decline in single family housing starts and slowing growth in average house size, overall siding demand in the U.S. should ise l.7%o annually to nearly 100 million squares in the year 2001, powered by continuing growth in improvement/replacement and non-residential construction.

The highest gains in siding demand will be in the West, where the construction market is less saturated, the economy healthy and in-migration continuing.

The Sunbelt region of the South (especially the South Atlantic sub-region), also experiencing steady population in-migration and expanding local economies, will also enjoy above-average siding demand growth.

Do Yellow Pages Work For You?

While American businesses annually spend more than $ll billion on Yellow Pages advertising, much of it is wasted on ineffective ads, contends an industry expert.

"Yellow Pages advertising can be the lifeblood of your business or it can be little more than your monthly donation to the directory company," says Barry Maher, author of Getting the Most from Your Yellow Pages Advertising. "Even when the funds are properly allocated-good directories, effective headings, appropriate ad sizes-the ads themselves can be so poorly designed as to be virtually useless."

Yellow Pages ads work best for certain businesses. "You can be spending 25Vo of yorx gross and be spread too thin or overspending at l%," he says.

The ads work best on consumers without established buying patterns, such as tourists and newcomers to the area; shoppers who want to compare businesses, and those looking for irregularly used products or services, such as chimney sweeping.