How Colony Hardware Plans to Meet Ambitious Goals with GAINS: Jody’s Success Story at GAINS Summit

Sarah Barnes-Humphrey (00:05):

Hello everyone and welcome once again to the GAINS Summit. My name is Sarah Barnes-Humphrey and I am the founder and host of Let’s Talk Supply Chain. And with me right now is Jody. Jody, how are you?

Jody:

Good. Very good. Thank you so much.

Sarah:

I’m so excited to have you here. And I was want you to do a bit of an introduction because you are a seasoned supply chain leader and you are doing some great things at Colony Hardware, but you also have a great background and you’ve worked with some really big companies. So can you talk to us and tell us who you are, what you do? Give us a little bit of that background and what you’re doing at Colony?

Jody (00:39):

Yes, sure. So I started, believe it or not my career as a chemist, but migrated up to supply chain. Yeah, That’s a long migration. I’ve been a year with Colony Hardware. It’s been a great journey. We are a distribution company of construction supply, so our portfolio is extremely complex, thousands and thousands of SKUs. We pride ourselves on getting anything to anybody at any time needed for the job site. So that in and of itself is complex and different. With two or three different ERP systems and we’ve just deployed GAINS across the business on one of the main systems and it’s going very well now. Yeah.

Sarah (01:18):

Love to hear that. Now you have an extensive background. You started in chemistry.

Jody

Yes.

Sarah

How does all of that come together into your current supply chain strategy? I mean, it sounds like you’ve got a big job to do and you’re working through that and you’re bringing in the right systems. How has your background though influenced that strategy that you’re deploying?

Jody (01:38):

That’s a good question. I think the chemistry background, the analytical part of that, really kind of in a purchasing space, very good negotiation skills that I trained should cost modeling, all of that very analytical approach to procurement in general. And then I think with the background in Six Sigma, I’ve got up to a master black belt level.

Sarah (02:00):

Wow.

Jody (02:01):

Yeah, it was a long journey.

Sarah (02:02):

Do you actually physically get a black belt?

Jody (02:04):

No.

Sarah (02:05):

I kind of wish you did you know.

Jody

I know me too.

Jody (02:08):

Me too as well, but no, no, no. It’s just the discipline of process, stepwise process to approach kind of problems and putting robust processes in place, which are built to last. And I think that’s what I mind my career on is just going into a company that really needs some strategy and structure and putting that in place with the background I have. So I think that ties my previous experience together with the path that I’ve been on for the last 10 years. I would say.

Sarah (02:37):

I love that built to last because a lot of times we’re taking a look at processes, we’re taking a look at strategy, we’re taking a look at technology, and we get a little bit overwhelmed as leaders, as supply chain professionals. Which way do we go? How do we figure out what we need? And a lot of times that built to last sort of philosophy that you just mentioned will help get you through. What are we doing to build the processes, the strategy, the technology that’s going to last us, but then also help us innovate at the same time.

Jody

That’s right.

Sarah

That’s a really big job. So talk to us through that strategy, the process, the technology. How did you figure all of that out for Colony Hardware or are figuring it out? Because it’s a journey,

Jody (03:22):

Right. It’s a journey. You’re absolutely right. Yeah. I mean, I think to your point, it’s really easy to come in and bandaid stuff. And I think for me, the most important thing is legacy. You want to work for a company, you want to step back and at the end of the day look back and say, wow, this is really what we put in place. Not only the systems and the processes, but transforming the people as well. So with Colony, again, a really strong company, a really strong culture, we just needed some systems in place for inventory management and planning. We had some, a bit manual, but now what we’re doing is taking a look at what we need to get ourselves ready for the growth that we expect across. To do that, we need to start to really think about robust processes that will again, take us through the growth and keep us there for the future.

Sarah (04:11):

And that’s really exciting. So one of the challenges you mentioned was that inventory management and making sure you’ve got the technology behind that to be able to help you grow. Were there any other challenges that you had or saw coming into your role at Colony Hardware and how did you end up solving those?

Jody (04:29):

Yeah, it’s interesting. I think aside from basic, get some better planning in place and more and robust systems, which we did with GAINS, it’s a transformation for the folks as well. We weren’t structured organizationally. We had a team that was doing everything, demand supply, answering the phone calls.

Sarah:

Wow

Jody:

Yeah. Part of it was organizational redesign, separating out demand and supply, and then really taking a regional cross to purchasing. That was a big deal. And I think the other thing that I saw that we worked well on, great team of people that I work with, great colleagues. So I’m linked by the hip to the commercial team. We go to market together, so I need to know what they need for growth. So I think that connection with our executive team has been something that’s planted a firm structure for us to go.

Sarah (05:23):

Well, and I read something recently that technology implementations is only 20% technology.

Jody:

Yes, yes.

Sarah:

Right? And so what you’re talking about really is that 80%. So who is it internally that I need to collaborate with? Who is it externally that I need to partner with to help me solve this challenge? But I’m sure your team, after organizing everything and making sure that everybody is not doing everything, because that’s not conducive for anybody, really was happy with that. And then that helps with the change management piece when you’re introducing that technology, right?

Jody (05:58):

Yeah, it’s a lot of, part of the role is marketing right. You’ve got folks that are nervous, they’re used to the old system, the old way doing things. And so you spend 20, 30% of your time just marketing the why. Marketing the vision and where we’re going, why we need to get there. So I think that helps your point. You can’t underestimate the need for communication and change management built into any process

Sarah (06:22):

Yeah

Jody (06:22):

Any strategy that you’re tackling, you need to think about those elements.

Sarah (06:26):

And so GAINS is known for a reputation of personal service, and I think you’ve mentioned in the past or in conversations with GAINS that that was one of the reasons why you decided to partner with them and work with them. Can you talk to us a little bit about why that was so important to you and how that was part of the decision making process?

Jody (06:48):

Yeah, sure. I think it’s what I just said earlier is I knew change management was going to be hard. I knew that we needed a partner that was going to stay with us through the ups and downs. Our data’s not the cleanest, but we’re in pretty good shape now. And when we were doing our due diligence at a better demand planning system, there’s a couple out there that are pretty strong. For the most part they do mostly the same thing. Some are better than others. But what we found in our process of due diligence was the customer references. We were amazed at the insight into they stay with you, they’re partnernering, and they’re not going to let you fail. They’re here to make you successful. And that’s exactly what we see. We’ve been deploying all year and to their demise or detriment, I think I’ve knock on the door every day. I think we had a daily meeting, but they’ve been wonderful.

Sarah:

Knock that door every day

Jody:

Oh yeah

Sarah:

Here Jody comes again

Jody:

Yeah exactly

Sarah (07:46):

I’m sure they love it

Jody (07:48):

But they’ve been wonderful. And to that, it’s true. I mean, they’re going to stick with you and put the hours in to get you successful.

Sarah (07:56):

That’s what you need from a partner. And to last you thinking about building to last, they need to be there for the long haul, right? You need a partner, somebody who’s trust you.

Jody:

You got it. Yeah, absolutely.

Sarah:

Now, I don’t want to get this wrong, so I’m going to read this one, but you recently shared, I think that your CEO has an ambitious goal of reducing $12 million in inventory?

Jody:

Yes. Yeah.

Sarah:

Within 90 days? I mean, how is GAINS helping you to manage that and help you reach the goals that your CEO has set out?

Jody (08:30):

I’ll tell you, I don’t think if he asked me six months ago without GAINS, without my, you know we’ve got organizational structure now. We’ve got a great solid senior demand lead in place. We’ve got a wonderful Power BI that helps us look across the enterprise because we still have two ERPs. We wouldn’t be able to do it. But with GAINS, just the visibility of our SKUs and who’s using what and the velocity of the SKUs in the supply chain, it’s helping us to redistribute inventory that’s maybe not fast moving to branches that will move it quicker.

Sarah (09:04):

Okay.

Jody (09:05):

Yeah. So it’s the analytics behind GAINS with the snap of a finger, honestly. The hard part is moving the goods, but the analytics are there that really kind of help you with that process.

Sarah (09:17):

I saw that number and I was like, wow, that’s a big ask

Jody (09:20):

We’ll get it. We’ll get it.

Sarah:

Oh, you’re confident.

Jody

We’ve got a great team. And it’s just you know everybody that I work with, it’s just can do attitude. So that’s part of confident we rally around what we need to do.

Sarah (09:37):

So what are your next steps? What’s your plan for optimizing your supply chains and how does GAINS fit into that?

Jody (09:45):

Yeah, that’s a great question too. So yeah, one is, let’s get this. Now that we have this system, let’s do this, what I call the great redistribution right. Clear the debt stock, and then we want to manage that inventory under 12 months. With GAINS’ help, we want to continue to look at the velocity of the movement of the goods through GAINS help. And then also, I think we can start to look at linking that demand to supply better. GAINS, does it with their algorithms. But we know, for example, next week we gained a new customer, we gained a new segment. So we have to be quicker to kind of make those adjustments within GAINS. We’re doing a lot more work on same day service suppliers that deliver the same day, for example. There’s no reason why we need to carry as much stock. So all that analytics is the next level. And then beyond that, it’s really SKU management, right. We’ve got a lot of different suppliers. We’ve got great category managers in place that look at portfolios, but we can do a better job at just kind of bringing down the complexity of the business. So those are kind of the short term next year on the horizon to get to that next level. It never ends right.

Sarah (11:01):

Yeah. Well, it’s the journey, not the destination.

Jody:

Right

Sarah:

And sometimes we feel like it should be a destination, but we need to relax and really understand that this is a journey and things are going to change and move.

Jody:

Yeah

Sarah:

So let me ask you, how do you see that partnership with GAINS evolving? You’re going to be innovating, you’re going to have different asks, you’re going to have things that you’re going to want your partner to help you figure out. Do you sort of see what that could look like with them?

Jody (11:32):

I think with the help of GAINS, just more robust demand planning, forecasting, if we can share that with our suppliers, that’s going to certainly help us with lead time reduction. So there’s a lot of work with GAINS with the basic starter kit, so to speak, that we bought. But then learning as they grow, it’s a partnership where we think confidently that GAINS will expand their portfolio of what they’re doing at some time. Maybe we’ll need supply chain design. I’m not sure. But it’s a great partnership that I think will grow together throughout the years.

Sarah (12:07):

And you’ll be able to give them feedback so that they can continue to innovate from a technology standpoint to give you the different things that you need.

Jody (12:17):

Yeah, absolutely. I think now a good example is the user conference, the conference we’re at. I think that’s a good forum for us, the customers that are in the front lines, trying to solve supply chain problems, to get that feedback of what we need, whether it’s differently in GAINS or some new module or some new directions.

Sarah (12:36):

Well, and you can figure out where the commonalities are and who has which challenges and how they sort of fit together to be able to come with a solution as well. Summits are really, really good for that and bringing customers together. So finally, what advice would you have for any supply chain leaders who are considering working with GAINS, maybe partnering with GAINS?

Jody (12:59):

That’s interesting. We talked in the hallway about this. I would suggest from a GAINS perspective, inviting more prospects here. We came a year ago and we sat with a lot of different folks in the hallways and outside of the conferences to get their opinion of what they’re using it for. Plus other. I’ve got really good feedback last year on org structure. But I would say just do your due diligence. Narrow down, speak to customer references repeatedly. I mean, that’s really where you’re going to understand if this is the system for you. And then, like you said earlier, I think it is, you’ve got to pick a partner that you like to work with because it is a long-term engagement.

Sarah (13:43):

But also finding out how they’re using the technology as well. They might be using it in ways that you may not have thought of, or it’s something that is on your roadmap, but not necessarily the priority in this particular moment. But knowing that you’ve got something to solve for that down the road

Jody:

Yep a roadmap

Sarah:

is really, really important. Well, Jody, thank you so much for joining me here at GAINS Summit.

Jody (14:07):

My pleasure, great to spend time with you today.