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Services Your Local Building Supply Company Should Provide

By Monte Boddecker

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 25Feb2012
Word count: 750
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If you're in the market for construction materials for personal or business purposes, you can benefit from services your local building supply company provides. Of course you want trained and knowledgeable sales personnel and a wide variety of brand name products, but what are some of the other services they might offer that could make you a better, or more efficient, builder?

In 2008 the "Innovative Homebuilding Product Delivery Research Report" was prepared for the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association under an agreement with HUD (the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development). They developed a list of Homebuilding Supply Chain Best Practices. When analyzing this list, what is really surprising is the low percentage of distributors that offer most of these services and the high percentage that have no plans to do so. When you're looking for a quality local construction material supplier, here are some of the best practices they should provide:

• Inventory Planning, Analysis and Optimization: Only about two-thirds of the distributors provide this service. Work with a company that has the inventory control practices in place to help you get what you need when your jobs require it.

• Customer Relationship Management: This strategy for using technology to manage customer relationships only had a 60% implementation rate. You'll want to work with someone that gets to know you and can help you perform your job better.

• Supplier Relationship Management: How close are the relationships the construction material supplier has with its suppliers? Can they get you specialty products when needed? If they build and nurture supplier relationships then they'll be able to procure the products you need when you need them.

• Collaborative Planning: Less than 40% of the distributors offered this valuable service.They can do more than just provide supplies. They can help you with plan optimization by looking at your home plans and helping you estimate the materials needed. They can also review the processes you are using to make you more efficient and increase your profit levels.

• Just-in-Time: Materials that are sitting around are wasting money and getting in the way. Can your supplier help by delivering products to the jobsite just as they are needed?

Today's building supply company can also be your partner in sustainable building practices, installation, code standards, and material take-off estimating. With home buyers watching every dollar that is being spent, you need to find a supplier that can work with you to get the job done right.

When you are looking for a Prosper construction supplies provider, finding a Prosper lumber yard you have confidence in is priceless. Monte Bodekker goes to the Irving design center when he is looking for Irving construction supplies.

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