Featured Savance Enterprise Case Studies

When you’re given the title “Lighting Showroom of the Year” you must be doing something right. As is the case with LightStyles in Cornelius, North Carolina. The destination Lighting Showroom received the award presented by Furniture, Lighting & Decor magazine during the 2021 Lightovation for their stand-out sales, resilience, and ingenuity to thrive in retail, even in a difficult climate. The recognition is due in part to LightStyles’ recent migration to Savance Enterprise ERP Software, which kept the distributor serving customers at an unprecedented speed during the pandemic.

After struggling to keep up with competition using legacy software, Discount Plumbing & Electrical Supply required an ERP solution that would unify business platforms to help gain financial visibility, accurately track sales, and increase productivity. With three locations and nearly 25,000 square feet of warehouse space, the Tennessee-owned business also required a system that offered multi-location Warehouse Management and wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg.

After making the mistake of going with a competitor ERP company just a few short years ago, J&J Wholesale's Owner Jason Carpenter decided to pick up the pieces and move forward with an ERP built for the way he does businesses. Even though he had sacrificed a large investment, Carpenter's outlook on "licking your wounds and getting back into battle" set the pace for a transition that would immediately impact the way he did business. His unconventional decision to build a new ERP from scratch and launch it amidst a global pandemic was risky, to say the least. But despite the impact the transition could have had, the results spoke for themselves.

With superior customer service in mind, Service Electric Supply in Romulus, MI has been going above and beyond for customers since 1900. In order to keep up with the fast-paced, changing market. the company sought to replace its old Array solution by implementing real-time competitive pricing and inventory data for their fully-stocked warehouse. “Our goal was to find a solution with an architecture that could be built on. Our old Cobalt system did not give us that flexibility, which hindered our future operations and growth," President and CEO Eric Braidwood explained. "After several discussions with ownership, it was Savance’s commitment to customer service that persuaded Service Electric Supply to make the move. Braidwood says “I think that’s why some bigger software companies weren’t as attractive; we felt that there just wasn’t a personal touch.”

Alabama-based Buffalo Electric Supply prides itself on flexibility and customer satisfaction, and in order to continue to meet these criteria in a changing market, the company needed to replace its old Array solution, which had grown antiquated and did not meet Buffalo Electric’s requirements for flexibility and ease-of-use. "We were looking for a future-proof, easy-to-use software package that offered great support from the software provider," Vice President Patrick McCarroll says. Other criteria included affordability, e-commerce functionality, and the ability to mass-upload inventory changes. The search ended after Buffalo Electric Supply came in contact with Savance.

Drogen Electric Supply, a wholesale distributor of electrical supplies headquartered in Oneonta, NY, has experienced steady and sustained growth since opening in 1949. The company initially implemented Array, but found that the solution did not meet the company’s business goals. "With Array, every add-on seemed to bring an added expense," IT Manager Greg Clerke explains. "And when we looked at Windows-based alternatives, many of the solutions cost anywhere from $50,000 to $200,000. As a small company, Drogen simply couldn't afford such a major expense." The search ultimately led Drogen to Savance.

Nelson Electric Supply Company, a premier provider of industrial automation equipment and services headquartered in Racine, Wisconsin, was running its entire enterprise on an outdated legacy system originally implemented in 1981. The company's warehouse management software was in particular need of updating. Savance worked hand-in-hand with Nelson Electric to implement the new software quickly and painlessly. "Both solutions integrated seamlessly with our existing ERP system," states Steve Shuman, Nelson Electric's Vice President. "We began to see benefits almost immediately."

Founded in 1973, Villa Park Electrical Supply Company is a family owned and operated electrical supply and lighting distributor, serving the Greater Chicago area. Although Villa Park's previous business system, Real World, was functional, it was an old DOS-based system dating back over 30 years. "As our business grew over the years, and technology changed along with it, we knew we had to upgrade the system to streamline some of our day-to-day processes," explains Rose Ann Deadessis, Managing Partner at Villa Park Electrical Supply. Villa Park Electrical Supply found Savance thanks to a referral from NAED, the National Association of Electrical Distributors.

Wholesale Electric has been in business since 1960, and has done well servicing their clients in the Great Lakes Bay Region of Michigan. With the recent downturn in the economy, it was clear that the company’s antiquated use of pencil and paper-based processes would not be supported going forward. "We had one single computer running Excel to track item costs, and another separate computer to handle invoicing," explains Wholesale Electric owner and CEO Dick Dodick. "We knew we needed to find ways to operate more efficiently – without increasing expenses."