May 7, 2024 • 31 mins
We're tearing down the old procurement playbook and rewriting rules that foster stronger connections with industrial distributors, through digital toolkits that transform procurement from a support function to a centerpiece of strategic influence. As we wade through this digital tide, the insights shared are bound to redefine your approach to efficiency and relationships in this competitive arena.
Picture a world where e-commerce portals and EDI technology act as the neural pathways of procurement. This episode peels back the curtain on how seamless electronic document exchange is revolutionizing the industry, with systems like PunchOut and CXML at the helm. Listen closely as we unravel the layers of how Ariba, Coupa, and Jagger Tungsten are exploiting these innovations for business prosperity.
We shine a spotlight on the transformative digital solutions redefining the distributor's world. EDI emerges not just as a tool but as a guiding light, illuminating the path to precision in decision-making and inventory management. The age of cumbersome catalogs and opaque purchasing processes is being eclipsed by user-friendly e-commerce solutions that broaden a distributor's horizon.
Here's to the unparalleled access to data that these digital marvels provide, and to the magic they weave in customer service, sales, and operations. Stay connected, stay curious, and let's continue to navigate the future of industrial manufacturing together.
Remember to keep asking why...
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Host: Chris Grainger
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Eco Ask why a podcast that dives into
industrial manufacturing topicsand spotlights the heroes that
keep America running.
I'm your host, chris Granger,and on this podcast we do not
cover the latest features andbenefits on products that come
to market.
Instead, we focus on advice andinsight from the top minds of
industry, because people andideas will be how America
(00:24):
remains number one inmanufacturing in the world.
Welcome to Ecosy.
I'm your host, chris Granger,and I'm excited to spend some
time with you today.
Thank you first of all to allof our listeners who've just
been hanging out with us.
For the years that Ecosy hasbeen out there, it has been just
(00:45):
a thrill to be able to do thisand to be able to put out
information that hopefullyserves you well throughout your
journey into industrialmanufacturing or wherever you
may find yourself.
And now you know, recently wedid shift up the way that the
show operates, where we're doingmore deeper topics.
We're not putting out quite asmany episodes per month, but
(01:08):
we're hoping that these episodesare going to be giving you some
insights into how to encourageand build your own knowledge up
around industrial manufacturing,how to work with industrial
distributors to be able to makethe most efficient use of your
time, as well as to startsolidifying these relationships
to a whole new level.
So our last episode, we talkedabout how you can be empowered
(01:32):
in this new digital age.
Okay, so far as the procurementprocess, because there's so
much that is changing inindustrial procurement and we
know that that experience reallyhas shifted, where many people
today want that user experiencethat they experience outside of
work right, I mean, if you havean Amazon account or if you have
(01:53):
a eBay, whatever it may be.
However, you shop for itemsonline, we want that same type
of experience in our workplaceas much as possible, and
distributors are recognizingthis.
They recognize okay, we got tomake some changes.
We need to start evaluating theway that people interact with
our business, and this is reallywhat we're talking about for
(02:15):
last month, and this month we'regoing to be talking about that
even further, because we'regoing to be talking about we
need to embrace thisdigitalization, because if
everything's going digital, wecan either resist it or embrace
it, and our encouragement to youis to embrace it, because we
need to understand it.
We want to help you understand,rather, how, if you embrace
(02:39):
these ideas and concepts, you'llfind more seamless ways to to
engage with your vendors, withyour suppliers, in a much more
meaningful way.
It's going to reduce yourstress.
It's going to put theinformation that you need in
front of you.
So hopefully you're going toenjoy this one.
We're just going to get rightinto it Again.
You can go to eecoonlinecom forall the resources that we talk
(03:01):
about today.
Check us out on YouTube, allthe areas where we can support
you.
We're pretty big on LinkedIn aswell.
We'll put a lot of stuff outthere to try to encourage you
along the way.
Okay, and we just recognizeright here that the electrical
distribution sector is reallytransforming.
I mean, when I think back towhen I started my career working
(03:23):
for ECO it was right out ofcollege at Old Dominion and, man
, we had this old character typesystem for entering orders and
there was nothing really doneonline.
When you walked into a salesoffice or to the distributor's
office and I remember very wellyou'd have catalogs lined up all
over the place and you lived inthese catalogs and really to be
(03:47):
able to serve your customers atthe high level back then, if
you knew the catalog and youknew where to find information,
man, you had an advantage,because it has a new person
coming in, particularly acollege student.
It was overwhelming, becausesome of these catalogs are two,
three, four inches thick andyou're trying to find one part
number with all these differentvariables, with all these
(04:10):
different options.
How do you do it?
I mean, just goes to show howfar the industry has come, and
just my hats off to the, to theold school who could still do it
that way, because things haveshifted.
And even now things have shiftedeven from the transaction
standpoint, where theseinteractions, they're really
(04:30):
more strategic.
It's not just, you know, here'syour PO, give me what I want.
No, there's more, there's morestrategy behind it and we have a
lot more ways to serve peopledigitally, which is going to
change the whole game even more.
And this is really driven bythis broader digital
transformation withinprocurement, the procurement
(04:53):
world and the rise of connectedcommerce.
You know, I mean, just thinkabout how so many businesses now
are connected directly withtheir vendors and it's giving
you which is great analternative to the traditional
ways of interaction with yoursuppliers.
So we recognize this is a bigdeal at ECO.
(05:15):
This is a big, big deal.
This is a big enough deal.
We need to make sure we havethe systems in place, the
processes in place, the peoplein place to be able to manage
and navigate these streams.
Okay, and we need to alsorecognize that you know what
what we put in place today isprobably going to change
tomorrow, but that's okay, we'regoing to keep working and we're
going to keep, you know, tryingto to custom tailor these
solutions to cater to where thecustomer needs are going, and
(05:39):
this is a big deal.
If you're working inmanufacturing, you better be
finding vendors and supplierswho think this way, versus the
old school, my way or highway.
Okay, now let's talk a littlebit about the whole
transformation in procurement.
And what does that look like?
Over the history here?
(05:59):
And really we need to recognizethat procurement process has
really evolved from thetransactional role that it used
to be to a more strategicfunction, and it's leveraging a
lot of supplier networks.
It's leveraging all this newtechnology because they're
really trying to enhance theiroverall operational efficiency.
(06:22):
And who can blame them?
Look at how unbelievablycompetitive the landscape is out
there, and we need to be ableto recognize this.
Okay, if it's a competitivelandscape, we've got to get the
best products, the bestsolutions.
We have to manage our costs.
You need to be working withvendors that recognize this, and
I learned a lot If you guys goback a few episodes in the past
(06:45):
of our catalog.
I was able to interview MichaelVan Kluen and he was talking
about how everything is movingtowards this more strategic spin
, visibly right and be able to.
We need to be able to enhancesupplier engagements.
We need to have lots ofcontinuity between business
systems and the planning to getall this in place, and he really
(07:10):
emphasized that.
You know, since the pandemicoccurred, everything has been
underscored by the importance ofa resilient supply chain, and
that's a big deal, because ifyou go back a few years ago, I
think you'll see where you had,you know, weak areas in your
supply chain.
It was a struggle.
It really was a struggle, andit comes down to ultimately, you
(07:30):
need to improve your supplier,vendor, end user relationships
and you better have somecontingency strategies as well,
because you never know howthings are going to shift.
You need to make sure that youhave really good relationships
across the board so that you canmaintain your operations and
get everything that you needwhen you need it, and these
(07:51):
digital technologies that we'retalking about today are really
crucial in that Because thischanging environment it moves
quick, and if you can find waysto streamline one little thing
within your process andprocurement is a big part of it
If you can find ways to makebetter decisions faster, if you
can find ways to reduce thoseerrors, how big would that be
for your business?
(08:12):
Okay, and this, right here, ishow you start bringing
technology into the wholeprocess, because it not only
makes internal operations moreefficient okay but it redefines
the engagement dynamics and ithelps you have a more seamless
integration of everything thathappens online or offline.
(08:32):
If you're just traditionalcalling up distributor to place
an order or replacing it online,you better have this Now.
I think there was an articlethat our director of digital
commerce was in.
He actually said this.
He said Eco is spearheadingdigital innovation in our
(08:52):
industry.
We are committed tostreamlining and improving
online and offline procurementchannels to meet evolving
customer needs.
And that was Adam Sheets, ourdirector of digital commerce,
and that's it.
Somebody has to be the tip ofthe spear, somebody has to
recognize the changing needs.
And right here we are, and whatI'm trying to share with you
today is some things to considerwith not just with ECO, but
(09:15):
other vendors that you work with, because we need to recognize
that connected commerce is here.
Connected commerce let's talkabout that for a second.
That really is advocating aConnected commerce.
Let's talk about that for asecond.
That really is advocating aseamless shopping experience.
Okay, so you're combining thewhole digital, physical
interaction that you typicallywould have, and you need to have
that in a seamless manner,because this is going to align
(09:36):
with how you want to buytraditionally, how things are
shifting, along with howdistributors manage their
business.
Think about how your shoppingexperience is right now across
different channels.
You need to make sure that youhave that same type of
opportunity to experience thatwith your suppliers, because
then that's going to startgiving you opportunities to grow
(09:57):
and leverage some of the itemsthat potentially could be game
changers for you.
Now think about this how aboutitems like digital portals with
punch out capabilities?
That's a big one.
We're going to talk about thathere in a few minutes.
How about electronic datainterchange EDI we're going to
call it EDI from here on out,but that's a big opportunity for
(10:18):
you if you're not doing thatwith vendors or just standard
e-commerce platforms.
There are so many ways that youcan build loyalty with others
and learn more on your own andenhance your overall service
delivery.
Be more consistent, engagingwith your experiences and touch
points.
All these things are important,but you got to know what you
look for, and what we're goingto do right here now is I'm
(10:40):
going to break this down intothree tiers.
Okay, we're going to start atthe top and we're just going to
work this down into three tiers.
Okay, we're going to start atthe top and we're just going to
work right down through thesethree different tiers to give
you an understanding of look.
We recognize there's diverseneeds of industrial customers.
We're not going to be able toput everybody in one basket.
That makes no sense, so we'renot going to try to do that.
But I'm going to give you atiered approach to consider
(11:04):
around engagement.
Okay, because you may start offand you would look at the first
thing I'm getting ready to gothrough and be like there's no
way we can do that.
Our business is not big enough.
That's okay.
Maybe the next year is for you.
But we need to understandthere's so many changing needs
out there.
The customer's needs arechanging, the distributor needs
are changing, so we have to havemultiple types of solutions
(11:29):
available to help you and meetyou where you are, and that's a
big deal.
If a distributor that you'reworking with is so define what
their process that they can'tflex to your needs, that could
be a problem.
Now, if your needs meet, that,but that distributors offering
that's that's one thing.
But too often we can, can youknow miss opportunities to work
(11:49):
with other customers because webuilt it around this one
particular type of of of avatar.
If you will and that's not,it's not the case you have to
have multiple options.
So let's get into it.
The first tier integration ofe-commerce portals.
These are items like PunchOutand CXML.
So at the forefront of thisengagement is right here is
(12:12):
these portals.
You have to have this.
So you have items like Ariba,coupa Jagger Tungsten there's
other ones out there CoupaJagger Tungsten, there's other
ones out there and they're usingCXML, which is Commerce
Extensible Markup Language, andthat's an open standard for
electronic business documentexchange.
That's really all that is, andwe leverage CXML here at ECO.
(12:35):
But you need to understand that, whoever you work with, do they
have that capability?
And if they do, do they havethat as part of their process,
because this enables seamlessexchange of orders, things like
that invoices, otherprocurement-related documents
all that can be defined andmanaged within that system.
That's a big deal, and thisalso facilitates transactions
(12:58):
between trading partners,including punch-out catalogs
facilitates transactions betweentrading partners, including
punch out catalogs, purchaseorders and invoices Because it's
very reliable, it's veryflexible, it's very robust and
it's clean.
That is a big deal.
Now, this takes a lot ofinfrastructure to get set up.
(13:18):
So, again, this may not be foryou, but it's elevating the
procurement process becauseessentially, what you're doing
is you're putting your buyingexperience, the way that you buy
and order stuff within yourprocurement system at your
current company.
You're integrating that withyour supplier.
How huge is that?
So, whatever system you're usedto navigating, you don't have
to learn anything new.
It's all right there.
(13:40):
Now there's some pretty bigbenefits here.
You have a lot ofstandardization there, because
this is this is basically liningup all these documents,
ensuring that you have a smooth,smooth communication across
these different systems.
So you don't have to figurethat out Once it's all set up.
It's there.
It also automates things.
So if you have an automationsetup piece, you don't have to
(14:03):
worry about manually having dataentry or or keying in the wrong
uh, part number, things likethat because your transactions
can be actually managedautomatically and at that point
there's nothing else to thinkabout.
Just use this, the material thatyou need.
When you use it, it's alsogoing to pick up your efficiency
.
As you get this implemented,your speed, your transaction
(14:25):
processes are going to speed up,and we all know if you speed up
your process here, you savesome time so you can do
something else there, right?
It's also very scalable,because if you look at this
format, the way the data isstructured is highly scalable
and you can handle a lot ofcomplex transactions very
(14:46):
efficiently.
There's also an integrationcomponent of this and it allows
you to, once you get this set up, there's so much seamless
integration between thesesystems and your catalogs.
It's just, this is real-timestuff, so you can look for it
for right now.
Okay, this is the part number.
I need to do this job.
Here's the specs, here's thedata sheets, here's the pricing
(15:07):
and availability and here's whenI can have it.
That's some pretty powerfulinformation to have at your
fingertips and, at the end ofthe day, it's all about reducing
your costs, because if youconnect and streamline this
process, you're going to reducethose costs associated with your
(15:27):
manual entry right, because youdon't have to have someone
sitting there manually punchingthat stuff in.
You can actually set theseitems up and manage it directly.
Tell the system what you want,the system's going to take care
of it.
So that's the first tier.
Now, again, this is a big tier.
Not everyone out there is readyfor this, because you have to
have professional procurementset up in your company.
You have to have theintegration capability on your
(15:50):
end as well, and then you haveto have a distributor with the
investment for a punch-outsystem on their end.
So there's lots of investmentsthat take place on both ends.
But when you find that, thatthat good match, it's pretty
awesome.
It's pretty incredible.
It's something I know.
For us, the punch outcapabilities are big.
(16:11):
It's it's about aligning theright customers to where we can
meet their needs, to ourbusiness systems.
And I know, know, for lots ofyou guys out there, if you're
listening and you think you maybe an opportunity here for that,
for your business, you've gotto reach out, you've got to
connect with us and let's justsee is there a punch-out
opportunity?
Because if there is, our teamis ready to serve, all right.
(16:35):
So that's Tier 1.
Now Tier 2, remember I talkedabout EDI Electronic Data
Interchange.
Tier two remember I talkedabout EDI electronic data
interchange earlier?
Right, well, you need to startutilizing EDI and flat file
transfers.
So this is kind of like yourmiddle tier.
This is not the top end, thisis not really at the bottom,
this is right in the middle.
Okay, because what you're goingto be doing right here is
(16:59):
you're automating the exchangeof standardized electronic
documents and you're increasingyour overall operational
efficiency.
That's it.
This eliminates your manual,the manual entry of data.
Still, it produces a lot oferrors, saves a lot of time and
resources, and what you do isyou, you, you integrate edi to
your erp system or accountingsystem and this helps for a
smooth uh document flow.
(17:20):
See, you see how that canreally start increasing the
effectiveness.
It's a big deal and it's such abig deal that we recognize,
particularly at ElectricEquipment Company, the EDI
solutions.
We have to be able to automatethese things.
We need to put a team of peoplein.
This is a great solution thatcan hit for your business.
If you're right there in themiddle, if you don't have the
(17:50):
punch-out capabilities, maybeEDI would be a great place to
look at it, because, again,you're going to improve your
overall operational efficiencyright there, because you're
automating the workflow.
Anytime you automate theworkflow, you enhance your
efficiency for your business,your operations, and you're
still reducing the errors.
You'll need to recognize that'sa big deal If you can reduce
(18:11):
errors for your business.
How big is that?
You don't have to waste time ondoing returns and things like
that.
You can reduce the errors andget those out of your process.
Man, it's just going to createso much more peace and actually
just a better relationship withyour vendors.
It's also increase youraccuracy Think about this
because you're validating your,your, your data as you go,
because if the system is not, ifsomething is wrong with it,
(18:33):
with the data it's going torecognize oh, we've got a flag,
what's going on here?
You'll be able to validate itwhen you still have time, versus
waiting for something again.
Oh man, I got the wrong thing.
Then you won't have that momentright.
It's also going to give you alot more visibility because
you're going to havetransparency in ordering, you
have transparency in invoicing.
It's going to help you makebetter decisions and overall,
(18:57):
hopefully, it can help youreduce your inventory costs
because you'll have more insightinto the supply chain and it's
going to help you optimize thoseinventory levels, and we all
know that inventory levels aresuch a big deal because you're
just carrying that cost.
We recognize you do have tocarry some costs to be able to
maintain your business, but whatis the right area, what's the
right limits, what's the rightman or max?
(19:17):
Well, we need data tounderstand that.
If we had data through an EDIconnection, you'd be able to get
that much clearer and granularfaster.
That's what it's all about.
So now that leads us to thethird tier, and the third tier
is a big one.
We talked about this at lengthlast month, but this is
distribution e-commercesolutions.
(19:38):
Okay, because you can't missthis.
Now we put together a lot, alot, a lot of resources for you
on this, and the cool part aboute-commerce solutions is this is
for businesses of any size.
You don't have to be a bigFortune 500 company to take
advantage of an e-commercesolution for a distributor.
(20:00):
The trick is you better havethat thing ready to be navigated
easily, and what the customerneeds need to be there, right
there on the site and ready.
This is a big area forprocurement.
This is how we make some shifthere Now.
This solution right hereextends the distributor's reach
for sure.
It gives you an opportunity tosearch and to do research on the
(20:24):
parts and pieces that you mayneed for your project without
necessarily, you know, having togo, go visit a store or go to a
site building or things likethat.
You can do a lot of this righthere and at the foundation of
e-commerce.
What you're really doing isproviding you access, really
providing you access for whatyou need for your business to
(20:45):
run, because usually what youwant to look for, you need to
have a good, user-friendlyinterface.
You got to find a way to findparts.
Just to be real, if you gothrough the website and you
can't put in your part number tofigure out what's going on, do
you have the right one?
It's not going to do you anygood.
So if the user interface is notgood, it's not user-friendly,
it has lots of errors ortimeouts or things like that.
(21:06):
You're not going to keep usingit, and you're not going to keep
using it for good reason,because it's not giving you the
data that you need it to giveyou.
So, look, you got to make sureyou have a good user interface.
You need to also make sure thatthat e-commerce solution has a
good, easy way to place an order.
Just face it, sometimes thatcan be the hardest thing.
All right, where do you putyour quantities in?
How do I select what day I wantit shipped to me?
(21:29):
How can I select what method Iwant it shipped to me?
How do I actually connect mysystem to place an order,
because I want to use a POinstead of a credit card?
All this stuff is just part ofyour order placement and you
have to have this in place.
So this is something thatshould be important for you and
this is what you can evaluate asyou're looking at vendors.
And then you need a way tomanage your account.
(21:49):
If you can't go back in andlook at your account and say,
okay, for that job, I used thatconduit, those ridges, those LBs
or these couplings, this liquidtype, all these things, maybe
you want to replicate theproject.
You'd be able to search thathistory.
You'd go back and see how oftenyou're buying these things, see
all these things start tyingtogether and then, once you
(22:09):
build enough history, you'd beable to say, okay, maybe I need
to start stocking X item and Ineed to put this many on the
shelf, whatever it may be, butthe opportunity through a
platform that you're workingwith, with your distributor, is
huge.
So if you don't do theautomation, the punch out, if
you don't do the EDI, youdefinitely need to get set up on
(22:32):
e-commerce.
It's just an easy, low entry,low hanging fruit way to better
strengthen your business so thatI really they're your three
tiers.
I want you to consider that andeverything's evolving, as I
mentioned, everything's evolving.
This whole digitaltransformation.
This is at the forefront and wewant to put out this
(22:53):
information around this tieredapproach, because we know the
way you engage with your vendorsand suppliers is changing.
It's changing and you want tohave, and you really need to
have, digital solutions like theCXML, like the like, the like,
the EDI, like the e-commercesolutions.
That's such a big deal becausewe recognize that so much is
(23:13):
changing on your end so fast.
Your distributors need to bechanging with you to meet your
needs, because there's newstandards for out there for
customer service, there's newstandards for sales.
There's new standards foroperations and delivery out
there for customer service,there's new standards for sales,
there's new standards foroperations and delivery.
All this stuff procurement,everything has this new standard
that's been driven by thisdigital age, which is fine,
which is cool, actually, I think, for me.
(23:35):
This is where I look at it.
This is where it's shifted.
It's so neat because it's noteverything is not so tied
directly to the old legacysystems and the catalogs.
Most of those places have theirplace, for sure to find stuff.
Man, if you can go online nowand get cut sheets, information
and this item goes with thisalbum have you thought about
that when you place this item?
(23:56):
Most people need these things.
Amazon does that.
Why can't distributors?
Well, we are Distributors arenow because they're embracing
this digital interchange, thisdigital integration.
They're embracing thepersonalized service, they're
embracing the solutions that areout there and they're moving
forward to more connected, moreefficient, more customer-centric
(24:18):
types of solutions anddistribution.
So it's a pretty exciting time,to be honest, when I see the
stuff that we've built and we'rebuilding and that we're focused
on.
Obviously, at the end of the day, it all comes down to people.
You do have to ask, becausepeople and ideas over products
that's the most important andthe ideas that the people are
(24:39):
having here around connectingsystems, being able to meet end
users where they're at, for theday-to-day stuff for the project
, stuff for the OEM stuff.
To be able to have all thatstuff in place and all those
business systems in place tohave a seamless experience with
your distributor, that's a bigdeal.
(24:59):
If you're not working with eco,with any of these systems,
reach out to us.
There's no reason that alistener right now who is, who
is within the eco you knowgeography if you will to not
have an e-commerce account.
You shouldn't.
They're easy to set up.
We can help you navigate that.
(25:19):
Matter of fact, inside the linkthere'll be some some inside
the show notes Rather there'llbe some links where you can
connect and go ahead and getyour account set up.
It's free, it's an easy process, but it gives you access to be
able to start doing businessdirectly with this through the
Web site, digitally, ok.
And if you have questions onEDI, if you have questions on
electronic data not electronicdata interchange but if you have
(25:43):
questions on punch out, that'sa big deal.
That's an opportunity for youto grow.
Reach out to us.
We have teams, we have expertsin place that can come in.
They can see what your businesssystem looks like and really,
what would that integration pathbe for us to be able to do it
the right way, because we don'twant to come in and do a
solution that's going tofrustrate you.
(26:04):
No, we want to set it up sothat you can come in.
You have a good user experience, your people have a good user
experience, your maintenanceteams, whoever is going to be
using that to buy the materialthat they need for the project?
We want to build thatconfidence, and we know that the
only way you're going to getthat confidence and that trust
(26:25):
built up is if you do it rightthe first time.
Do it right.
This is where we're here tohelp.
So we'd love to get yourfeedback on Eco Asks why, how
this is going.
What do you enjoy the mostabout the shows?
Also, we're doing a lot ofinformation on YouTube.
Now we're trying to put out notjust a podcast but more
resources to help you grow, tohelp you learn, to help you just
(26:45):
keep moving forward as you justwork with vendors like
Electrical Equipment Company.
So we'd love to get yourfeedback on some of these videos
, some of these resources.
We have a lot of resources aswell on just our digital
commerce solutions, and whatdoes that look like?
So love to connect with youthere again.
You can go to eko online that'seeco onlinecom, to find all our
(27:09):
resources, and you can.
You can connect with us orsubscribe to it to us, rather,
on our youtube channel.
You can follow us on linkedin.
That's a great area as well.
Try to put out some consistentinformation, but then reach out.
Let's just reach out.
Let's have a conversation.
As I mentioned earlier, adamsheets is the director of
e-commerce.
He loves to have conversationsaround these topics.
Our sales people do, our salesmanagement do.
(27:30):
We want to be able to be herefor you?
So if you want to say hey, Ithink edi may be a good path for
us, let us look at it with you.
We can figure out okay, whatthis, this is what it would look
like for on our end, you're setup where this is what we need
to put in place to be able to doit, things like that.
The same thing with uh, punchout and then again, as a, as a
last call emphasis, make sureyou get your e-commerce account
(27:54):
set up.
There are.
So there, it's just an easy way.
So if you're needing, findyourself in the need of cut
sheets, data sheets, drawings,that type of information off of
the products that you'repurchasing.
The e-commerce solution has itall.
It literally has it all.
It's all uploaded right there.
We put a lot of work in on that.
So to take advantage of that,you've got to get your account
(28:16):
set up, okay.
So, anyway, love to hear fromyou guys Again.
Ecoonlinecom is how you connectwith us.
You go to the show notes forthis episode.
You'll be able to find ouremail address podcast at
ecoaskswhycom.
You can connect with us there.
You can always connect with uson LinkedIn.
You can connect with me onLinkedIn wherever whatever you,
whatever's easiest for you.
But we want to be here.
(28:37):
We want to be a resource foryou as you continue to grow.
So hopefully you're embracingthis digitalization.
I know it took me a while totook me a while to.
I know for one thing ElectricEquipment Company has definitely
embraced it.
We are leaning into it.
We're making the investmentswhere we need to make, because
this is a huge item for thefuture.
And as someone who's been inthe industry for 20 plus years
now, it's really neat to see howstuff has shifted, how things
(29:00):
are really migrating.
But one thing has remained thesame this is a people relational
business.
It's all about just makingthose friendships and being able
to serve each other and helpeach other.
And I just think when I seethis stuff right here, the way
that the digital age is comingin, it's easy to just focus on
that and lose the relationship,and that's something that ECO is
(29:22):
committed to People and ideasover products.
We're going to always make surethat that relationship with the
ones that we serve is at thehighest level possible the
highest level possible.
Are we going to make mistakes?
Of course we are, because we'rehuman possible.
Are we going to make mistakes?
Of course we are because we'rehuman, but at the end of the day
(29:44):
, we're making the investmentsand the people and the
technologies to serve at anextremely high level.
So we'd love to get yourfeedback on this.
Give us a rating and review,connect with us, connect with me
.
However you want to do it, wewant to be here for you.
We want to serve you.
Thank you so much.
By the way, go check out thewebsite Eco Online and you can
find ways to start your account.
It's very easy to get youraccount set up.
It's just not a long, laboriousprocess.
(30:06):
It gets done and gets set up.
It's relatively straightforwardand to the point.
If you have questions, justreach out.
Our credit team does aphenomenal job on making that
process as seamless as possibleand, again, we're adding
products on a consistent basis,pretty much daily, to give you
(30:27):
more and more opportunities andaccess to the data that you need
.
Okay, so thank you again.
So much for listening.
It's just been an absolutehonor and I look forward to
hearing from you, seeing youagain soon and remember to keep
asking why.
Thank you for listening to.
Eeco Asks why this show issupported ad-free by Electrical
(30:48):
Equipment Company.
Eeco is redefining theexpectations of an electrical
distributor by placing peopleand ideas before products.
Please subscribe and share withyour colleagues and friends.
Also leave comments, feedbackand any new topics that you
would like to hear.
To learn more or to share yourinsights, visit EECOASYcom.
(31:09):
That's E-E-C-O-A-S-K-S-W-H-Ycom.
Welcome to Eco Ask why a podcast that dives into
industrial manufacturing topicsand spotlights the heroes that
keep America running.
I'm your host, chris Granger,and on this podcast we do not
cover the latest features andbenefits on products that come
to market.
Instead, we focus on advice andinsight from the top minds of
industry, because people andideas will be how America
(00:24):
remains number one inmanufacturing in the world.
Welcome to Ecosy.
I'm your host, chris Granger,and I'm excited to spend some
time with you today.
Thank you first of all to allof our listeners who've just
been hanging out with us.
For the years that Ecosy hasbeen out there, it has been just
(00:45):
a thrill to be able to do thisand to be able to put out
information that hopefullyserves you well throughout your
journey into industrialmanufacturing or wherever you
may find yourself.
And now you know, recently wedid shift up the way that the
show operates, where we're doingmore deeper topics.
We're not putting out quite asmany episodes per month, but
(01:08):
we're hoping that these episodesare going to be giving you some
insights into how to encourageand build your own knowledge up
around industrial manufacturing,how to work with industrial
distributors to be able to makethe most efficient use of your
time, as well as to startsolidifying these relationships
to a whole new level.
So our last episode, we talkedabout how you can be empowered
(01:32):
in this new digital age.
Okay, so far as the procurementprocess, because there's so
much that is changing inindustrial procurement and we
know that that experience reallyhas shifted, where many people
today want that user experiencethat they experience outside of
work right, I mean, if you havean Amazon account or if you have
(01:53):
a eBay, whatever it may be.
However, you shop for itemsonline, we want that same type
of experience in our workplaceas much as possible, and
distributors are recognizingthis.
They recognize okay, we got tomake some changes.
We need to start evaluating theway that people interact with
our business, and this is reallywhat we're talking about for
(02:15):
last month, and this month we'regoing to be talking about that
even further, because we'regoing to be talking about we
need to embrace thisdigitalization, because if
everything's going digital, wecan either resist it or embrace
it, and our encouragement to youis to embrace it, because we
need to understand it.
We want to help you understand,rather, how, if you embrace
(02:39):
these ideas and concepts, you'llfind more seamless ways to to
engage with your vendors, withyour suppliers, in a much more
meaningful way.
It's going to reduce yourstress.
It's going to put theinformation that you need in
front of you.
So hopefully you're going toenjoy this one.
We're just going to get rightinto it Again.
You can go to eecoonlinecom forall the resources that we talk
(03:01):
about today.
Check us out on YouTube, allthe areas where we can support
you.
We're pretty big on LinkedIn aswell.
We'll put a lot of stuff outthere to try to encourage you
along the way.
Okay, and we just recognizeright here that the electrical
distribution sector is reallytransforming.
I mean, when I think back towhen I started my career working
(03:23):
for ECO it was right out ofcollege at Old Dominion and, man
, we had this old character typesystem for entering orders and
there was nothing really doneonline.
When you walked into a salesoffice or to the distributor's
office and I remember very wellyou'd have catalogs lined up all
over the place and you lived inthese catalogs and really to be
(03:47):
able to serve your customers atthe high level back then, if
you knew the catalog and youknew where to find information,
man, you had an advantage,because it has a new person
coming in, particularly acollege student.
It was overwhelming, becausesome of these catalogs are two,
three, four inches thick andyou're trying to find one part
number with all these differentvariables, with all these
(04:10):
different options.
How do you do it?
I mean, just goes to show howfar the industry has come, and
just my hats off to the, to theold school who could still do it
that way, because things haveshifted.
And even now things have shiftedeven from the transaction
standpoint, where theseinteractions, they're really
(04:30):
more strategic.
It's not just, you know, here'syour PO, give me what I want.
No, there's more, there's morestrategy behind it and we have a
lot more ways to serve peopledigitally, which is going to
change the whole game even more.
And this is really driven bythis broader digital
transformation withinprocurement, the procurement
(04:53):
world and the rise of connectedcommerce.
You know, I mean, just thinkabout how so many businesses now
are connected directly withtheir vendors and it's giving
you which is great analternative to the traditional
ways of interaction with yoursuppliers.
So we recognize this is a bigdeal at ECO.
(05:15):
This is a big, big deal.
This is a big enough deal.
We need to make sure we havethe systems in place, the
processes in place, the peoplein place to be able to manage
and navigate these streams.
Okay, and we need to alsorecognize that you know what
what we put in place today isprobably going to change
tomorrow, but that's okay, we'regoing to keep working and we're
going to keep, you know, tryingto to custom tailor these
solutions to cater to where thecustomer needs are going, and
(05:39):
this is a big deal.
If you're working inmanufacturing, you better be
finding vendors and supplierswho think this way, versus the
old school, my way or highway.
Okay, now let's talk a littlebit about the whole
transformation in procurement.
And what does that look like?
Over the history here?
(05:59):
And really we need to recognizethat procurement process has
really evolved from thetransactional role that it used
to be to a more strategicfunction, and it's leveraging a
lot of supplier networks.
It's leveraging all this newtechnology because they're
really trying to enhance theiroverall operational efficiency.
(06:22):
And who can blame them?
Look at how unbelievablycompetitive the landscape is out
there, and we need to be ableto recognize this.
Okay, if it's a competitivelandscape, we've got to get the
best products, the bestsolutions.
We have to manage our costs.
You need to be working withvendors that recognize this, and
I learned a lot If you guys goback a few episodes in the past
(06:45):
of our catalog.
I was able to interview MichaelVan Kluen and he was talking
about how everything is movingtowards this more strategic spin
, visibly right and be able to.
We need to be able to enhancesupplier engagements.
We need to have lots ofcontinuity between business
systems and the planning to getall this in place, and he really
(07:10):
emphasized that.
You know, since the pandemicoccurred, everything has been
underscored by the importance ofa resilient supply chain, and
that's a big deal, because ifyou go back a few years ago, I
think you'll see where you had,you know, weak areas in your
supply chain.
It was a struggle.
It really was a struggle, andit comes down to ultimately, you
(07:30):
need to improve your supplier,vendor, end user relationships
and you better have somecontingency strategies as well,
because you never know howthings are going to shift.
You need to make sure that youhave really good relationships
across the board so that you canmaintain your operations and
get everything that you needwhen you need it, and these
(07:51):
digital technologies that we'retalking about today are really
crucial in that Because thischanging environment it moves
quick, and if you can find waysto streamline one little thing
within your process andprocurement is a big part of it
If you can find ways to makebetter decisions faster, if you
can find ways to reduce thoseerrors, how big would that be
for your business?
(08:12):
Okay, and this, right here, ishow you start bringing
technology into the wholeprocess, because it not only
makes internal operations moreefficient okay but it redefines
the engagement dynamics and ithelps you have a more seamless
integration of everything thathappens online or offline.
(08:32):
If you're just traditionalcalling up distributor to place
an order or replacing it online,you better have this Now.
I think there was an articlethat our director of digital
commerce was in.
He actually said this.
He said Eco is spearheadingdigital innovation in our
(08:52):
industry.
We are committed tostreamlining and improving
online and offline procurementchannels to meet evolving
customer needs.
And that was Adam Sheets, ourdirector of digital commerce,
and that's it.
Somebody has to be the tip ofthe spear, somebody has to
recognize the changing needs.
And right here we are, and whatI'm trying to share with you
today is some things to considerwith not just with ECO, but
(09:15):
other vendors that you work with, because we need to recognize
that connected commerce is here.
Connected commerce let's talkabout that for a second.
That really is advocating aConnected commerce.
Let's talk about that for asecond.
That really is advocating aseamless shopping experience.
Okay, so you're combining thewhole digital, physical
interaction that you typicallywould have, and you need to have
that in a seamless manner,because this is going to align
(09:36):
with how you want to buytraditionally, how things are
shifting, along with howdistributors manage their
business.
Think about how your shoppingexperience is right now across
different channels.
You need to make sure that youhave that same type of
opportunity to experience thatwith your suppliers, because
then that's going to startgiving you opportunities to grow
(09:57):
and leverage some of the itemsthat potentially could be game
changers for you.
Now think about this how aboutitems like digital portals with
punch out capabilities?
That's a big one.
We're going to talk about thathere in a few minutes.
How about electronic datainterchange EDI we're going to
call it EDI from here on out,but that's a big opportunity for
(10:18):
you if you're not doing thatwith vendors or just standard
e-commerce platforms.
There are so many ways that youcan build loyalty with others
and learn more on your own andenhance your overall service
delivery.
Be more consistent, engagingwith your experiences and touch
points.
All these things are important,but you got to know what you
look for, and what we're goingto do right here now is I'm
(10:40):
going to break this down intothree tiers.
Okay, we're going to start atthe top and we're just going to
work this down into three tiers.
Okay, we're going to start atthe top and we're just going to
work right down through thesethree different tiers to give
you an understanding of look.
We recognize there's diverseneeds of industrial customers.
We're not going to be able toput everybody in one basket.
That makes no sense, so we'renot going to try to do that.
But I'm going to give you atiered approach to consider
(11:04):
around engagement.
Okay, because you may start offand you would look at the first
thing I'm getting ready to gothrough and be like there's no
way we can do that.
Our business is not big enough.
That's okay.
Maybe the next year is for you.
But we need to understandthere's so many changing needs
out there.
The customer's needs arechanging, the distributor needs
are changing, so we have to havemultiple types of solutions
(11:29):
available to help you and meetyou where you are, and that's a
big deal.
If a distributor that you'reworking with is so define what
their process that they can'tflex to your needs, that could
be a problem.
Now, if your needs meet, that,but that distributors offering
that's that's one thing.
But too often we can, can youknow miss opportunities to work
(11:49):
with other customers because webuilt it around this one
particular type of of of avatar.
If you will and that's not,it's not the case you have to
have multiple options.
So let's get into it.
The first tier integration ofe-commerce portals.
These are items like PunchOutand CXML.
So at the forefront of thisengagement is right here is
(12:12):
these portals.
You have to have this.
So you have items like Ariba,coupa Jagger Tungsten there's
other ones out there CoupaJagger Tungsten, there's other
ones out there and they're usingCXML, which is Commerce
Extensible Markup Language, andthat's an open standard for
electronic business documentexchange.
That's really all that is, andwe leverage CXML here at ECO.
(12:35):
But you need to understand that, whoever you work with, do they
have that capability?
And if they do, do they havethat as part of their process,
because this enables seamlessexchange of orders, things like
that invoices, otherprocurement-related documents
all that can be defined andmanaged within that system.
That's a big deal, and thisalso facilitates transactions
(12:58):
between trading partners,including punch-out catalogs
facilitates transactions betweentrading partners, including
punch out catalogs, purchaseorders and invoices Because it's
very reliable, it's veryflexible, it's very robust and
it's clean.
That is a big deal.
Now, this takes a lot ofinfrastructure to get set up.
(13:18):
So, again, this may not be foryou, but it's elevating the
procurement process becauseessentially, what you're doing
is you're putting your buyingexperience, the way that you buy
and order stuff within yourprocurement system at your
current company.
You're integrating that withyour supplier.
How huge is that?
So, whatever system you're usedto navigating, you don't have
to learn anything new.
It's all right there.
(13:40):
Now there's some pretty bigbenefits here.
You have a lot ofstandardization there, because
this is this is basically liningup all these documents,
ensuring that you have a smooth,smooth communication across
these different systems.
So you don't have to figurethat out Once it's all set up.
It's there.
It also automates things.
So if you have an automationsetup piece, you don't have to
(14:03):
worry about manually having dataentry or or keying in the wrong
uh, part number, things likethat because your transactions
can be actually managedautomatically and at that point
there's nothing else to thinkabout.
Just use this, the material thatyou need.
When you use it, it's alsogoing to pick up your efficiency
.
As you get this implemented,your speed, your transaction
(14:25):
processes are going to speed up,and we all know if you speed up
your process here, you savesome time so you can do
something else there, right?
It's also very scalable,because if you look at this
format, the way the data isstructured is highly scalable
and you can handle a lot ofcomplex transactions very
(14:46):
efficiently.
There's also an integrationcomponent of this and it allows
you to, once you get this set up, there's so much seamless
integration between thesesystems and your catalogs.
It's just, this is real-timestuff, so you can look for it
for right now.
Okay, this is the part number.
I need to do this job.
Here's the specs, here's thedata sheets, here's the pricing
(15:07):
and availability and here's whenI can have it.
That's some pretty powerfulinformation to have at your
fingertips and, at the end ofthe day, it's all about reducing
your costs, because if youconnect and streamline this
process, you're going to reducethose costs associated with your
(15:27):
manual entry right, because youdon't have to have someone
sitting there manually punchingthat stuff in.
You can actually set theseitems up and manage it directly.
Tell the system what you want,the system's going to take care
of it.
So that's the first tier.
Now, again, this is a big tier.
Not everyone out there is readyfor this, because you have to
have professional procurementset up in your company.
You have to have theintegration capability on your
(15:50):
end as well, and then you haveto have a distributor with the
investment for a punch-outsystem on their end.
So there's lots of investmentsthat take place on both ends.
But when you find that, thatthat good match, it's pretty
awesome.
It's pretty incredible.
It's something I know.
For us, the punch outcapabilities are big.
(16:11):
It's it's about aligning theright customers to where we can
meet their needs, to ourbusiness systems.
And I know, know, for lots ofyou guys out there, if you're
listening and you think you maybe an opportunity here for that,
for your business, you've gotto reach out, you've got to
connect with us and let's justsee is there a punch-out
opportunity?
Because if there is, our teamis ready to serve, all right.
(16:35):
So that's Tier 1.
Now Tier 2, remember I talkedabout EDI Electronic Data
Interchange.
Tier two remember I talkedabout EDI electronic data
interchange earlier?
Right, well, you need to startutilizing EDI and flat file
transfers.
So this is kind of like yourmiddle tier.
This is not the top end, thisis not really at the bottom,
this is right in the middle.
Okay, because what you're goingto be doing right here is
(16:59):
you're automating the exchangeof standardized electronic
documents and you're increasingyour overall operational
efficiency.
That's it.
This eliminates your manual,the manual entry of data.
Still, it produces a lot oferrors, saves a lot of time and
resources, and what you do isyou, you, you integrate edi to
your erp system or accountingsystem and this helps for a
smooth uh document flow.
(17:20):
See, you see how that canreally start increasing the
effectiveness.
It's a big deal and it's such abig deal that we recognize,
particularly at ElectricEquipment Company, the EDI
solutions.
We have to be able to automatethese things.
We need to put a team of peoplein.
This is a great solution thatcan hit for your business.
If you're right there in themiddle, if you don't have the
(17:50):
punch-out capabilities, maybeEDI would be a great place to
look at it, because, again,you're going to improve your
overall operational efficiencyright there, because you're
automating the workflow.
Anytime you automate theworkflow, you enhance your
efficiency for your business,your operations, and you're
still reducing the errors.
You'll need to recognize that'sa big deal If you can reduce
(18:11):
errors for your business.
How big is that?
You don't have to waste time ondoing returns and things like
that.
You can reduce the errors andget those out of your process.
Man, it's just going to createso much more peace and actually
just a better relationship withyour vendors.
It's also increase youraccuracy Think about this
because you're validating your,your, your data as you go,
because if the system is not, ifsomething is wrong with it,
(18:33):
with the data it's going torecognize oh, we've got a flag,
what's going on here?
You'll be able to validate itwhen you still have time, versus
waiting for something again.
Oh man, I got the wrong thing.
Then you won't have that momentright.
It's also going to give you alot more visibility because
you're going to havetransparency in ordering, you
have transparency in invoicing.
It's going to help you makebetter decisions and overall,
(18:57):
hopefully, it can help youreduce your inventory costs
because you'll have more insightinto the supply chain and it's
going to help you optimize thoseinventory levels, and we all
know that inventory levels aresuch a big deal because you're
just carrying that cost.
We recognize you do have tocarry some costs to be able to
maintain your business, but whatis the right area, what's the
right limits, what's the rightman or max?
(19:17):
Well, we need data tounderstand that.
If we had data through an EDIconnection, you'd be able to get
that much clearer and granularfaster.
That's what it's all about.
So now that leads us to thethird tier, and the third tier
is a big one.
We talked about this at lengthlast month, but this is
distribution e-commercesolutions.
(19:38):
Okay, because you can't missthis.
Now we put together a lot, alot, a lot of resources for you
on this, and the cool part aboute-commerce solutions is this is
for businesses of any size.
You don't have to be a bigFortune 500 company to take
advantage of an e-commercesolution for a distributor.
(20:00):
The trick is you better havethat thing ready to be navigated
easily, and what the customerneeds need to be there, right
there on the site and ready.
This is a big area forprocurement.
This is how we make some shifthere Now.
This solution right hereextends the distributor's reach
for sure.
It gives you an opportunity tosearch and to do research on the
(20:24):
parts and pieces that you mayneed for your project without
necessarily, you know, having togo, go visit a store or go to a
site building or things likethat.
You can do a lot of this righthere and at the foundation of
e-commerce.
What you're really doing isproviding you access, really
providing you access for whatyou need for your business to
(20:45):
run, because usually what youwant to look for, you need to
have a good, user-friendlyinterface.
You got to find a way to findparts.
Just to be real, if you gothrough the website and you
can't put in your part number tofigure out what's going on, do
you have the right one?
It's not going to do you anygood.
So if the user interface is notgood, it's not user-friendly,
it has lots of errors ortimeouts or things like that.
(21:06):
You're not going to keep usingit, and you're not going to keep
using it for good reason,because it's not giving you the
data that you need it to giveyou.
So, look, you got to make sureyou have a good user interface.
You need to also make sure thatthat e-commerce solution has a
good, easy way to place an order.
Just face it, sometimes thatcan be the hardest thing.
All right, where do you putyour quantities in?
How do I select what day I wantit shipped to me?
(21:29):
How can I select what method Iwant it shipped to me?
How do I actually connect mysystem to place an order,
because I want to use a POinstead of a credit card?
All this stuff is just part ofyour order placement and you
have to have this in place.
So this is something thatshould be important for you and
this is what you can evaluate asyou're looking at vendors.
And then you need a way tomanage your account.
(21:49):
If you can't go back in andlook at your account and say,
okay, for that job, I used thatconduit, those ridges, those LBs
or these couplings, this liquidtype, all these things, maybe
you want to replicate theproject.
You'd be able to search thathistory.
You'd go back and see how oftenyou're buying these things, see
all these things start tyingtogether and then, once you
(22:09):
build enough history, you'd beable to say, okay, maybe I need
to start stocking X item and Ineed to put this many on the
shelf, whatever it may be, butthe opportunity through a
platform that you're workingwith, with your distributor, is
huge.
So if you don't do theautomation, the punch out, if
you don't do the EDI, youdefinitely need to get set up on
(22:32):
e-commerce.
It's just an easy, low entry,low hanging fruit way to better
strengthen your business so thatI really they're your three
tiers.
I want you to consider that andeverything's evolving, as I
mentioned, everything's evolving.
This whole digitaltransformation.
This is at the forefront and wewant to put out this
(22:53):
information around this tieredapproach, because we know the
way you engage with your vendorsand suppliers is changing.
It's changing and you want tohave, and you really need to
have, digital solutions like theCXML, like the like, the like,
the EDI, like the e-commercesolutions.
That's such a big deal becausewe recognize that so much is
(23:13):
changing on your end so fast.
Your distributors need to bechanging with you to meet your
needs, because there's newstandards for out there for
customer service, there's newstandards for sales.
There's new standards foroperations and delivery out
there for customer service,there's new standards for sales,
there's new standards foroperations and delivery.
All this stuff procurement,everything has this new standard
that's been driven by thisdigital age, which is fine,
which is cool, actually, I think, for me.
(23:35):
This is where I look at it.
This is where it's shifted.
It's so neat because it's noteverything is not so tied
directly to the old legacysystems and the catalogs.
Most of those places have theirplace, for sure to find stuff.
Man, if you can go online nowand get cut sheets, information
and this item goes with thisalbum have you thought about
that when you place this item?
(23:56):
Most people need these things.
Amazon does that.
Why can't distributors?
Well, we are Distributors arenow because they're embracing
this digital interchange, thisdigital integration.
They're embracing thepersonalized service, they're
embracing the solutions that areout there and they're moving
forward to more connected, moreefficient, more customer-centric
(24:18):
types of solutions anddistribution.
So it's a pretty exciting time,to be honest, when I see the
stuff that we've built and we'rebuilding and that we're focused
on.
Obviously, at the end of the day, it all comes down to people.
You do have to ask, becausepeople and ideas over products
that's the most important andthe ideas that the people are
(24:39):
having here around connectingsystems, being able to meet end
users where they're at, for theday-to-day stuff for the project
, stuff for the OEM stuff.
To be able to have all thatstuff in place and all those
business systems in place tohave a seamless experience with
your distributor, that's a bigdeal.
(24:59):
If you're not working with eco,with any of these systems,
reach out to us.
There's no reason that alistener right now who is, who
is within the eco you knowgeography if you will to not
have an e-commerce account.
You shouldn't.
They're easy to set up.
We can help you navigate that.
(25:19):
Matter of fact, inside the linkthere'll be some some inside
the show notes Rather there'llbe some links where you can
connect and go ahead and getyour account set up.
It's free, it's an easy process, but it gives you access to be
able to start doing businessdirectly with this through the
Web site, digitally, ok.
And if you have questions onEDI, if you have questions on
electronic data not electronicdata interchange but if you have
(25:43):
questions on punch out, that'sa big deal.
That's an opportunity for youto grow.
Reach out to us.
We have teams, we have expertsin place that can come in.
They can see what your businesssystem looks like and really,
what would that integration pathbe for us to be able to do it
the right way, because we don'twant to come in and do a
solution that's going tofrustrate you.
(26:04):
No, we want to set it up sothat you can come in.
You have a good user experience, your people have a good user
experience, your maintenanceteams, whoever is going to be
using that to buy the materialthat they need for the project?
We want to build thatconfidence, and we know that the
only way you're going to getthat confidence and that trust
(26:25):
built up is if you do it rightthe first time.
Do it right.
This is where we're here tohelp.
So we'd love to get yourfeedback on Eco Asks why, how
this is going.
What do you enjoy the mostabout the shows?
Also, we're doing a lot ofinformation on YouTube.
Now we're trying to put out notjust a podcast but more
resources to help you grow, tohelp you learn, to help you just
(26:45):
keep moving forward as you justwork with vendors like
Electrical Equipment Company.
So we'd love to get yourfeedback on some of these videos
, some of these resources.
We have a lot of resources aswell on just our digital
commerce solutions, and whatdoes that look like?
So love to connect with youthere again.
You can go to eko online that'seeco onlinecom, to find all our
(27:09):
resources, and you can.
You can connect with us orsubscribe to it to us, rather,
on our youtube channel.
You can follow us on linkedin.
That's a great area as well.
Try to put out some consistentinformation, but then reach out.
Let's just reach out.
Let's have a conversation.
As I mentioned earlier, adamsheets is the director of
e-commerce.
He loves to have conversationsaround these topics.
Our sales people do, our salesmanagement do.
(27:30):
We want to be able to be herefor you?
So if you want to say hey, Ithink edi may be a good path for
us, let us look at it with you.
We can figure out okay, whatthis, this is what it would look
like for on our end, you're setup where this is what we need
to put in place to be able to doit, things like that.
The same thing with uh, punchout and then again, as a, as a
last call emphasis, make sureyou get your e-commerce account
(27:54):
set up.
There are.
So there, it's just an easy way.
So if you're needing, findyourself in the need of cut
sheets, data sheets, drawings,that type of information off of
the products that you'repurchasing.
The e-commerce solution has itall.
It literally has it all.
It's all uploaded right there.
We put a lot of work in on that.
So to take advantage of that,you've got to get your account
(28:16):
set up, okay.
So, anyway, love to hear fromyou guys Again.
Ecoonlinecom is how you connectwith us.
You go to the show notes forthis episode.
You'll be able to find ouremail address podcast at
ecoaskswhycom.
You can connect with us there.
You can always connect with uson LinkedIn.
You can connect with me onLinkedIn wherever whatever you,
whatever's easiest for you.
But we want to be here.
(28:37):
We want to be a resource foryou as you continue to grow.
So hopefully you're embracingthis digitalization.
I know it took me a while totook me a while to.
I know for one thing ElectricEquipment Company has definitely
embraced it.
We are leaning into it.
We're making the investmentswhere we need to make, because
this is a huge item for thefuture.
And as someone who's been inthe industry for 20 plus years
now, it's really neat to see howstuff has shifted, how things
(29:00):
are really migrating.
But one thing has remained thesame this is a people relational
business.
It's all about just makingthose friendships and being able
to serve each other and helpeach other.
And I just think when I seethis stuff right here, the way
that the digital age is comingin, it's easy to just focus on
that and lose the relationship,and that's something that ECO is
(29:22):
committed to People and ideasover products.
We're going to always make surethat that relationship with the
ones that we serve is at thehighest level possible the
highest level possible.
Are we going to make mistakes?
Of course we are, because we'rehuman possible.
Are we going to make mistakes?
Of course we are because we'rehuman, but at the end of the day
(29:44):
, we're making the investmentsand the people and the
technologies to serve at anextremely high level.
So we'd love to get yourfeedback on this.
Give us a rating and review,connect with us, connect with me
.
However you want to do it, wewant to be here for you.
We want to serve you.
Thank you so much.
By the way, go check out thewebsite Eco Online and you can
find ways to start your account.
It's very easy to get youraccount set up.
It's just not a long, laboriousprocess.
(30:06):
It gets done and gets set up.
It's relatively straightforwardand to the point.
If you have questions, justreach out.
Our credit team does aphenomenal job on making that
process as seamless as possibleand, again, we're adding
products on a consistent basis,pretty much daily, to give you
(30:27):
more and more opportunities andaccess to the data that you need
.
Okay, so thank you again.
So much for listening.
It's just been an absolutehonor and I look forward to
hearing from you, seeing youagain soon and remember to keep
asking why.
Thank you for listening to.
Eeco Asks why this show issupported ad-free by Electrical
(30:48):
Equipment Company.
Eeco is redefining theexpectations of an electrical
distributor by placing peopleand ideas before products.
Please subscribe and share withyour colleagues and friends.
Also leave comments, feedbackand any new topics that you
would like to hear.
To learn more or to share yourinsights, visit EECOASYcom.
(31:09):
That's E-E-C-O-A-S-K-S-W-H-Ycom.
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