Month 9 – April 2013

April was another busy and exciting month. Started things off on the 4th with the T&S Brass counter day. Our rep, Paul, arrived with plenty of sample materials and product information booklets. I ordered some nice catering (BBQ/fried chicken, baked potatoes, coleslaw, rolls) for our employees and customers. Everyone enjoyed the food, and Paul had plenty of time and opportunities to showcase his products to our customers. I think it was a very successful event.

The following week, I drove down to New Castle, DE for a two-day Eclipse software seminar. The topics were Purchasing and Inventory Control. I found these classes quite useful, as I am now preparing to make purchases for my operations phase of the MDP. The seminar wasn’t specific to Hajoca; it was run by the Eclipse Users Group for all companies that use the system. Therefore, I had the chance to meet users from other companies and hear about their experiences and feedback about the Eclipse ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system. I learned a lot of tricks and tips for purchasing and inventory management, but the best part for me were the manuals they gave me with screenshots of the different screens and the recommended configurations.

Finally, on the 25th and 26th, we had our annual physical inventory count. We closed the store and counted product for two days. I spent a lot of time counting our large waterworks items in the yard with our waterworks salesman. It was a good assignment because I never had that much exposure to the large valves and hydrants before. We spent all of Thursday counting, and on Friday we finished counting and running our verification and variance reports. At the end of it all, our inventory count was very accurate (error <0.1%). A job well done.

Now that inventory is complete, I will be ready to start making purchases for the branch in May. It feel very daunting, as there is so much responsibility when I am given the power to purchase tens of thousands of dollars of product. Let’s see how it goes!