How Miller Welding Supply Built A Better Workflow

The Company

Founded in 1946, Miller Welding Supply & Industrial Gases is a family-owned, full-service welding and gas supply business that services customers throughout Michigan and Northern Indiana. They provide welding consumables, equipment, and engineering services with a strong specialization in automation.

The Challenge

Before they implemented SalesPad by Cavallo®, Miller Welding wasted resources trying to keep up with workflow management, relying on industry-specific software that required the team to enter reports manually. Managing data across five locations took three employees five to six hours per day, and the company needed a new solution that would eliminate these inefficiencies so one person could complete the same work in just five hours.

The Solution

When he talks about distribution management before Cavallo, Miller Welding President Michael Clay doesn’t mince words: “Previously, we struggled with our software—it failed miserably for us.” In search of greater efficiency, Miller Welding adopted SalesPad in 2014, in the hopes of reducing operational overhead and speeding up access to information for the company’s leadership. “For years, I was told, ‘Hey, you’ve got to do centralized purchasing,’” Clay recalled. “And I said, ‘We don’t have the time for that! We’re focused at 10,000 feet, trying to manage and grow the business.’

“As a result of using Cavallo, we were able to centralize—and it’s been a game changer.” he continued. “I control inventory, I see all the queues, I see the margin failures and other processes that need immediate attention. Therefore, it’s been a huge improvement in inventory and procurement.

Fast, Flexible, and Centralized

“For example, you can look at any aspect of an item and enter items on the fly, which is a huge thing for us. Many times, we need to maintain a certain amount of an inventory item — and within 35 seconds, I can have that order structured and ready with min/maxes, list price, and contract price for a customer. It’s really expeditious efficiency.”

The Results

With Cavallo, Miller Welding Supply benefits from:

• Control over inventory
• Instant visibility into workflow issues
• The ability to make changes quickly
• Faster response times for sales to get products to market

“It’s a game-changer. Cavallo has the ability to instantly access anything right from your laptop,” Miller said. “When we migrated to Cavallo, we consolidated and centralized purchasing to just one person, spending three hours per day. I don’t think you could put a dollar amount on it, but we did throw around a number of about $250,000. Cavallo has been a huge improvement to our operations and I don’t think we could migrate to anything else.”

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