Jamaican Home Improvement Store Selects VAI

Published: July 8, 2008

by Alex Woodie

A $100 million per year Jamaican business has installed an i OS-based ERP suite from VAI on which to standardize its operations. Hardware & Lumber, which is a subsidiary of Jamaica's largest conglomerate, GraceKennedy & Company Limited, selected S2K Enterprise to replace three disparate systems that were outdated.

From its headquarters in Kingston, H&L sells a variety of products through its 14 retail locations, including building materials, home improvement supplies, household items, and agricultural products, to consumers and other retailers. The company, which also functions as a distributor, handles 80,000 SKUs, and employs 650 people.

Yvette Johnson, chief information officer, says unique aspects of H&L's business model demanded specific capabilities in a new ERP system. "H&L's complex business model, which involves both retail and wholesale operations with a centralized distribution system, required a software platform that was flexible, scalable, easily implementable and affordable," she says.

VAI's S2K, a suite of RPG applications that run exclusively on IBM's "i" operating system, fit the bill for H&L. The company implemented VAI's goods procurement, inventory, financials, order management, and point of sale (POS) applications.

The hope is that, by enabling H&L to access key financial and operational metrics across multiple divisions of the business in real-time, the company will see real improvements in specific areas, including making the distribution operation more efficient and improving service levels.