Magnet Mart Builds Future on Progress
An integrated Progress-based ERP system from Australian timber and hardware solutions specialist, Sterland Computing, is enabling an aggressive growth strategy for one of Australia's most progressive hardware retailers.
Canberra-based Magnet Mart is a family-owned company that has been in the hardware business since 1972. It currently operates seven retail outlets in the ACT and NSW, but its latest venue, a massive new format warehouse store in the Canberra suburb of Gungahlin which opened in March this year, is believed to be one of the largest of its kind in Australia with over 40,000 product lines.
At the heart of Magnet Mart's operation is Sterland's Progress-based Prostix solution, an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) system encompassing purchasing, warehousing and sales functions with complete financials.
Although Magnet Mart has relied on Prostix to handle its operations since 1999, the new Gungahlin store is the first in the growing chain - and the first in Australia - to implement the new EFTPOS-enabled version of the product. The company plans to roll this version out across the organisation, centralising its operational systems and replacing disparate store-based databases with a single system.
Magnet Mart's Financial Controller, Joe Sallustio, said "The Prostix solution is a key element of our growth strategy, enabling significant productivity and efficiency gains by enforcing new disciplines within operational processes across the organisation," he said.
"Not only is this important today to reduce operating costs and improve the quality and consistency of our service to customers, but it will be critical for maintaining operating standards and processes across the organisation as it grows."
Sterland Computing initially developed Prostix in 1992 based upon its highly acclaimed industry package STICS which ran on the AS/400.
"We wanted a database that was as reliable as the AS/400 but more open, scalable and operating system independent, with expanded functionality," said Sterland's General Manager, Tony Holdgate.
"Progress offered a lower cost of ownership than other leading databases plus the ability to write once and run anywhere, so we can deliver it on different platforms according to the needs of our clients," he said.
For Magnet Mart, the fact that ProStix was written in Progress meant stability and performance.
"Functionality was key to our decision and Prostix was a 95 per cent match for our needs, encompassing warehousing, inventory, stock control, purchasing, sales, general ledger, accounts payable/receivable. However, we were also aware of the strengths Progress offered and its reputation within the marketplace so that reinforced our choice," said Mr Sallustio.
He said Magnet Mart has enjoyed extensive cost savings and productivity improvements since Prostix first replaced several disparate systems in 1999.
"The fact that Prostix is fully integrated has enabled a range of efficiency gains, particularly in our administration areas where staffing requirements have reduced, allowing us to redeploy those resources into other areas of the business.
"The paper trail has been streamlined with workflow automating a range of previously manual processes, stock control is greatly improved, and we can now access whatever information we need at the touch of a button, rather than having to wait for hard copy reports," Mr Sallustio said.
"One of the challenges associated with hardware retailing is that we not only carry an extremely broad and diverse array of products, but some, like timber, come in different lengths and widths or multiple pack sizes, so pricing is complicated. Added to that, we supply to both trade and consumer markets, offering a number of different categories of discounts for major accounts, plumbers, builders, staff, government departments, our garden club and so on.
"The knowledge rules in our Progress solution easily cater for our complex pricing policies, but are flexible enough to let us change them at need. Prostix can gear a discount arrangement to any category or product, in dollars or percentages.
"There are also built-in security measures and protection, such as the ability to match returned products to the original docket number so that a customer returning a product purchased on sale will only be refunded the amount they paid for the product instead of the full price," he explained.
The new Prostix version in use at Magnet Mart Gungahlin also offers integrated EFTPOS and the ability to simultaneously handle vast quantities of transactions while updating the General Ledger to give management access to real-time data to inform their decisions.
Magnet Mart plans to offer this level of functionality in all its stores by the end of this financial year, completely centralising all stock management, purchasing and pricing processes to deliver further efficiencies.
"By centralising our ordering, we'll be better placed to negotiate volume discounts with major suppliers while enjoying significant process efficiencies. We anticipate that we will be able to reduce our inventory by at least 30 per cent, while still ensuring that all items are in stock in over 90 per cent of cases," he said.
The successful new format warehouse store will form the basis of Magnet Mart's future store development, and the unbeatable combination of functionality, flexibility and rugged reliability of the Progress-based Prostix solution will provide a solid foundation for this. | 
