About MFS Supply
Founded in 2008 as a lockbox company, MFS Supply expanded to become a national distributor of renovation and securing materials. With a wide range of products, including cabinetry, refacing materials, countertops, lockboxes, padlocks, and more, they now serve a diverse clientele, from individual contractors to large general contracting companies. MFS Supply also plans to keep growing. They will support new construction projects by expanding cabinetry and countertop offerings, as well as introducing installation services in the future.
The Business Situation
As MFS Supply grew, the business required a more sophisticated tech stack to handle increased operational complexity. Eventually, it was time to shop for an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. MFS Supply knew what they wanted to avoid: on-site applications, custom solutions requiring extensive maintenance, and separate platforms for accounting, warehouse management, ecommerce, transportation management, etc. They required an ERP that was multi-faceted, integrated across all areas, and easy to manage. NetSuite was the answer.
After implementing NetSuite, MFS Supply realized they would need a more robust shipping solution to handle small parcel volume efficiently. Then, when they started offering less-than-truckload (LTL) services, shipping through NetSuite was no longer an option at all.
Time-Consuming Manual Processes
With the native NetSuite shipping features, MFS Supply had to manually create packing slips for each shipment and reach out to carriers to quote, schedule pickups, and generate bills of lading (BOLs) with LTL carriers. These manual processes were extremely time-consuming and unable to support continued growth.
They needed to find a shipping solution that could meet their current business needs and scale with them as they grew. That’s when the search for a shipping solution began.
Choosing a Solution
MFS Supply knew what they wanted at the outset: a shipping solution that had a direct integration with NetSuite, the ability to support their already established parcel and expanding LTL shipping needs, and a robust scan-packing solution. The implementation process and costs were also key factors.
Why Descartes Pacejet?
MFS Supply chose Descartes Pacejet because it had all of the necessary capabilities and was built to grow with them. Additionally, implementation would have minimal impact on their day-to-day operations. The remote implementation team established all necessary carrier connections, adjusted the implementation speed to meet MFS Supply’s needs, and modified the implementation process to begin with the LTL solution, thereby avoiding disruption to the parcel business.
Website Migration
A couple of years after becoming a Descartes Pacejet customer, MFS Supply encountered another challenge. NetSuite announced the sunset of Site Builder, which meant MFS Supply had to migrate their site to a different ecommerce platform.
After deciding to move to SuiteCommerce Advanced (SCA), they had to rethink shipping integrations and figure out how their business’s shipping rules would work with their new website. Thankfully, MFS Supply learned that Descartes Pacejet already had an SCA integration built for shipping. Problem solved.
The Outcome:
MFS Supply now uses Descartes Pacejet to manage all parcel and LTL shipments, streamlining their entire shipping operation. The seamless integration between Descartes Pacejet and NetSuite enables:
– Real-time quoting and booking, which was previously unattainable.
– Increased shipment accuracy through scan-packing, which has helped reduce overage charges.
– Eliminating surprise fees by quoting all accessorial charges up front
– More accurate handling unit information gives loaders better insights into what they are loading for each order.
– Automated workflows generate the bill of lading and shipping labels automatically in seconds, reducing errors and accelerating fulfillment.
And lastly, the use of their weight and dimensions information in Descartes Pacejet extends beyond just the shipping function. It is used company-wide, helping MFS Supply become more efficient in other areas of their business.
What’s Next for MFS Supply?
Recently, MFS Supply began selling unassembled cabinets online, unlocking even more growth opportunities. They intend to transform the website into a comprehensive unit that includes all their customers and products, including a future capability to sell cabinets online.
Working with Descartes, MFS Supply continues to improve costs, customer satisfaction, and operational efficiency. They confidently pursue new business opportunities, supported by solutions built for growth.