When Lavern Schlabach introduced an ERP system and BI processes to Keim Lumber, a nearly 100-year-old home improvement and lumber company, he faced an unusual challenge: A predominantly Amish staff with little or no exposure to technology. But a slow, methodical approach coupled with cultural sensitivity ensured a smooth and painless implementation.
When Mike Cousineau pulled into the parking lot of Keim Lumber 10 years ago to help the home improvement and lumber company implement a new ERP (enterprise resource planning) system, he sensed that the implementation would be different from any others he'd done.
"Half the parking lot was filled with cars and half the parking lot was filled with horses and carts," he says. Cousineau, a senior implementation specialist from Activant, the ERP vendor, wasn't the first to confront Keim's historic legacy. That he was there at all was due to the efforts of Lavern Schlabach, the accounting and technology manager of the almost 100-year-old family business that employs 320, almost two-thirds of whom are Amish.
In 1995, when Keim hired Schlabach to spearhead the company's IT development, it was the latest in a series of slow but incremental steps forward for the company.
A Century in Business
Keim Lumber, a family owned business with 320 employees, has been located in Holmes County, Ohio, for nearly 100 years. The area also is home to a large Amish population, and the technology-shunning group comprises nearly two-thirds of Keim's workforce.
"There was the normal human resistance to change," says Schlabach, Keim's accounting and technology manager, who spearheaded the company's technology development. "And then there was the culture on top of that that magnifies [that resistance]."
But Schlabach knew that if he managed and customized the company's move to a tech platform and rolled it out in a way that respected a majority of his workforce, he could make it work.
It turns out he was right. Keim's implementation of Activant Eagle was a long, methodical process that took nearly six years to be roll out but, says Schlabach, "it was worth it."
"It was so much better to do it in a slow way. It wouldn't have worked to push," he adds, noting that there "might have been a few people who left" because of the company's move to automate its systems. "We would have lost more if we slammed it in there."
Today, the company's business is thriving, with sales exceeding $50 million in 2007. Perhaps even more significantly, from a technological perspective, Schlabach has managed to keep Keim on the cutting edge of technology, slowly upgrading the company's systems as they become available -- including implementing Activant's recently released BI (business intelligence) product, Activant Compass -- and even being chosen to host Activant's regional user group session this year.
"Keim Lumber wanted to keep who they were," says Ron Brown, director of professional services for Activant - Eagle. "They wanted to use technology to facilitate business. Some companies use technology to transform their business and their customers don't recognize them anymore. Some companies want that, and we'll do that. Keim wanted the face of Keim Lumber to remain the same but use technology to move forward."
Slow but Steady Success
In 1995, when Keim hired Schlabach to spearhead the company's IT development, it was the latest in a series of slow but incremental steps forward for the company. The company was founded as a sawmill in 1911 by the great-grandfather of Robbie Keim, currently Keim's VP, and son of Bill Keim, the president and owner. It evolved into a hardware store and then, in the 1960s, expanded into building products. The company now has 40 acres and a mill, and does custom woodworking as well. According to Keim, the company has a unique approach within the home improvement market and doesn't consider Home Depot and Lowe's competitors.
"They still have a building crew building barns and manufacturing pre-hung doors," agrees Cousineau. "They'll work overnight and deliver it the next day. It's a unique business."
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A unique business, yet Keim needed to bring its processes into the automated age. Schlabach researched the available tools and chose the Activant Eagle Triad ERP system primarily because of ease of use and its ability to handle all the company's functions from inventory to point of sale to accounts payable.
But Schlabach still had some work to do. "When I told Bill Keim what it was going to cost him, he didn't want to do it," says Schlabach. But Schlabach was persistent and eventually, "he warmed up to the idea after some discussions and decided to take the plunge."
This is when Cousineau drove into what could be loosely termed a parking lot. He was told by Schlabach, "We want you to understand this is a different culture. We are going to sneak [the ERP system] into the business."
Next Page: A Slow and Successful Implementation
