Customer Comments

Great job! At our company meeting "Maximizing Profits and Staying in Business Forever"! ...Your knowledge and enthusiasm on the subject was infectious.

Robert Perrett
President/CEO
Miltex

I would strongly urge anyone in the Distribution Industry not too hesitate at all in attending any type of seminar or consulting with the Grant Howard Co. Grant Howard presents this subject in a straight forward, down to earth, common sense approach that is easily understood by all. He has enabled our Company to be better managed and focused on all areas of the Distribution Industry, most notably, the costly Inventory sector. Grant Howard was not the first consultant we have used, but we never looked for another after using the services that Grant and His Company can provide.
Respectfully,
David M. Jones
Snow and Jones Inc.

After working for several months trying to implement auto purchasing in our company, I attended a presentation on Auto Purchasing and inventory control, at our annual user meeting, by Grant Howard. Both our CFO and myself where impressed with Grant's knowledge of theory and hands on experience with auto purchasing. We both felt that Grant was a person that could help us implement our company's auto purchasing plans. We have not been disappointed. He and his company have helped us not only in auto purchasing, but in all aspects of our operation. They help with the training and the programming to make it all work more efficiently. They understand the value of the dollar and make sure you get your moneys worth. Attending Grants presentation has certainly turned out to be the best things for our company.
Richard C. Collin
Chairman of the board

Sawyer & Co Inc

Grant Howard = Insightful, Knowledgeable, Professional and good-humored Our company has gained insightful and valuable information on inventory management. GWHCO wants your business to succeed. They have the answers and proven techniques on how to correct inventory methods in order to improve overall operations, as well as the bottom-line. "Not your typical consultant group." The philosophy of Grant and his team is to empower you with the right tools to make the business improvements you decide on They are incredible business mentors. Whether by telephone or e-mail they are always accessible. Lose the "that's the way we have always done it" mentality and discover a new way of thinking ~ it is truly enlightening! Now we are asking - "why didn't we do this sooner?"
Shetucket Supply Companies
Southeastern Connecticut

Thanks for the best program I've seen in the wholesale distribution industry. Your program is a must for anyone wishing to improve customer service while optimizing inventory levels and improving overall business operations. Not at all a typical dry, seminar type program, yours was high energy, high impact, highly motivating and fun. We've worked with many consultants over the years, but have never achieved the results that we have with the GWHCO.

James Cardello Executive VP.
Cardello Electric Supply

I personally feel than anyone who wishes to keep up on current trends in IM, and who wish to increase their customer service and profitability should invest the time to learn his techniques and applications. We have had several instructors come in to our company over the years. What makes Grant stand out is his ability to teach, provide examples and demonstrate how his ideas work, and most importantly, motivate people to achieve immediate results. GWHCO has improved our company in many ways. Some examples are better fill rates, reduced surplus/dead stock, improved buying procedures and philosophies, adding valuable tools for IM, and over all streamlining of our inventory. Their [GWHCO] philosophy, training, and implementation skills are practical, applicable to "real world" situations, and obtainable. While some plans are long term, I felt we achieved immediate success as we worked towards the long-term results.
To sum it all up...
I feel I am fortunate to work for a company that allowed me to attend his seminars and training classes. Utilizing his techniques has improved my efficiency and actually reduced my workload, which allows me to work on other projects that were previously neglected.
Bob Beck
Inventory Manager
Cardello Electric Supply

Grant's presentation goes beyond the principles of inventory management, by developing the relationship with customer service, customer retention, and long term profitability. We came away with information and tools that can be immediately applied to improve our purchasing and inventory management systems. Grant's hands on experience provided solutions to our replenishment dilemmas. This seminar pays a high return for the investment."
Michael Lind
General Manager
QBP (Quality Bicycle Products)

Again, thank you for your excellence in providing the industry with one of the best examples of value added through education and training.
Jay A. Smith, Jr.
UID (University of Industrial Distribution)

"Finally, somebody who speaks the English language, and not just insider lingo. There was never a need for translation of any of the philosophies Grant was teaching."
Mike Jones
Purchasing Manager
Snow and Jones Inc.

The Granite Group is very proud of our commitment to the customer and commits to that daily through two things: our employees and our inventory philosophy. The Granite Group has trusted Grant Howard to personally train every employee in our company on 'best practices' and Grant has convinced them that they are the kiosk to the customer and the source of inventory excellence. Our employees take pride when they deliver our customers the product they want when they need it, and also take the responsibility to record the times when we fail to deliver to our customers, so that that information is recorded and will set our inventory parameters to avoid lost sales in the future."
Greg Glovach
CIO
The Granite Group

We were with Shims since 1988, and converted to SX.e April of 2002. I tried implementing the Shims out of the box automated purchasing programs a number of times from 1992-1995. I never felt comfortable with the Ordering Controls. EX: The ranking program compared the sales or sales of an item compared to the rest of the product file. All our Boilers were ranked "E". Products have to be ranked on their own. Grant Howard modified the ranking program to rank by each products' Hits. The unit sales are important for developing the Min/Max settings. The number of hits is more important. If a customer orders 1,000 of an item once in twelve months, should it be monitored and kept in stock? No! But if a customer orders 10 of an item 100 times in twelve months, we should consider this a key or "A" product. Of course. Grant also made a mod so we could carry different safety stock percentages for the different ranks. We carried a smaller safety stock for the higher ranks. Every inventory management system has easier time turning the faster moving products than the slower movers. We were constantly manually increasing the quantities of the fast movers so we come up to vendor requirements to take care of outages of slow movers. With the safety stock lower we are creating purchase orders more frequently and the slower movers are along for the ride. He also imported a screen he created, with just a click, we could access and change any purchasing parameter. Grant helped us slowly implement a great inventory management system, that could be tweaked to help our turn and earn, and increase our customer fill rates. Using system defaults for the time consuming maintenance, gave us more time to concentrate on other more important areas, like surplus inventory and monitoring our service levels. He also helped us develop a purchase order acknowledgement program. This would fax an acknowledgement request for three consecutive nights to the vendor. A report would print every morning for the vendors that did not respond. This way we expedited the PO before we ran out of stock. With Grant Howard's help we have become a strong and profitable company.
Dave Wagner
Product Control Manager
The Granite Group

I was first exposed to Grant Howard as a presenter at software users conference in Philadelphia. I was very impressed with his knowledge of inventory management, our software and skills as a speaker. He spoke of all the issues we had been struggling with and already had the solution available to us. When I returned to work, I immediately began the process to have Grant come to our company and help us with the things that had been causing us problems. We have been "Grant-ized" for about 10 months, and the tools he brought to us have truly improved our customer service by having exactly what our customers want in the quantities they want where they want it. He has also helped us to increase productivity among our purchasing staff allowing us to devote more time to being proactive rather than reactive in meeting our customers needs. Grant and his associates also were very helpful in solving problems that were not related to inventory and purchasing as well. I would recommend The Grant W. Howard Company to anyone who is seeking to improve their customer service, increase their turns, lower their inventory value or if you just are ready to turn up the pressure on your competition.
Jim Finck
Purchasing Manager
Northeastern Supply Company

Grant has a very broad knowledge of the SHIM's system which allows him to understand your needs better. He customized an area for us that involved a number of different specialties (Branch Manager, Cash Receipts Clerk and Controller) and has accomplished this task and made all three areas very satisfied with the results. We expect to recoup the cost of the modification within two or three months and from then on its pure profit for us. Grant uses a modular approach in both the planning and implementation stages, making the transition from old methods to new methods very painless. I would recommend him for any customization of the SHIM's system.
Bob Kahmer
CFO

Northeastern Supply Company

I thoroughly enjoyed attending your workshops and came back with a great deal of useful information. I had just started working with SHIMS and after attending one of Grant's workshops felt very comfortable and familiar working with the SHIMS system. Grant is very easy to follow and adapts the speed of his seminars to the level of understanding of his attendees. Our company was so impressed with Grant that we have brought him onsite for training and also work with him as a consultant. His inventory management skills and experience have been a great asset to improving our company's inventory flow and improve our fill rate.
Kandy Brelefski
Purchasing Manager
Ral Supply

There is nothing better than an experienced and proven outsider to bring best practice methodologies into your company for consideration. A value hard to realize from internal sources too close to the problems at hand. Grant has a keen eye in finding the root cause and telling you what you need to hear.
Grant has the knowledge and expertise to analyze your problems, make recommendations and see them through completion. If you're ready for the challenge, Grant can certainly help without alienating your workforce. GWHCO has been involved in numerous projects from major operation re-organizations to detailed target assignments. He has consistently shown that his knowledge brings value propositions to us for consideration and implementation. Grant is not the type person to take a task on and you never hear from him again. Bring him in and you have him until you chase him away. Navigating through change is no simple task. Grant's personal touch minimizes the anxiety brought about by change and assists owners in meeting their needs without significant disruption in the workplace.
Tom Saunders
VP and COO
Purchased Parts Group

"Grant Howard not only has the strongest grasp of inventory management issues and practices of anyone I have previously met, he fully understands the role it plays, and what it takes, for the organization to be profitable."
"GWHCO help my company develop and implement a fully integrated inventory management system. He did not just disappear once the design stage was established Grant remained on sight for the implementation, rolled up his shirtsleeves and helped make it successful. This system has assisted us in substantially increasing our inventory turns and freed up significant cash."
Bruce E. Kulzer
Vice President & CFO
Purchased Parts Group

I cannot say enough great things about Grant and is his best practices education. We have recently overhauled our inventory management procedures and we would not have been able to do it without him. His intimate knowledge of SHIMS and best practices made our expense more than worthwhile. In the past 4 months since Grant's first visit, we have increased our service level each month. We have filled holes in our inventory and stopped buying material that is slow moving. We are beginning to develop a surplus disposal program that will trim our inventory further. Grant also has the ability to energize your purchasing team and/or your sales force. We held group meetings within the Company in order to kick off our new procedures and every one of our employees took something away from it. If you need assistance getting control of inventory management, Grant is the man.
Ross Abrams,
Treasurer/Owner
Economy Plumbing & Heating Supply Co., Inc.

... you were really dead-on with the kind of content we were looking for.
Elizabeth Hilla
HIDA (Health Industry Distributors Association)

Why can't all presenters be as wonderful to work with?
Michelle Jaworowski
NAED (National Association of Electrical Distributors)

You did it again! Your courses were ranked among the highest at the UED (University of Electrical Distribution)
Michelle Jaworowski
NAED (National Association of Electrical Distributors)

"Grant's purchasing philosophy has made a big difference in our GMROI and turns while at the same time improving our fill rates. Grant is a great communicator, he turns the energy level way up, everyone stays interested"
Thanks
Karin Hegkar
WA Roosevelt Company

"I first became familiar with Grant W. Howard about four years ago when I attended a one-day class on Best Practices and Inventory Management. After a second class with Grant about six months later, I began plans to bring Grant to our site for extensive training which involved everyone in the company. I recommend Grant and his program to anyone who would like to improve the management of their inventory. Grant has a remarkable knack for getting the message across to all the people in an organization. The theory of inventory management is pretty complex but Grant makes it understandable and inspires attendees to begin implementing right away. In addition to his teaching abilities, Grant and his staff have extensive backgrounds in programming and have been helpful to us in modifying our old system. He has also worked with our software vendor to implement his best practices and inventory management into the commercial product."
John Korn
IT Manager
The Republic Companies

"Grant Howard is a highly energetic individual who understands the challenges of distribution. He applies real world solutions to today's technology and communicates in such a way that it is easy to understand. By implementing the best practices he has suggested we will be able to gain a competitive advantage that will be paid for by a dramatically reduced error rate and significantly improved asset management. He has caused us to implement process improvements and reallocate resources is such a way that we will increase customer service while at the same time reduce costs. I would highly recommend him as someone who can take a serious look at your business and recommend solutions that can be effectively implemented. So while his fees may seem astronomical, pay the damn money. You will feel better about it."
Tom Wagner
CFO
Republic Companies

Grant is an enthusiastic, knowledgeable instructor who has the ability to connect with purchasing people, as well as management and warehouse personnel. He adequately and completely explains all the setup and purchasing parameters in a way that is easy for all individuals to understand. His experience in working with many different companies makes his ability to analyze a specific inventory problem and quickly provide you with a working solution. His philosophy teaches inventory management with both investment dollars and customer service in mind. He has conducted seminars on inventory management with customer service in mind to our inside, outside, management and warehouse personnel, and they have all understood the concepts. He strives to bridge the gap between sales and purchasing by getting both sides to understand the connection between inventory management and customer service and how they can work together to achieve both.
Patti Grady
Business Processes Manager
The Republic Companies

"If you want great turns, great fill rates and a happy boss..... this is
a class you can't miss"
Jay Murphy
Purchasing Manager
Homans Associates (A WATSCO Company)

Attending Grant's Best Practices seminar was a real eye opener for me. Grant's common sense approach to many of the more complex concepts helped me make the underlying logic behind Inventory Management more understandable for my students. Inventory Management effects all areas of wholesale distribution - Sales, Financial, Warehouse Management, everything. This class is a must for anyone who has worked the "mechanics" of purchasing and Inventory Management but wants to understand what is really going on.
Mark Benson
NxTrend Technologies, Inc.

"Grant's knowledge of the principles of inventory management has helped us to build the best software tools in the industry to directly address the unique needs of wholesale distributors. Our customers have benefited Greatly from his workshops and seminars as evidenced by the consistently high scores he receives on our post-program surveys."
Joel Kremke
VP Sales and Marketing
NxTrend Technology, Inc.

Grant has worked with NxTrend to advance our inventory offerings. He has a very clear understanding of the practicality of managing unique inventory situations and works with the details to provide solutions to complex problems that have long been skirted. Grant brings to the table a deep understanding of inventory issues with an eagerness to find solutions to each challenge. He has a very clear, precise, straight-forward teaching style that helps to set a solid framework of understanding that provides a platform to describe complex issues in an easily understandable way.
Kelly Watkins
Director of development
NxTrend Technology, Inc.

Thoughts and Comments from Past Seminar Participants

The seminar was amazing, the concept and the purchasing model you presented
are outstanding and make perfect sense. As a look at my next project that is
to fix purchasing I am very excited based on what I learned from you in the
seminar. There is so much room for improvement!

Wanted to let you know that the AIM Seminar was great!
I learned more than I expected plus a whole lot more. Grant Howard is a
wonderful compelling and passionate speaker.
The type of speaker that motivates and drives. I also learned so many
things that I cannot wait to implement them.

I just wanted to take the opportunity to say THANK YOU for another great
session. I think the buyers took a tremendous amount of information away
and are beginning to utilize! The group has come a long way from 10 short
months ago. I can only hope that the more comfortable they become with the
system, the more we will benefit.....Customer Service and Profits! We are
already making great strides. You have a way of making perceived
complexities manageable and understandable.

Loved it! Would benefit my entire company!

Clear, concise, filled with info and very helpful

Certainly the best session of the weekend! I'm not in purchasing and still got a lot out of this. Very helpful!

Best seminar I have been to at any of these meetings. Purchasing makes more sense now than ever

Make this a two-day class and use show and tell with the system to reinforce Grant's techniques

Excellent presentation

Very professional, organized presentation. Clearly laid out and easy to understand. Enlightening!

I finally received training for my job.

I'm glad to see you helping bring food functionality tools to the system. The old Trend system had so many missing philosophies and functionalities. Excellent - time analysis and ranking!

Very good. Presenter created an interactive seminar. Always more interesting.

Move this to the beginning of the week. Too much value to let it be missed. Obviously the most productive session and speaker this week by far. All managers, buyers and even salesmen could get a great deal of understanding from Grant's course. *Salesmen should take at least the first course in inventory management.

Excellent as always. He holds your attention and provides you the info you need in terminology you can understand regardless of your experience level.

The material covered most areas where my company needs improvement. Many new ideas will be returning with me to the office! Thanks Grant!

Down to earth class with very good information to take back with us.

Pointed out exact ways to help fix a lot of problems. Great eye opener and a great class.

Covered very useful topics and tools! Very informative.

Seemed to have a great understanding of the topics covered. Handled the questions of how to fix problems some people had.

This class was wonderful - very informative and attention keeping. I have learned many new and useful ideas. I have also been reminded of common sense concepts.

This was the best course I have taken this week. And they were all very good. All of the items we covered are things I can take back and put to use immediately.

Another excellent, quality presentation. Comfortable format.

Grant is a great presenter

Great presentation and very informative

Excellent class! Thanks!

Interesting and educational.

In both the Thursday and Friday classes, I got a bunch of ideas I can use right away.

Excellent Class! Should always be one of the courses available every year.

Very Good Class! Presenter made a potentially dry topic very interesting and (most importantly) tied inventory into customer service, rather than discussing as an end to itself.

Knowledge of the subject was very evident. Presented this knowledge in an understandable format.

Grant Howard has a comfortable delivery style that exudes a lot of energy. Questioning skills were successful.

There are many "hands on" opportunities here.

Great excitement. Great knowledge of what is happening.

Great meeting. Very informative. Good Communicator.

I will possibly hire him as a consultant. Excellent.

Good speaker, well prepared, knowledgeable of subject.

Grant was on an everyday level with us in doing our purchasing job - understood how our job is a no-win situation - learned how to better do my job.

Instructor has very good presentation skills

Grant was an excellent speaker, keeping the class well captivated.

I felt the topics discussed were a fairly complete list of what I actually deal with. I was glad to hear philosophy that would help me on our eclipse system.

Subjects covered in this course were very helpful in giving me a better understanding of the purchasing process.

Very relative information. Lively interactive discussion. Made sure we touched on all topics of concern.

Excellent presentation of real world issues and problems. Good offering of solutions to everyday problems.

Great!

Good Class

I picked up some key points to help in my analyzing of product by line level

Great active class that has been very informative

Great presentation! Good Info!

Exceptionally knowledgeable

Did a fantastic job. Enjoyed it a lot. I wouldn't change anything.

Great knowledge of what else is going on in inventory and warehouses, not just electrical. Keep that in your session.

Good real world Presentation.

Mr. Howard has extensive understanding in inventory management. His descriptions of ways to improve this area of our business will be helpful

Good course. Almost too much information for one day

Good tie in with new inventory in an asset that feeds good customer service - although must be managed intelligently. [Segment Manager]