Epicor Vision Solution Powers a Stronger Enterprise from Warehouse to Customer
For more than 90 years, Slack Auto Parts has faithfully served customers in northern Georgia, leveraging a reputation for exceptional service and grassroots relationships to expand to 13 locations covering multiple markets.
In recent years, however, competitive threats, led primarily by an influx of national chains and big box retailers, have introduced new challenges. While customer loyalty has always been a Slack trademark, maintaining strong profitability amid a growing crowd of larger competitors meant the business needed to find new ways to streamline operations while continuing to grow. Organizational efficiency, forecasting accuracy, and proactive pricing management were just a few of the areas where Slack needed to improve—and quickly.
“As our industry consolidated and competition tightened, we saw a need to sharpen our operational effectiveness,” said Will Fitzgerald, Slack’s director of online sales and manager of the company’s technology platforms. “To continue competing and building our loyal customer base, we needed a solution that would drive improved performance across the entire organization.”
In 2017, Slack found its solution in the Epicor Vision distribution management system and began to integrate tools to better manage its inventory and warehouse functions, most notably the Epicor Indago warehouse management system. The positive impact was immediate.
“In terms of inventory and warehouse management solutions, the tools Vision offers make it the ‘Ferrari’ of the industry,” Will said. “It immediately enabled us to simplify and interconnect our processes, providing new capabilities for activities ranging from forecasting and strategic planning to general administration of warehouse functions.”
Over the following year, Slack began integrating a number of additional tools including point-of-sale, order management, and more. One of the most immediate and meaningful impacts came from the solution’s pricing management capabilities.
“Setting up special pricing for customers has always been a somewhat complicated and time-consuming process—but a critical one to ensure that we are providing the right value to each of our customers,” Will noted. “With our Vision software we can now set up customized pricing in less than 10 minutes.”
Efficiency and a healthier bottom line are only part of the story, however. The Epicor Vision solution has also helped trigger rapid sales growth through integration of the Epicor ListingExpert solution, which enables Slack to easily present and sell its inventory in the eBay Motors marketplace.
“We were able to almost immediately begin listing thousands of parts on eBay with ListingExpert, which then did all the heavy lifting to publish the right listings in the right places and at the right prices,” Will said. “I’ve been managing the program since the beginning of 2020, and in that time we’ve seen our online sales grow by almost 1,000%.”
In terms of end-to-end capabilities, no one else is even close. Vision can help just about anyone looking to find a more effective way to manage their business and drive growth.
Overall, the Epicor Vision solution has provided multiple new advantages across Slack’s enterprise, making the business more efficient, more agile, and better able to keep customers happy, giving Will and the Slack team confidence that they made the best decision for the organization back in 2017.
“In terms of end-to-end capabilities, no one else is even close,” Will said. “Epicor Vision can help just about anyone looking to find a more effective way to manage their business and drive growth.”