This was the theme of the Intuit Eclipse user conference, which met in October at the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate in ChampionsGate, FL.

Here are some of the attendees at the welcoming reception, which was sponsored by SUPPLY HOUSE TIMES:

Three wholesalers that opened a shared location in Chambersburg, PA, in November are using distribution management solutions from Intuit® Eclipse™ to help run their businesses.

Plumbing and HVAC wholesaler APR Supply, Lebanon, PA; PVF wholesaler Industrial Piping Systems, York, PA; and electrical wholesaler Schaedler Yesco Distribution of Harrisburg, PA, share a 13,000-sq.-ft. building in Chambersburg. The 3,000-sq.-ft. counter area is manned by three salespeople - one from each distributor - who all have their own computer terminals, linked to their individual companies’ Intuit Eclipse systems. Customers can walk just a few feet from one distributor to another to get what they need.

Photos by Pat Lenius

None of the distributors previously had a physical presence in the Chambersburg area.

“It’s an area where we’re all well-known and where we all wanted to set up a branch,” said Jim Hoffman, who spent 38 years full-time with Schaedler Yesco and now serves as a management advisor to all three companies.

“We saw this as a great way to break into a market for one-third the cost. We all have the same work ethic and the same level of profit consciousness, but it’s the shared trust and technology that’s making this work,” Hoffman said.