Draper, Inc., a leading manufacturer of audio visual equipment such as projection screens, projector lifts and mounts, and plasma/flat screen mounts, as well as window shades and gymnasium equipment, has gone live with the Sales BuyDesign component of TDCI's BuyDesign Product Customization Management System. With the launch of Draper's 'Dealer Zone' web site powered by Sales BuyDesign, Draper's world-wide network of AV equipment dealers and distributors can now browse and select products, view in-stock availability or lead time, enter orders, check shipment status, inquire on their account, and perform other self-service functions online at whatever time is best for them. Draper's dealers range from equipment rental businesses to contractors, AV consultants and stores, and Internet-based AV equipment sales outlets.

"We see raising the competitive bar for being easy to do business with as a primary driver for Draper's continued growth," stated Draper AV Sales Manager, Bob Mathes. "Sales BuyDesign provided us with a ready-to-deploy framework for offering our dealers industry-leading 24x7 self-service capabilities that make it faster and easier for them to identify the best product for the customer, price it, order it, and schedule delivery. Besides making it easy for dealers to buy from Draper, Sales BuyDesign is starting to free our customer service people to provide more value-added services."

Draper has deployed Sales BuyDesign product catalog, shopping cart, and related capabilities for the company's standard products. Sales BuyDesign has been integrated with their MAC-PAC XET Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system using the BuyDesign Integrator component of the BuyDesign suite.

Draper has promoted the launch of the new web site with a direct mailing to its dealers, and as part of their exhibit at an AV industry trade show. In addition, the main Draper web site (www.draperinc.com) features a prominent banner inviting dealers to register.

Since going live with the 'Dealer Zone' in May, Draper has seen dealers register for and begin using the web site at an average rate of over 15 new people per day. Within just 60 days of going live, over 700 dealer representatives had already used the system to enter orders and/or check the status of orders placed either online or by other means. Two of the company's biggest order-volume customers had shifted to placing all orders online. And about 2% of total AV order volume was already being processed through the online system, with the percentage increasing at a steady rate.

Draper has not provided dealers with any special training on how to use the system. Even so, comments have come back like: "It's simple to use and navigates very well," and "Overall, its wonderful - it makes things very easy!"

Draper's customer responsiveness is also very high with the new system. Because online orders are entered into Draper's back-end system almost immediately, over 50% of orders for stocked products are shipped the same day - an even higher percentage than with orders submitted by traditional phone and fax methods. Dealers also like the fact that they can now see the UPS tracking number for their orders online within less than an hour of shipment.

From an internal operations perspective, Draper is already seeing a reduced load in terms of order handling and responding to order status questions.

From an IT standpoint, Sales BuyDesign has been easy to implement. "The fact that Sales BuyDesign was built to complement and easily integrate with our existing back-end business systems was an important factor in choosing it," said Kevin Cain, Draper IT Manager. "Because of that, we got it up and running quickly while establishing a framework that will also support future expansion in terms of products and services."

With headquarters in Spiceland, Indiana, Draper has multiple manufacturing facilities, and sales offices in California, the United Kingdom, China, and Sweden. Projection screens and related products such as rear projection display systems, video projector mounts and lifts, plasma display mounts, and presentation easels are the largest portion of Draper's business. Draper also manufactures window shades for schools and commercial buildings, and gymnasium equipment such as basketball backstops, gym dividers, wall pads, volleyball equipment, batting cages and wrestling mat hoists. Draper products are sold through dealers throughout the United States and over 100 foreign countries.

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