A & A Bolt: From Garage to 125,000 Square Feet of Warehouse Space

Download PDF

When Alvin and Mae Rodick started A & A Bolt & Screw Company in 1979 it would have been hard to imagine the tremendous company it would grow into. They started out in the garage of their family home. It wasn’t too long before they needed to rent warehouse space to accommodate their growing inventory. Their hard work and the dedication of the growing number of staff members were beginning to pay off.

After nine years, A & A Bolt & Screw Company was able to acquire its own 45,000 square foot warehouse. This warehouse, located at 1110 Batavia Farm Road in Rosedale, MD, remains the company’s main location. In 1991, an additional 80,000 square foot warehouse was purchased. Between the two locations, A & A Bolt & Screw Company has over 125,000 square feet of fastener inventory.

Broad Product Lines Serves Customers Well

Their inventory consists of both standard and metric fasteners – all sizes, all grades, and material types. In addition to fasteners, A & A Bolt & Screw Company sells complementary product lines such as anchors, all-thread rod, cutting tools, and power tools. They are really a one stop shop for their customers’ needs.

Changing of the Guard

As a family business, the children “grew up with it”. While Alvin and Mae Rodick continued to run and oversee the business, they groomed their two eldest sons, Andy and Alan to take over the helm when the time was right. In 1993 the business was purchased by And & Alan… Andy & Alan continued to manage and grow the business with the help of trusted employees as well as following the principles their parents instilled over the years – which are outstanding service and quality.

System Upgrade Needed

During a recent interview, Andy Rodick, President, explained “as our business continued to prosper and expand, it became apparent that we needed a computer system to manage our daily activites. While the inventory had grow with the years to over 100,000 items, our internal office systems were no longer up to the task. We needed better inventory control, accounting software, and customer data support. These had not been updated in several years. We needed to upgrade to maintain the high level of service that helped us build our reputation.”

Andy explained their exhaustive search. He said, “As a result, in 2000, a search began for a computer system that would capture our extensive inventory inforamtion. We needed it to provide the necessary accounting and business systems infrastructure as well. Up until this point all inventory was recorded and maintained on a card inventory system. Also, the financial information was not on an integrated computer system, which meant that the customer invoices and certifications had to be manually typed on a typewrite. After two years of research, we decided that Computer Insights and The Business Edge was the perfect match for A & A Bolt & Screw Company”

The Business Edge is a Perfect Fit

Once the decision was made to partner with Computer Insights, an extensive amount of time was invested creating the part number system for over 100,000 items. In addition, a physical inventory was conducted which enlisted the help of 25 individuals. Once all the data was loaded into the system and testing was done, A & A Bolt & Screw was ready to go live. January 1, 2003, A & A Bolt & Screw went live with the new computer system.

Having heard the horror stories about other computer system implementations that had not gone well, the Rodicks were very careful to choose the right software and they even took the time to implement the system properly. Even though they had limited computer experience, they responded well to Computer Insights’ online training methods. Andy commented “Getting trained in such short sessions and having time to practice in between the sessions, was a perfect way to bring all our people up to speed.” Many people in the company were not computer literate, so hand holding and proper training sessions was one of the keys to the success of the installation.

Andy stated, “Choosing Computer Insights as a partner was the right decision for A & A Bolt & Screw Company. Looking back, I can’t imagine how we managed without it. This computer system is enabling us to provide top quality customer service. It is providing management with critical Inventory data, including usage and purchasing reports. It has revolutionized our operations and has enabled us to grow into the future.”

This article appeared in Distributor’s Link Magazine

For More Information