Living the Dream at Diamond Screw

Download PDF

Find A Need And Fill It
Diamond Screw Products is a true example of the power in following a dream and never giving up. Gary Newman always knew that he wanted to own his own company someday. In 1979, he worked for a manufacturing company in Bowling Green, KY. His job was to purchase OEM and maintenance fasteners.

The nearest locations to get fasteners were Nashville, TN or Louisville, KY. He saw the need for a local vendor, so he decided to start a fastener distributorship Green, KY.

Humble Beginnings
In 1980 Diamond Screw Products was officially launched. He began by storing all his inventory in his garage. Now they are celebrating 35 years in the fastener industry. They have grown from a one man operation to 22 full time employees. Many of their employees have 15 years or more in the industrial supply business.

STAFDA Distributor
During a recent interview, Gary Newman, President said, “We are a full line industrial supply house covering all of our customer needs from abrasives, cutting tools, to safety supplies, janitorial supplies. And, of course, lets’ not forget fasteners of all kinds.”

Diamond Screw Products is a member of STAFDA as well as Do-It-Best, allowing them to offer a diverse range of products. Over the years, they have grown strong partnerships with their vendors. Hence they are able to offer the lowest possible prices. Some of the vendors include Powers, Loctite, Wright Tools, Brighton- Best, WD-40, Lenox, and Morse, Carborundum, BOSS, and many others.

Gary said, “With a full staff of sales personnel ready to provide outstanding service, we have maintained one of our oldest trademarks of catering to our customers. Once an order is placed, our sales force will deliver, stock, and maintain the product and inventory for the customer at no extra charge. They work with each individual customer to determine their needs and tailor a bin program that works best for that customer. From keeping their bins stocked, special ordering items, providing parts or fasteners after our normal business hours when an emergency strikes, we strive to put our customer needs first. “

Sharing The Wealth
Throughout the years, Diamond Screw Products has grown and prospered. Gary decided to share his good fortune with his employees by creating an ESOP (employee stock- ownership plan).

Growth And Change
They have also made several changes to help the company grow. These include adding an additional 10,000 square foot warehouse, doing a remodel of the inside office and the sales floor. The result is a pleasant work environment and a convenient and attractive place to shop.

The Business Edge™
One important improvement included updating their computer systems with The Business Edge™ from Computer Insights. Tim Seifrig, IT Director said, “With the help of Denny and his team at Computer Insights, we have been able to adapt and grow to offer our customers what they need in a faster, more professional manner. We began using The Business Edge™ in 1999. We had tried another fastener oriented computer software program several years before and had never been able to get it off the ground. After that loss, we were very leery to try again. Implementing The Business Edge™ was the best decision we ever made.”

Awesome System
Tim said, “It is an awesome inventory software as well as accounting software. It is filled with ways to keep all our information at our fingertips, and the team at Computer Insights is SECOND TO NONE in their customer service. If we have a problem, they WILL and DO fix it. The Business Edge™ has grown with us.

Customer Relationship Management
Tim stated,“The Business Edge™ offers so many ways for our office staff to stay informed about a customer without the sales personnel being around to answer the questions. We love using the notes. Our Accounts Receivable Department uses the notes to help others see if there is a problem that may be causing a delay on payment for a certain invoice, or if there is a problem with the account as a whole. This way, if the system shows us the customer is behind, we know whether it is safe to continue letting them charge or work to get payment from them. We also use order notes, vendor notes, product notes, etc. They are everywhere throughout the system and very easy to use to help us all stay informed. Focusing on Accounts Receivable, we have less than 1% of our total Accounts Receivable outstanding 90 days or more. We owe that to the great reports that the system can generate.

The ease in which we are able to send our statements electronically, and apply money to the account could not be any simpler. Giving a credit reference is quick and simple as sending all the information with only a few keystrokes.”

Extensive History
Tim said, “Since we began using The Business Edge™ in 1999, the history we have stored is immense. We can look and see and compare years and history all the way back to 1999. With this much information stored, you would think the system might be slow. That is not the case. The server provided is top of the line and provides enough storage for all our needs. And with automatic backups every night to the Cloud (Computer Insights offsite storage), our company history is always safe and only a phone call away.”

Products And Everything About Them
Tim went on, “Another feature we love is all the information a product can store. For example, The Business Edge™ allows us to put in a product code and description. Under that product code we can assign alternate part numbers. For us, this comes in very handy. Many of our customers have their own part numbers. When we reference these as alternate codes assigned to the customer, we find our information we need but the customer sees their part number and information they need. Another example is contractpricing. We want to make sure we are competitive at all times. If we want to offer an item at a price that we normally would not sell it at, we set up a contract price for that customer. This allows us to make sure we are beating our competitors price at all times with this customer and usually results in us being allowed to be their provider for not just this one item, but many.”

Barcoding
Tim also said, “Last but not least, we must commend Computer Insights on helping us with setting up our barcodes and labeling. As Diamond Screw Products moves forward, this becomes an increasing need. Many major companies are going automated. Barcoding allows us the chance to service these companies on their terms and prevents unwanted down time on their part. It has also become an incredible tool to prevent mix ups with parts and orders. Scanning the bar code removes the chance of human error and reduces the time required to process the order.

Future Plans
As Diamond Screw Products looks to their future and the possibilities of branching out to other locations, they will still be able to monitor those locations from a home office central location. With data management, barcoding, VMI warehouse management, and The Business Edge™ as a whole on their side, Diamond Screw Products is looking forward to another great 35 years!

This article appeared in Distributor’s Link Magazine, Spring 2015

For More Information