Revamped inventory, tracking and distribution for National Home Improvement company

ambra's client is one of the nation's largest home improvement and home furnishing firms, featuring an ever-expanding line of quality home products, including carpet, flooring, window treatments, gutters, bath liners, custom windows and siding. The Home Improvement Company has been in business for over 45 years, growing from a family owned Chicago-based company to a national business with over 600 employees providing services to most metropolitan areas.

Hambra's client has been in a significant growth mode over the last several years, adding service beyond Chicago into nearly 30 markets while simultaneously expanding their product lines. This rapid expansion meant pressure on IT to keep up from a systems perspective, something the firm realized they couldn't do without outside help.

The National Home Improvement Company chose to partner with Hambra Consulting because of their deep .net capability, which combined with a hybrid onshore/offshore delivery model, made the firm a logical choice to support the internal IT team.

According to the head of the National Home Improvement Company, the firm wanted to test the offshore development process to determine if it would work in their environment. They began by giving Hambra small, quick-hit projects that relieved their internal IT backlog. Within several months they recognized the advantages they could gain by utilizing Hambra's International Delivery Methodology (IDM). When a critical project that would revamp the firm's inventory, tracking and distribution needed fast-track implementation, they asked Hambra to incorporate the IDM and deliver the project.

According to Akif Rahman, Hambra's CEO, the team began by developing Windows-based inventory management, reporting and customer order capabilities. “Our client needed to upgrade its current system so that they could move quickly into new markets and also easily train their team. We added a great deal of functionality, improving efficiency and accuracy and recovery systems.”

The CEO of the National Home Improvement Company said, “Hambra's consultants are truly an extension of our strong internal team. Their Integrated Delivery Methodology provides us with a fast, cost-effective way to get things done. They're also highly complementary to our internal IT team – our IT projects are seamlessly executed.”

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