The Challenge
Running a hardware and steel supply business with over 2,300 product lines is an inventory management challenge at the best of times. SRB had built a loyal customer base across Rockingham and beyond by stocking what tradies need and getting it to them quickly. But behind the scenes, their systems were struggling to keep pace with the range and the volume.
Stock levels were checked manually. The team relied on visual checks and experience to know when to reorder. Inevitably, popular items would run out before anyone noticed, resulting in lost sales and frustrated trade customers who needed materials on site that day. Slow-moving stock accumulated in corners of the warehouse, tying up capital without generating revenue.
Order processing was another bottleneck. Walk-in customers, phone orders and online store purchases all flowed through different channels. Each required manual entry, manual picking, manual invoicing. The sales team was spending more time on data entry than on serving customers or building trade relationships. During busy periods, order processing delays meant customers waited longer for their materials.
Supplier management was reactive. Purchase orders went out when shelves were empty rather than when they should have been placed to maintain optimal stock levels. Price changes from suppliers were sometimes missed, eroding margins on affected product lines until someone noticed weeks later. With multiple suppliers across steel, hardware, tools and accessories, keeping track of pricing, delivery schedules and minimum order quantities was a full-time job in itself.
The online store added a new layer of complexity. Orders needed to be fulfilled, shipped and tracked. Customer communication around delivery was manual. Returns and exchanges required even more admin. The family knew the online channel was critical for growth, but the operational overhead was eating into the margins.
What We Built
We built SRB an integrated operations platform that connects inventory, orders, suppliers and customers into a single intelligent system designed for the realities of running a high- SKU hardware and steel supply business.
- Intelligent inventory management system that monitors stock levels across 2,300+ products, predicts demand based on historical sales patterns and seasonal trends, and triggers automated reorder alerts before stockouts occur
- Automated order processing pipeline that handles incoming orders from the shop front and online store, generates pick lists, updates inventory in real time and pushes invoices to accounting without manual data entry
- Supplier coordination system that manages purchase orders, tracks delivery schedules, monitors supplier pricing changes and flags cost increases that affect margins, enabling proactive pricing adjustments
- Customer follow-up automation that sends order confirmations, shipping notifications and delivery updates for online orders, and triggers reorder reminders for trade customers based on their purchase history
- Margin analysis dashboard that tracks profitability by product category, supplier and customer segment, highlighting which lines are driving profit and which need repricing or discontinuation
- Trade customer management layer that maintains account details, credit terms, pricing tiers and order history, enabling the sales team to provide faster, more personalised service
The system integrates with SRB's existing online store and accounting software, ensuring data flows seamlessly between the shop floor, warehouse, online orders and back office without double handling or manual reconciliation.
Before Valenor
- ✗Stock levels checked manually, stockouts discovered at point of sale
- ✗Orders processed by hand between shop, warehouse and accounting
- ✗Supplier reorders placed reactively when shelves were empty
- ✗Online orders required manual fulfilment and tracking updates
- ✗No visibility over product-level margins or slow-moving stock
- ✗Trade customer pricing and history tracked informally
After Valenor
- ✓Predictive stock monitoring with automated reorder alerts
- ✓Orders flow automatically from sale to pick list to invoice
- ✓Supplier POs generated proactively based on demand forecasts
- ✓Online orders auto-fulfilled with real-time tracking updates
- ✓Live margin dashboard by product, category and customer
- ✓Full trade customer profiles with automated reorder reminders
Key Results
The impact was immediate and measurable across multiple areas of the business.
Stockouts dropped by 70 percent in the first three months. The predictive inventory system learned SRB's sales patterns and seasonal demand curves, ensuring popular items were reordered before they ran out. For trade customers who rely on SRB for same-day availability, this was a significant improvement in service reliability.
Order processing time decreased by 65 percent. Automated pick lists, real-time inventory updates and integrated invoicing meant orders flowed from sale to fulfilment with minimal manual handling. The sales team was freed up to spend more time serving customers and building trade relationships.
The supplier coordination system caught multiple pricing increases that would have eroded margins if left unaddressed. Combined with the margin analysis dashboard, SRB was able to identify underperforming product lines and adjust pricing or discontinue items that were not pulling their weight. Average margins improved by 8 percent across the product range.
The automated trade customer follow-up system generated a measurable uplift in repeat orders, particularly for consumable items that customers purchase regularly. Combined with improved stock availability and faster processing, overall revenue grew by 25 percent within the first six months of implementation.
“With over two thousand products, we were always chasing our tail on stock. Now the system tells us what to order before we run out. Our trade customers have noticed the difference because the gear they need is actually on the shelf when they walk in. That reliability is everything in this business.”
— Management, SRB Steel & Hardware Supplies