OnePlace helps H+H towards product ordering excellence

For H+H, a commitment to excellence in every area remains central to its success. That’s why the UK’s largest manufacturer of aircrete building solutions continues to use OnePlace to optimise product ordering, operational efficiency and the experience it offers its builder’s merchant customers.

For over 75 years, H+H has been an important supplier to the UK’s construction industry. Today, its products, which include Celcon blocks and vertical wall panels, are used to create durable, cost effective and high-performance structural walls for a wide variety of residential, commercial and industrial buildings.

As a long-term NMBS partner, H+H was an early adopter of OnePlace – the NMBS developed product information management (PIM) and B2B trading platform for builder’s merchants and building industry suppliers.

“H+H has been an NMBS supplier for more than 25 years” comments Matthew Compton, head of merchant accounts at the business.

“We’ve first-hand experience spanning more than two decades of just how much value NMBS and its services add when it comes to working more effectively with builder’s merchants. As such, adopting OnePlace was an easy decision.

“We began using OnePlace around 18-months ago and it sits alongside our other ordering channels and EDI connections. It gives us an additional way of receiving orders in a structured format and is already making a tangible difference to the success of H+H and our merchant customers alike.”

A new standard in ordering efficiency and accuracy

Prior to employing OnePlace, H+H received orders from its builder’s merchant customers in a multitude of different ways.

The methods employed included emails, handwritten documents and scans of purchase orders.

The route these orders would take was equally varied.

Some would be placed with the company’s centralised sales support and customer service functions whilst others would be placed with specific H+H colleagues.

Whilst flexible, this disparity was inefficient and fraught with risk. It was all too easy for important details to be incorrect or omitted altogether.

The drawbacks to this are easy to understand. Incorrect details could lead to incorrect order fulfilment, necessitating the time and resources to take remedial action.

Similarly, missing details could also lead to the need for additional and arguably unnecessary work. The H+H team frequently had to contact customers to secure this missing information before manually entering it and enabling the order to progress.

OnePlace has changed all this.

The platform helps merchants to place orders with H+H in a consistent, complete and more accurate way.

It ensures the H+H team has all the information they need to progress orders from the outset. This boosts efficiency which in turn helps merchants to enjoy faster order turnaround times and better OTIF.

A change for the better

Given these win-win benefits for both merchants and suppliers, H+H is now encouraging more NMBS members to use OnePlace for their ordering requirements.

The manufacturer understands there may be some initial reticence when it comes to merchants swapping to a new approach from one they know, but it is confident that any reservations will be short-lived. The ease and efficiency of using OnePlace will soon see to that.

“When orders arrive via lots of different means, it’s harder to keep track and there’s greater margin for error” adds Matthew.

“As its name suggests, OnePlace gives us a single and centralised portal through which we can monitor and manage orders placed by our merchant customers.

“Not only does this reduce the risk of duplication and of order details being overlooked, but it also ensures greater transparency and responsiveness. Rather than an order sitting with one person, it can be viewed and dealt with by the wider team. This means that if someone is on holiday or unavailable, a colleague can pick the order up and take care of it without delay.”

For H+H, the value of OnePlace goes far beyond administration.

By enhancing the order process, it supports H+H’s desire to maintain the highest levels of professionalism and to deliver exceptional customer service. It’s an enabler which helps the H+H team to respond to customers’ needs with greater speed, efficiency and accuracy.

Whether you’re a builder’s merchant or a building industry supplier, if you’d like to know more about the difference OnePlace can make to your business, simply visit www.oneplace.co.uk