Multifamily property managers and owners have always been able to rely on The Home Depot for a large supply of maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) supplies, along with a complete array of construction products.
Recently, the company added millions of additional products, making it a truly one-stop shop for any multifamily capital and maintenance need.
Furthermore, now that The Home Depot is integrated with multiple enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, purchasing the products you need is even more convenient and cost-effective.
More of What You Need
About a year ago, The Home Depot acquired leading multifamily distributors Wilmar and Maintenance USA, which means that customers now have an even greater product and MRO service selection, particularly in the janitorial, plumbing, electrical and HVAC categories.
“The great thing for customers is they can get so many products under one vendor now that we have joined forces,” says Scott Matthews, Director of Strategic Accounts at The Home Depot. “Not only can they pick up their typical MRO supplies, they can also get their construction materials at the same time.”
And if it’s an emergency, property managers can immediately pick up products at the store, unlike when dealing with many other vendors. Otherwise, next-day shipping keeps projects on track.
Popular products in the multifamily space these days, according to Matthews, are smart technology and energy-efficiency products, such as Nest thermostats, USB receptacles, LED lighting and water-saving faucets and showerheads. “Apartment communities across the country are looking for smart technology options to make their properties more attractive to tenants,” he says.
In addition, Matthews is seeing more apartment communities building extensive outdoor living spaces on their properties — from attractive outdoor gathering places to complete outdoor kitchens. The Home Depot carries everything needed for these investments, as well.
Easy and Compliant Purchasing Has its Benefits
Not only does The Home Depot have a wide array of the products property managers need, but purchasing is now ERP-compliant, too. The Home Depot has partnered with multiple E-Procurement (ERP) systems, including Yardi, RealPage, SciQuest, Coupa and SAP, to make e-procurement more efficient and cost-effective for customers.
“In years past, owners couldn’t necessarily see what their properties were buying. They just knew that something went through Home Depot,” Matthews says. Now they can see exactly what was purchased, and property managers can better track their budgets.
In addition, ERP compliance simplifies logistics. Matthews provides the example of a new construction project or major rehab needing 100 refrigerators. Before, that order would be placed and all 100 would be delivered at the same time. Now customers can specify that they want 10 delivered a day, so they don’t need to deal with storage.
And, of course, greater efficiency means reduced costs. “The big win is that cost per invoice is dramatically reduced,” Matthews says. Before ERP compliance, when property managers got an invoice from The Home Depot, they would have to scan and upload it to their ERP systems. Customers have told Matthews that manual processing cost $32 per invoice.
“Now that they are in our ERP system, that’s been reduced to $10 per invoice,” Matthews says. “We are really saving them tangible dollars by interacting on the ERP system.”
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