Plumbing suppliers in Texas are using stopgap digital technology installed during the pandemic to meet growing demand for replacement pipes, valves and fittings that were damaged in last week’s winter storm.
Ferguson PLC, the country’s largest supplier with more than 1,400 locations, had plumbers installed in front of many of its 180+ stores across the state earlier this week, the company said. Several Texas stores were forced to close at the height of the storm, although all of them have since reopened, according to the company.
In the wake of the storm, the number of daily customer calls has doubled as plumbers and homeowners search for parts and services, said Julia Bell, the company’s Texas district operations manager.
To cope with the increased traffic, Ms. Bell said many sales people were hired to work behind the counter. To do this, save Leveraged Teams, the cloud-based collaboration tool from Microsoft Corp. During the pandemic, the company began deploying teams to build a stronger network between its US corporate headquarters in Newport News, Virginia and its branches across the country.
During the storm, store managers and company executives used the tool to better communicate business-critical information across the country, from site closings and openings to product availability, Ms. Bell said. “In the past, this information may have been buried in email.”
A chat group created in the tool served as an internal help desk where experienced employees could immediately pass on instructions in order to save employees who had never worked at a till.
A text messaging app, also launched during the pandemic, has enabled the company to send instant notifications to plumbers and other professionals when orders are ready to be picked up, Ms. Bell said.
The long stretch of cold weather in Texas and other states that began early last week caused an estimated $ 18 billion in damage, according to insurance experts.
Much of this came from frozen pipes that burst in homes and businesses in Texas after power outages that turned off power and heating systems. Temperatures have warmed since then, although water quality issues persist this week.
The state, which has around 80,000 licensed plumbers, waived some license restrictions over the weekend to allow apprentice plumbers to help with emergency repairs, according to the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners.
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Michael Sajor, Ferguson’s global chief information officer, said the measures the company took during the pandemic “absolutely helped” keep professionals working after the storm: “We are part of the construction industry – work through and through Dissatisfaction The weather is in our genes, ”he said.
After temporarily closing 250 US stores in the first few months of Covid-19, the UK-based company made efforts to expand its digital services and support – including roadside and locker collections and delivery notifications that appear within minutes of Packages arrive at a construction site – I hope the home-bound consumers can see a big boost in home improvement projects with additional savings, Sajor said.
These and other features have been distributed across a variety of channels, from in-store service to calls, emails, and texts, Sajor said, so that professionals could choose what works best for them.
“When your customers are upside down in a closet under a sink, they’re using every channel they can reach,” he said.
Home Depot Inc.,
The company has around 180 branches in Texas – the second largest after California – and has continued to serve plumbers and other customers using the digital capabilities developed during the pandemic, said Matt Carey, CIO of the company. Only a handful of sites closed during the storm, and all of them have reopened since then, the company said.
In addition to other digital tools, this includes mobile apps for roadside pick-up services and real-time software for inventory tracking.
“Because we are built on the cloud, our technology is highly scalable and offers speed and flexibility,” said Carey. “This is important when we take care of our employees and customers during storms and beyond.”
He said the company’s inventory dashboards allow local teams to quickly change product flow across a network of distribution centers and quickly replenish in-demand parts and devices using product mapping algorithms.
During the storm, the company gave priority to supplies of generators, space heaters, pipes, insulation, and similar products and redirected them to stores that needed them most, Carey said. Mobile apps enabled specialty and retail customers to view product availability in nearby stores and place orders, he said.
President Biden approved a major Texas disaster declaration after a winter storm sparked an electricity and utility crisis that left millions without safe drinking water. Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images
Write to Angus Loten at [email protected]
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