Howell Pipe & Valve Supply
Howell Pipe & Valve Supply has a long-standing tenure as a distributor in the pipe, valve and fitting (PVF) distribution industry. Founded in 1958 as a plumbing supply company, Howell has expanded significantly to expand the product line and services to pipe, valves, actuators and fittings and onsite custom fabrication.
Howell Pipe & Valve Supply has a Quality Management System (QMS) and a deep commitment to continuous improvement. The Howell QMS is registered to ISO 9001 and has achieved approved vendor status for nuclear based customers to the Z299.3 standard.
Throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s, Howell kept track of Material Test Reports (MTRs) using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The ever-increasing volume of MTRs soon overwhelmed that system leading them to develop a new system using a Microsoft Access database. However, the limits of that system were also soon reached, including problems with mis-filing of documents, difficulties in efficient retrieval of MTRs and manual duplicate checking.
In the early 2000s, Howell contracted Trace Applications to have MetalTrace® installed. w Within a month, all the MTRs from the old system were converted into MetalTrace®, the system was operational and the staff were trained on its use and began to enjoy the benefits.
Unlike the old system, there was no need to wait until the next day to add MTRs or rush demand entries (with the inevitable resultant human error). Document filing is now being done throughout the day or even prior to product arriving. MetalTrace2MetalTrace™ was also implemented to eliminate most of the human entry process by having MTRs flow from suppliers’ MetalTrace® directly into the Howell MetalTrace®, just like electronic banking.
Since implementing MetalTrace® the number of people in the Howell document control team has not changed but with the efficiency MetalTrace® has provided, staff can now complete more and varied tasks than before. Time and money have been saved throughout Howell because staff can quickly find MTRs, often before the product has arrived in the warehouse. Legibility has also improved with better quality source documents and scanning reducing customer requests for “better” copies.
One of the perpetual problems in the PVF industry is customers losing or misplacing the MTRs they have previously received and asking for replacements. With MetalTrace® and using the TraceBack™ functionality, Howell staff can find and replace MTRs in a minute instead of the hours that it used to take.
While training and dealing with technology issues arise it has been easy to defuse the tension by saying that we could always revert to the old method. Long serving staff are very quick to respond NO without any hesitation and are quickly reminded that it is far superior to what we had before.
Howell IT says that working with the MetalTrace® team has been great. The pricing and the support is very reasonable and questions are answered quickly and honestly. Maintenance and support issues are responded to quickly and the solutions are explained. Howell also appreciates that MetalTrace® does not bother Howell with repetitive newsletters and constant upsells. In summary, Howell believes it has been a very good, nearly 20 year relationship with MetalTrace®.
Howell Pipe & Valve Supply has a long-standing tenure as a distributor in the pipe, valve and fitting (PVF) distribution industry. Founded in 1958 as a plumbing supply company, Howell has expanded significantly to expand the product line and services to pipe, valves, actuators and fittings and onsite custom fabrication.
Howell Pipe & Valve Supply has a Quality Management System (QMS) and a deep commitment to continuous improvement. The Howell QMS is registered to ISO 9001 and has achieved approved vendor status for nuclear based customers to the Z299.3 standard.
Throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s, Howell kept track of Material Test Reports (MTRs) using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The ever-increasing volume of MTRs soon overwhelmed that system leading them to develop a new system using a Microsoft Access database. However, the limits of that system were also soon reached, including problems with mis-filing of documents, difficulties in efficient retrieval of MTRs and manual duplicate checking.
In the early 2000s, Howell contracted Trace Applications to have MetalTrace® installed. w Within a month, all the MTRs from the old system were converted into MetalTrace®, the system was operational and the staff were trained on its use and began to enjoy the benefits.
Unlike the old system, there was no need to wait until the next day to add MTRs or rush demand entries (with the inevitable resultant human error). Document filing is now being done throughout the day or even prior to product arriving. MetalTrace2MetalTrace™ was also implemented to eliminate most of the human entry process by having MTRs flow from suppliers’ MetalTrace® directly into the Howell MetalTrace®, just like electronic banking.
Since implementing MetalTrace® the number of people in the Howell document control team has not changed but with the efficiency MetalTrace® has provided, staff can now complete more and varied tasks than before. Time and money have been saved throughout Howell because staff can quickly find MTRs, often before the product has arrived in the warehouse. Legibility has also improved with better quality source documents and scanning reducing customer requests for “better” copies.
One of the perpetual problems in the PVF industry is customers losing or misplacing the MTRs they have previously received and asking for replacements. With MetalTrace® and using the TraceBack™ functionality, Howell staff can find and replace MTRs in a minute instead of the hours that it used to take.
While training and dealing with technology issues arise it has been easy to defuse the tension by saying that we could always revert to the old method. Long serving staff are very quick to respond NO without any hesitation and are quickly reminded that it is far superior to what we had before.
Howell IT says that working with the MetalTrace® team has been great. The pricing and the support is very reasonable and questions are answered quickly and honestly. Maintenance and support issues are responded to quickly and the solutions are explained. Howell also appreciates that MetalTrace® does not bother Howell with repetitive newsletters and constant upsells. In summary, Howell believes it has been a very good, nearly 20 year relationship with MetalTrace®.