The Challenge
The Buying Source is an employee-owned lumber buying organization with approximately $130 million in annual sales. Unlike a traditional lumberyard, they do not maintain a large physical inventory. Their model is built around connecting customers with the right lumber products and sourcing from the right suppliers and mills.
That model creates a specific operational challenge: when you do not hold inventory, visibility and coordination become everything. Three problems made finding the right software critical.
Generic software that did not fit their business model. The previous system was not built for the way TBS actually operated. It carried functionality that did not apply, while leaving gaps in the areas that mattered most: order visibility, logistics coordination, and financial management.
Complex coordination without physical inventory. Every order required tracking across customers, suppliers, mills, and trucking. The team needed to know whether material was ready at the mill, when it could ship, where the truck was, and whether the transaction had been properly invoiced. A system that created friction anywhere in that chain was a liability.
Paying for functionality they would never use. Large ERP platforms came loaded with features built for different industries and business models. TBS needed a system they could actually use, not one they were buying around.
The Solution
RDB Solutions implemented Lumber Expert, a platform purpose-built for lumber trading and distribution operations. The system connected purchasing, sales, accounting, order processing, and transportation in one place.
What it gave The Buying Source:
- A truck dispatch system for filtering orders, monitoring bookings versus invoices, and tracking logistics in real time
- Complete order visibility from mill readiness through delivery and invoicing
- A simple, intuitive interface that staff could learn quickly without extensive training
- High utilization of available functionality rather than a long list of unused features
- Cloud access enabling the team to work remotely when logistics demands arise outside normal business hours
More recently, TBS completed a migration to the cloud, adding a layer of flexibility, security, and reliability for the company's business-critical information.
The Results
After more than 15 years, The Buying Source has built its daily workflow around the platform. The measure of success is straightforward: the software supports the business without getting in the way.
| Capability | Before RDB | With RDB |
|---|---|---|
| System fit | Generic platform with excess, unused features | Purpose-built for lumber purchasing and trading |
| Logistics visibility | Limited coordination across supply chain | Real-time truck dispatch and order status tracking |
| Remote access | Tied to a physical office | Cloud access for anytime, anywhere operations |
| Financial management | Reconciliation issues after staff turnover | Hands-on support resolved and trained the team |
| Cost efficiency | Paying for functionality they did not need | High utilization at a price that fits the business |
In Their Own Words
"When we need something done, it happens. It's not this corporate chain that you've got to run up and run down and everything's slow because the big machine has to get moving."
Kurt Shuey, Purchasing Agent, The Buying Source
Why the Partnership Works
For Kurt Shuey, who joined The Buying Source in 2020 after 17 years in the lumber industry, the value of RDB came into focus quickly. Coming from environments with highly automated, corporate software, he expected more complexity to mean a better system. What he found at TBS changed that thinking.
RDB's simplicity is an advantage, not a limitation. Employees learn the system, understand the workflow, and get work done without navigating layers of unnecessary functionality. TBS uses a substantial percentage of what is available to them, rather than paying for a large suite of features that sit unused.
The support model matters too. When a former office manager left and TBS encountered a bank reconciliation issue, Jan Kimble from the RDB success team did not just send instructions. She worked directly with the team, reviewed the statements, identified where errors had occurred, and trained the staff on the correct process going forward. That kind of hands-on response is what makes the relationship feel like a partnership rather than a vendor contract.
Related Solutions
The Buying Source operation runs on one core RDB platform.
