Case Study: Williams Distributing achieves 25% fewer lost sales and $2M revenue growth with Thrive Technologies

How an Innovative HVAC Distributor Increases Revenues by Getting Inventory in the Right Locations

Williams Distributing, a Michigan‑based HVAC and kitchen/bath distributor with 2 DCs, 22 locations and 761 vendors, faced imbalanced inventory across branches that caused stockouts and frequent daily transfers. To improve service and inventory deployment, Williams Distributing implemented Thrive Technologies’ inventory optimization system.

Thrive Technologies interfaced with Williams’ ERP to provide weekly SKU/location forecasts, define distribution and procurement paths, enforce inventory policies, and run daily analyses (40+ variables) to recommend optimal stocking levels and POs. As a result, Thrive Technologies helped cut lost sales by 25% (about $2M in annual revenue), reduce ad‑hoc transfers by over 50%, and lower on‑hand inventory by roughly one week’s supply.

Williams Distributing

Jeff Beaton

Executive Vice- President