Located in Seattle, the center of the bustling Puget Sound region of Washington state, Dunn Lumber Company has been serving both contractors and do-it-yourself customers since its founding in 1927. Structured as a strictly cash-only lumber yard during the depression years, Dunn grew to be known as the low-priced source for building materials in the Seattle area. Buying direct in carload quantities from the largest mills guaranteed a steady, low-cost supply of quality building materials. This led Dunn Lumber Company to ever expanding sales and a growing customer base.

In 1938, a spectacular fire destroyed all of the lumber sheds, stock, trucks, and offices at the sole location. After clearing away the remains, 68 carpenters, many of which were customers, worked two shifts a day to construct a new 18,000 square foot building in just twelve working days. The new building has proven to be an excellent facility for sales and distribution of lumber and building materials.

Located on Lake Washington, it continues as the corporate headquarters and its largest volume Dunn yard today. During the following years, Dunn has increased in size and now operates ten full-service lumber yards serving King and Snohomish counties, two of the fastest growing in America.

Dunn is constantly evaluating and changing their inventory mix to be certain that they have the products in stock to satisfy their customers needs. During the last decade it became clear that the market was changing in an accelerated fashion with the opening of the "box" stores. Up-to-date information was needed to chart the course. The decision to go with Advantage was fortuitous one.

The ABCS database program has provided them with timely, relevant, usable inventory control information allowing them to maximize inventory turnover while increasing profit margins at the same time. Especially useful is the ability to review daily the individual yard location sales data on a departmental and class basis, which allows them not only to track profit and performance but to anticipate future purchasing needs.

Vice President Mike Dunn say, "Although the road from manual inventory systems to computerized is always a trying one, Advantage came through and has given the needed encouragement and support to propel Dunn Lumber into the fullest use of its systems".

It can be fairly said that without the ABCs program, Dunn would be less profitable and would have greater difficulty mapping a business strategy for the future. The responsiveness of the Advantage personnel and their ability to customize the program to fit Dunn's individual information needs have been outstanding. We are looking forward to a continuing successful working relationship with ABCS", says Jim Coshow.