StarTech.com has always been dedicated to solving technology problems faced by IT professionals. By focusing on the needs of its customers and continual innovation, the company has evolved into a global organization oering accessories that support 200+ dierent technologies.
More recently, StarTech.com, working with the Atlas Planning Platform, moved its supply chain planning function to the cloud. Among other bene ts, this boosted StarTech.com’s ability to act nimbly, McQuade says. MAKING INFORMED DECISIONS For example, StarTech.com can more ef ciently conduct “what if” scenarios, such as assessing the impact of product lead times jumping by 10%, or the effect on purchases and cash ow if the company decides to double safety stock coverage from 28 to 56 days. This information allows for more informed decisions. The Atlas Planning solution can account for differences in product lead times, which vary depending on where items are coming from and going to. Understanding the differences helps in distributing products so they can meet customers’ needs quickly and accurately. Through Atlas’ advanced scenario planning and analysis capabilities, StarTech.com has gained increased visibility into its supply chain. It can better assess the impact of decisions across the company’s extended value chain. Among other bene ts, order ful llment has improved. “Our order ful llment is mid-90% every week, which is amazing,” McQuade says, The company has been successful in regularly keeping inventory levels where they need to be, he adds. One goal of many companies moving to the cloud is to tie together strategic
and tactical plans, Hoffman says. They then can better model their end-to-end supply chain to hit their business goals. For example, businesses may try to meet a goal of boosting market share by ensuring they have suf cient inventory on hand. For a distributor of technology products, historical data might indicate that they need to carry more USB chargers. However, the growth actually is in the USBC market, Hoffman notes. AI-driven insights and composable workspaces allow all Atlas users, not just data scientists or planners, to understand the how and why of purchasing recommendations or changes in demand. GOING THE EXTRA MILE Throughout their partnership, John Galt has gone above and beyond, Wenger says. At all levels, StarTech.com is able to connect and collaborate with John Galt for information and answers, he adds. StarTech.com plans to continue its partnership with John Galt, given the importance product availability plays as a differentiating factor in its market, Wenger says. John Galt continues to help StarTech.com position inventory so that it captures revenue without carrying excess stock. In addition to the technical capabilities John Galt offers, StarTech.com gravitates to business partners who “truly want to be a partner,” Wenger says. “It’s not a one-way street. They accept feedback from us just as we accept their feedback.” n
Because the Atlas solution is a “low code to no code application,” implementations tend to move relatively quickly, says Matt Hoffman, vice president industry and product solutions at John Galt Solutions. This approach prioritizes con guration over customization, streamlining implementations and offering scalability and exibility, he says. The Atlas solution can continue to add value, even as organizations grow, or their mix of products or sales channels changes. John Galt and StarTech.com initially connected in 2017, through a request- for-quotation process. StarTech.com had settled on Microsoft as its primary ERP platform. Management was looking for a planning solution and partner that was nimble enough to move and grow with StarTech.com, which was a smaller player in the Microsoft universe. “We appreciated that John Galt was open to managing our unknowns at the beginning,” McQuade says. In addition, John Galt embodies the same entrepreneurial drive found within StarTech.com. “Even though we’ve been in business for 40 years, there’s an entrepreneurial spirit about StarTech.com,” he adds. The initial implementation took about two years. This included the time required to cleanse the data, establish the parameters the models would use, and test the solution. StarTech.com employees worked directly with the John Galt team on the implementation.
April 2025 • Inbound Logistics 71
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