BOISE, Idaho, July 30, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Boise Cascade Engineered Wood Products, headquartered in Boise, Idaho, announced this morning its selection as one of only 12 national winners of the prestigious, industry leading 2012 "A,A" Partners of Choice Award for supply chain management from David Weekley Homes, the third-largest for profit, privately-owned U.S. home builder. The holistic, highly sought-after "Partners of Choice" honor is considered by many to be where the rubber meets the road in the home building industry – proof of whether or not supply chain promises are kept. It is awarded to David Weekley Homes trading partners that receive the highest marks in the homebuilder's comprehensive evaluation system as rated by team members from all levels of the organization. Only Boise Cascade and 11 other companies out of 150+ trading partners doing business with David Weekley Homes – about 8% -- were chosen for the 2012 "A,A" Award. Boise Cascade earns this world-class honor for the seventh consecutive year, which makes it one of the twelve most highly rated trading partners of David Weekley Homes for 2012.
Because everyone wins when the supply chain functions smoothly and products are delivered and promises met, David Weekley Homes has invested greatly in time and other resources to forge a system that has the potential to help the entire home building industry improve its channel management. To accomplish this, David Weekley Homes has developed a sophisticated system of self-improvement for its trading partner companies and made it open and accessible, providing all of the information trading partners would need to be as great in channel management as they decide to be. Trading partners are not judged solely on their own actions but also on the actions of their channel partners -- the third parties in the delivery and installation of their goods. This area of channel alignment costs many companies better ratings because the loop was not closed and the supply chain was sub-optimized. But for trading partners wishing to improve their channel alignment, the National Trading Partner Survey is a dynamic, running quarterly review of David Weekley Homes suppliers as assessed by about 600 team members from all levels within the Company. The survey measures response time, follow-through, communication, access, reliability, method of contact, confidence levels and other areas important to the business relationship.
"A big factor in Boise Cascade winning the top award seven times running is their alignment and management of the distribution channel in support of our needs," said Bill Justus, Vice-President of Supply Chain Services for David Weekley Homes and the brains behind this entire system. "Efficient channel management by our trading partners enables our team to invest their time in our top priority, which is providing a superior experience for our customer, the homebuyer," said Justus. "We will always need effective supply chain management, and over the last seven years, as decided by over 11,000 quality and service rating opportunities, our team members have placed Boise Cascade among the best of the best supply chain managers," Justus added. The National Trading Partner Survey is a rigorous, dynamic evaluation system that constantly challenges all parties in the supply chain to be as effective and efficient as possible. "As a result, average scores continue to increase approximately 13% per year," said Justus.
Winning this coveted award requires trading partners' continuous improvement of their total business relationship with David Weekley Homes and with their other channel partners. For any channel partner interested in improving, the feedback is front and center. Through both the Internet and a company intranet, rating information is readily available 24/7/365, meaning that any David Weekley Homes trading partner can look into the system at any time and see up-to-date performance data, by quarter, for the past year and beyond. In addition, David Weekley Homes has dedicated resources available to help companies interpret their results, and to work as a team with channel partners to formulate plans to improve performance, with a goal of world-class excellence. Feedback is comprehensive and tools are in place and accessible for trading partners to constantly monitor progress toward supply chain perfection and winning this important award. The greater the feedback and participation in the process, the smaller the issues become.
"At Boise Cascade we are very appreciative that Bill Justus and our other good friends at David Weekley Homes have put in place such a progressive, open and accessible program that enables us to continue to perform at the highest levels and win so many of these tough competitions through the years," said Denny Huston, Boise Cascade Engineered Wood Products general sales manager. "We are proud to be such a highly-ranked trading partner with David Weekley Homes again this year and to continue to perform on these quality and service initiatives," Huston added, "all of which are designed to help David Weekley Homes reach their goal of the most satisfying experience for their homebuyer customers."
About David Weekley Homes
David Weekley Homes, founded in 1976, is headquartered in Houston and operates in 16 cities across the United States. David Weekley Homes was the first builder in the United States to be awarded the Triple Crown of American Home Building, an honor which includes "America's Best Builder," "Builder of the Year," and the "National Housing Quality Award." Weekley has also appeared seven times on FORTUNE® magazine's coveted "100 Best Companies to Work For" list. Since inception, David Weekley Homes has closed more than 65,000 homes. For more information about David Weekley Homes, visit the company's web site at www.davidweekleyhomes.com.
About Boise Cascade
Boise Cascade, L.L.C., headquartered in Boise, Idaho, manufactures engineered wood products, plywood, lumber and particleboard and distributes a broad line of building materials, including wood products manufactured by the Company. For more information about Boise Cascade, visit www.bc.com.
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