P.O. Box 297, 4300 Stanley Ave., Niagara Falls, On, L2E 6T7

Phone (905) 354-7424 / Fax (905) 354-5706

Technical Capability

Introduction

Niagara Plumbing Supply Company has long been committed to the use of technology to better our service to customers. This document is designed to provide an overview of the various technology implementations and what they mean to our customers.

Technology infrastructure

Niagara Plumbing's corporate computer network consists of 86 user workstations, 12 servers and spans 3 locations. Our network is designed around the concept of distributed processing (primary business services are spread across multiple servers).

Distributed processing provides us with both redundancy in services and with the ability to rapidly deploy new services with little or no impact on our users and customers. Our network is built using equipment and software provided by today's most advanced technology companies such as Cisco, IBM, Symantec, and Microsoft.

Core Technology Implementations

Sx. Enterprise is an entirely Windows-based, state-of-the-art computer system that provides us the tools and capabilities to lead the way in distribution technology for many years to come. The improved information available will allow the staff to provide

more accurate and reliable information to customers, as well as allow them to be more responsive to changes taking place within the marketplace. Niagara Plumbing Supply is currently in the final implementation stages of this new ERP system.

Document management system: Niagara Plumbing Supply has a server-based document processing solution that provides us the ability to simultaneously print, fax, e-mail and archive any of our printed forms.

Intra/Internet: Niagara Plumbing Supply has a full service connection to the Internet using ADSL technology our bandwidth is actually greater than the conventional T1 circuit based connections. Niagara Plumbing Supply hosts both web and e-mail servers onsite which gives us a far greater control over access and content. For our employees all of our internal news and information is delivered via the company Intranet (an internal web server providing news about the company top the company)

E-mail: e-mail is the new language of business; all of Niagara Plumbing Supply's employees are reachable via e-mail.

CAD/engineering: Niagara Plumbing Supply uses state of the art software for providing technical drawings (AutoCAD 2001) and heat loss/gain calculations (RightSoft enterprise suite)

RF (Radio Frequency) Barcode inventory management: Niagara Plumbing Supply has aggressively implemented the use of RF & wireless technology to facilitate inventory management both internally and at customer facilities.

Customer Technology Features

Supply Chain Management, all of the above-mentioned technology implementations are designed to facilitate supply chain management. Supply chain management is defined as a network of facilities and distribution options that perform the functions

of procurement of materials, transformation of these materials into intermediate and finished products, and the distribution of these finished products to customers. Our computer and network services are designed to assist in the provision of these concepts.

·   EDI (electronic document interchange) Full flat file EDI compatibility with our ERP

    system.

·   FTP and web delivery of documentation.

·   Fax back service for technical drawings and spec sheets.

·   Automated pre shipping reports, so that your company knows when to expect

    delivery

·   Accurate statistical analysis for both buyers and sales reps.

Next / Back