Home-Building Suppliers Go Online

A software vendor, whose product is used to build nearly 12% of the nation_s homes, in collaboration with the USA largest maker of siding, roofing and insulation, is in the final stages of hooking up a Net market that could transform the housing industry. BuildSoft, the largest vendor of a project planning, estimating and accounting package for home builders, and Owens Corning, a seller of more than $3.5 billion in housing supplies, are working with systems integrator Electronic Data Systems to roll out in April in the Washington, D.C., area a trial of Buildnet.net, an online market that will link manufacturers, distributors and builders. "We make construction management software that is used to build every eighth home in America," says BuildSoft Chief Executive Officer K. Brown. "We are turning that into a network so the builders can buy materials online, and distributors can see the demand coming in and reduce their inventory while manufacturers will be able to forecast production capacity." The network also will enhance the power of buying groups such as the one led by Mike Garcia, a custom home builder in Northern Virginia. "We have 42 customer builders who buy together. All of us do more than $1 million a year, and [through volume discounts] buying together saves me around $25,000 a year. The Buildnet network can turn builders into a national buying group, with a lot of power to get better prices."