Based in Columbus, OH, Fournier Rubber & Supply Company is an industrial rubber products distributor and custom gasket manufacturer providing high-quality solutions for a wide range of industries. They specialize in custom O-rings, rubber gaskets, hose assemblies, sheet rubber, and related products serving both standard and specialized application needs.

Their Mission: To serve our customers with quality products at a fair price, in a manner that makes it easier for the customer to do business with us.

History of Fournier

Fournier Rubber & Supply Company was founded in 1933 by husband-and-wife team, Lee and Nell Fournier. The leadership torch was passed on to long-time employee Denny Davidson, who took over as president in 1979 and later became the owner in 1985. Under Davidson’s leadership, Fournier grew from one location to two broadening their service within the state of Ohio and across the U.S. After serving the company for 57 years, Denny passed the responsibilities of leading the company to his daughter, Julie Andy.

Fournier’s Dedication to Improvement

The team at Fournier Rubber understands that the industry is constantly evolving. To stay ahead of competition, they continuously innovate and upgrade the company’s technology to adapt and improve. Fournier Rubber & Supply Co. has grown through strategic expansions, adding new product lines and enhancing its capabilities. Fournier has embraced the change needed by building a new website and purchasing a new state-of-the-art computerized knife-cutting gasket machine to quickly produce smooth edges on their products and increase quality for their customers.

In 2022, Fournier implemented TrulinX as their ERP software system. This strategic change allowed them to enable data management for real-time access to accounts payable, accounts receivable, general ledgers, orders, and invoices within minutes.

Since implementing the TrulinX software, Fournier can complete their month end financials in 50% less time than it took in their old system.

Fournier Insights on Switching ERP Systems

Julie’s most valuable advice for any distributor searching for a new ERP platform is to “go into the change prepared.” Any system conversion will be difficult, but the rewards are priceless.

Julie emphasizes the importance of having a good support team in place and dividing up the tasks as needed. She reflects on how her company successfully navigated through the conversion with the obstacles of the Covid pandemic, a death in her family a week before training, and then the loss of two long-term experienced employees. She advises against going through such a translation under similar circumstances. However, despite the difficulties, she has absolutely no regrets, and now it is clear sailing.

Does Fournier Think the Tribute Team Can Do Better?

“What can I suggest Tribute do better when they are already providing excellent customer service, a quality product at a fair price, always innovating new ideas, looking for more training opportunities, discovering a problem and creating a fix for it, and offering excellent support partners from the companies that work with Tribute. They could call me by name and make me feel that I am part of their team – oh wait, they already do that.”

Julie’s Most Valued TrulinX Capabilities:

• I have so many favorite features, but the top of the list has to be all the available inquiries and reports. I LOVE the ease of exporting data into Excel; my analysis options are ENDLESS!
• We create many assemblies that have components so using the BOM (Bill of Materials) has been most impactful. After the initial creation, it is just another simple addition to the orders.
• Tribute's Annual User Group conference, TribNet, has given me the opportunity to learn more about the system, get to know the TrulinX Team, and learn more about the partner companies that can also enhance the already awesome features in TrulinX.
• We have a better picture of our inventory at our fingertips to know exactly what we need to sell.