Independent builders merchants’ buying group NMBS has updated its OneePlace B2B  in order to more effectively meet the industry’s trading requirements, now and in the future.

The NMBS Order Portal was originally developed to allow Members to send electronic orders to boiler-maker Worcester Bosch, and was extremely well received. On the back of this success the platform grew to allow other suppliers to benefit from its order processing functionality.

The new NMBS OnePlace platform has all the functionality of the original Order Portal, but with the foundations in place to make it futureproof, so that NMBS can continue to develop it to meet the industry’s future trading requirements. As part of this implementation members can continue to get access to documents linked to the order such as the order acknowledgement and delivery note, but now have the ability to look for products in a marketplace style search to help with purchasing special non stocked orders that merchant customers often ask for.

Members will also be able to download and access the suppliers’ product data in format which is suitable to them so that they can update their own back office, purchase order platforms or E-Commerce system to help generate new sales.

Features that have been made available in the latest release include:

• Advanced search by product, category, or Supplier, with additional filtering options
• Shopping Basket checkout function
• Quick Order function
• A new PDF/XML order upload that automatically populates the system with the details of the order, making the order process even quicker for Members
• The new interface allows Members to download product data in their chosen format.

NMBS’ Commercial Director Andy Hextall says: “The vision for NMBS OnePlace is for it to become the main trading platform for the exchange of all documentation linked to a purchase order. We’re delighted that the first phase of NMBS OnePlace’s development is complete and available to Members. There is a clear development path for the platform throughout the remainder of 2020, with two new phases planned that we will communicate out to Members as soon as they are available.”

The NMBS team will be proactively working to bring even more companies onto the platform over the coming months. Businesses who are already active on the platform include Makita, Worcester Bosch, Dickies, Glow-worm, Velux, Vokèra by Riello, Baxi, and Honeywell.

Aaron Matthews of Sussex Plumbing Supplies has been using the platform for a number of months, and said: “Since its launch, we have found the new NMBS OnePlace Portal to be a very useful online purchasing tool. Being able to upload orders from a file is a very simple and welcome solution rather than keying in individual items, while confirmation of invoice cost means less invoice queries. With more features on the horizon, we have found the portal very beneficial to our business and look forward to its future development.”

The OnePlace platform can be accessed online at www.nmbs-oneplace.co.uk/account/login. NMBS Members can continue to use their existing Order Portal username and password, or alternatively can contact NMBS to obtain new login details.

Any Member who would like more information about the NMBS OnePlace platform can contact NMBS E-Commerce Manager Reece Gerrard at Reece.Gerrard@nmbs.co.uk