Epicor BisTrack and DMSi Agility: what dealers can export before a change

Why a system change puts dealer history at risk#

A system change puts dealer history at risk because conversions are scoped for running the business tomorrow, not for keeping what happened yesterday. When a regional consolidator buys an independent yard, the usual plan is to move customers, items, price lists, open orders and receivables into the acquirer's ERP and switch the old system off.

Closed quotes, delivered orders, returns and job notes often stay behind. If the old system is hosted by the vendor, access can end with the subscription; if it runs on the dealer's own servers, the hardware and the people who understood it tend to disappear after integration.

Epicor BisTrack and DMSi Agility are both widely used by LBM dealers, but they are different products from different vendors, with different export tools and contract terms. The checklist below applies to both; the vendor-specific details have to come from your own agreement and the vendor's documentation.

What should a dealer export? The checklist#

A dealer should export every record family that connects a customer request to what was delivered and what came back. Keep the keys in the right-hand column on every row, because those references are what let an archive answer questions later.

What to ask your BisTrack or Agility vendor#

The vendor conversation should happen before the change date is fixed, because the answers decide how much time the export needs. Put the questions in writing and keep the replies with the project file.

Questions worth asking include:

Dealers that grew through acquisitions should also ask how branches and legal entities are separated in the database. If several yards share one system but belong to different companies, each company's history may need its own export, and only the entity being sold should hand its records to the buyer.

• 1Is our system hosted by the vendor, a partner or our own IT, and who holds the database?
• 2Which built-in tools export line-level history, and do they have row or date limits?
• 3Can our team or a consultant query the database directly, and does the agreement allow it?
• 4How are attachments such as signed delivery tickets, photos and plan files stored, and can they be exported in bulk?
• 5What conversion or archive services does the vendor offer, and what do they include?
• 6How long does data remain accessible after termination, and in what form will it be returned?

Takeoffs and plan files need separate handling#

Takeoffs and plan files need separate handling because they mix the dealer's work with documents created by others. A takeoff, the material list an estimator builds from a set of plans, reflects the dealer's expertise and pricing judgment. The plans themselves usually come from an architect, designer or builder and remain their work.

In practice, export takeoff outputs as data, with job and plan references, and keep plan files in a separate folder marked as third-party documents. If the records are ever reviewed for licensing, the takeoff outputs may be in scope after builder and homeowner details are removed, while the plans are typically excluded.

Delivery tickets raise a similar issue in a different form. They often carry homeowner names, site addresses and contractor phone numbers, so plan to code or remove those fields before any analysis outside the business.

Choosing an archive approach#

The right archive approach depends on the deal and on who will need the history later. A seller that keeps a copy, an acquirer that inherits the system and a dealer that is simply changing vendors face different questions.

Illustrative: a family dealer exports before an acquisition closes#

Illustrative: a fictional family-owned LBM dealer runs yards and a small truss shop and agrees to sell to a regional consolidator that uses a different ERP. The dealer's system runs on servers in its main office, and estimators keep takeoffs in an estimating module linked to jobs.

During diligence the CFO asks who will keep the legacy history. The purchase agreement confirms the history stays with the company, but the conversion plan covers only open orders, receivables, customers and items. The IT lead exports quotes, orders, deliveries, returns, takeoff outputs and job notes, with all codes and job references, to company-controlled storage, and keeps plan files in a separate folder.

After closing, the new owner's team uses the archive to answer builder disputes about past deliveries and to study which bids the yard won and lost. The former owners keep a copy limited to financial records, as the agreement allows.

Preparing dealer history for a licensing review#

Dealer history can interest AI developers because quotes, takeoffs, deliveries and returns record skilled human decisions in building materials work. Under the SourceX Enterprise Data Value Framework, domain expertise, human-generated signal and recency raise value, while privacy burden and preparation cost reduce net value.

SourceX starts with metadata only, such as systems, years of history and record families, and follows the SourceX five-step transaction: Supply, Rights, Preparation, Approval and Delivery. The SourceX Evidence Packet records provenance, licensing rights, permitted use, the privacy record and release authorization, which matters when the history changed hands in an acquisition.