Flitch vs ECI: Which Lumberyard Software Is Right for Your Dealership?
Understanding ECI's Two LBM Products
ECI offers two distinct platforms for lumber and building material dealers, and the distinction matters.
Spruce is the choice for large-scale businesses requiring integrated general ledger accounting, while RockSolid MAX is designed for independent dealers with more straightforward needs. RockSolid MAX is positioned for businesses with up to ten concurrent users, making it the entry-level option for smaller yards. Hardware RetailingECI
Both are cloud-based and industry-specific. Both have been in the market for decades. And both are owned and managed by ECI, a large software company that serves industries well beyond LBM.
What ECI Does Well
ECI's platforms cover the core LBM workflow. Spruce combines point of sale, inventory, purchasing, accounting, analytics, and ecommerce in one system, and integrates with 20+ vendor EDI providers. RockSolid MAX handles units of measure including board foot conversion for lumber, automated ordering, and EDI communications with major wholesalers and co-ops including Orgill, Do it Best, True Value, and ACE. ECIECI
For dealers who have been on these platforms for years, the depth of functionality is real and the industry knowledge baked into the software reflects decades of refinement.
Where Dealers Look for Alternatives
The most common reasons dealers evaluate alternatives to ECI's platforms tend to fall into a few categories.
The size of the company. ECI serves small to medium-sized businesses across manufacturing, wholesale and retail distribution, building and construction, and field service — LBM is one segment of a much larger portfolio. For some dealers, that means support and product development attention is spread across many industries and many products simultaneously. ECI Solutions
The pace of modernization. Both Spruce and RockSolid MAX are mature platforms with long histories. That depth is valuable, but it can also mean that newer capabilities — automated AR workflows, customer-facing payment portals, real-time delivery tracking — are add-on modules rather than core features designed from the ground up.
Implementation and transition support. Moving from one platform to another is the most common concern dealers have when evaluating any switch. How a vendor handles the go-live period — whether they are on-site, how long the transition takes, what happens when things go wrong — varies significantly between providers.
How Flitch Compares
Flitch was built specifically for lumber and building material dealers, with a focus on the workflows that cost LBM teams the most time: order management, accounts receivable, delivery, and customer communication.
On ease of use, dealers who have made the switch consistently describe Flitch as faster to learn than the ECI platforms. One customer who came from Spruce noted: "I was always timid in Spruce. Flitch was easy to learn and I work more efficiently."
On accounts receivable, Flitch automates statement delivery, online payment collection by card or ACH, and past-due reminders — without requiring manual intervention at month-end. One Flitch billing customer described their first statement cycle after switching as: "The best statement day I've ever had. I love the automated statements."
On implementation, Flitch works on-site with dealer teams through the transition rather than handing off to third parties. One general manager who made the switch said: "Thank you for spending extra time on site with us. Everything's much more efficient with Flitch."
On support, Flitch is exclusively focused on LBM — it's the only industry they serve. That focus shows up in how quickly issues get resolved and how well the support team understands the specifics of your operation.
The Bottom Line
ECI has a long track record in this industry and both Spruce and RockSolid MAX are legitimate, capable platforms for lumber and building material dealers. If your operation is already running smoothly on one of them, that institutional familiarity has real value.
But if you're finding that training new staff is slow, that your AR process still requires significant manual work, or that getting answers from your software vendor feels like working through a large corporate support queue — those are worth taking seriously.
Flitch is built for dealers who are ready to modernize without losing the industry-specific depth their business depends on.
