Strong strategic relationships within the beverage industry
Micro Vane reaches milestone
Founded in 1983, Kalamazoo, MI-based Micro Vane, Inc. reports it has built strong strategic relationships within the beverage industry. “The relationships between beverage wholesalers and their business partners aren’t always straightforward, but by keeping in direct and constant contact with our customers, and the breweries, we’ve been able to anticipate their needs so that new features are available in our software when they are needed,” says company president, Brad Fonger.
“If 16 years of experience has taught us anything,” Fonger continues, “it’s that changes in the beverage industry will continue to challenge each and every wholesaler to find the best possible solutions in terms of price performance and flexibility. Our customers have told us that the main reason they buy from us is the value they receive from our personal contact and our willingness to be there when they need us.”
From this foundation, Micro Vane has worked to continually enhance their product line, and in June 1998, the company reached an industry milestone - 1000 dBEV systems sold.
“There’s been a lot of media attention on how companies are scrambling to adapt their computer hardware and software systems to be ready for the year 2000\2001,” notes Bob Pursel, vice president of marketing. “Micro Vane is ahead of the game. We provided our customers with a Year 2000 Solution in first quarter of 1998 with the release of our dBEV 9.4 and Accounting 5.1 software.”
In addition to the implementation of full Y2K-compliance, several new versions of other Micro Vane software programs have been released. The company reports that the General Ledger linking capabilities were greatly enhanced to allow the transfer of more detail from the Payroll and Accounts Payable programs.
In addition, the Windows 95-based Management Reporting Module (MRM) now includes bar code printing. Customers can generate such items as a barcode package list, barcode pre-sell delivery form (for packages on pre-sell invoices) and bar-code (package) labels.
Currently in development is the company’s newest Windows 95-based reporting program which will expand dBEV’s reporting capabilities to allow customers to preview the effects each option would have on the finished report as it is selected.
According to Bob Blaauw, national product marketing manager, “With the new brewery contracts mandating that a specific share of their time and money can be spent marketing the major brands, more wholesalers are turning to laptops and hand-held computers to collect data to better manage performance and analyze the effectiveness of their sales and merchandising efforts.”
With over 100 systems sold, Micro Vane’s Support Department has had to keep pace with the needs of a fast-growing customer base. The 12-person staff includes three Certified Novell Engineers (CRNEs), and one CNE is also a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) specializing in NT networks. In addition to answering route accounting system questions, technical support is also available for customers implementing new E-commerce (EDI, EFT, Brewery Communications) projects.
“Wholesalers looking for a route accounting system now have a unique opportunity to see dBEV in action prior to purchase,” says Larry Glass, vice president of sales. “We can ship a laptop computer to their location and demonstrate our software via a dial-up modem connection. It’s so automatic that wholesalers simply connect the laptop to a modem line with a few clicks of a button, the demo begins!”
For more information, contact Micro Vane at (800) 222-0677, or FAX: (800) 968-1255, or e-mail to dBEV@microvane.com.
Insight fields Route Intelligence
Insight Distribution Systems, a leading supplier to beverage distributors, has announced the introduction of Route Intelligence, graphical PC software for analysis of sales, profit and other meaningful business measures.
Route Intelligence integrates Cognos Powerplay software into insight’s Routescape distribution software. In addition, to offering advanced on-line analytical processing, Insight reports it has developed the backend processes necessary to automatically pull information from Routescape’s historical database.
The new module, Route Intelligence, offers views of data that allow users to see information by “sales supervisor” or “salesperson”, “delivery route” or “market or chain analysts.” The company notes that multiple location operations can obtain information combined for all locations.
“In addition, Route Intelligence displays and reports contain multiple levels for drill down analysis, such as chain store level detail,” says Insight president Max Landman. “Alternate drill paths exist to explore information at package, case or bottle level detail.”
Route Intelligence is currently installed at William Thies & Sons, a multiple location beer distributor based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
For more information, contact Insight Distribution Systems, Tel: (800) 310-3548, or at web site www.routescape.com.
DCI announces new features
Data Consultants, Inc. (DCI) has refined its 32-bit Delphi products during 1998, including its highly successful Routeman Jr. The company says approximately 300 salespeople are already utilizing this pen computer mobile computing solution with another 80 waiting in the delivery queue. “Routeman Jr. is unique in that it works equally well for beer, soft drink, and wine sales people, as well as in both presales and route sales environments,” says DCI president Bill Scheff. “The operating environment for this software is any full-screen Windows 95/98 computer including the Fujitsu 1200, Mitsubishi Amity, Norand 6622, and Fujitsu ICL TeamPad pen computers. Customers are automatically downloaded to Routeman Jr. in the call sequence. As each order is placed, it is automatically “checked off” in the status column.”
According to DCI, customers and items are displayed with up to 53 months of purchase history (even more if desired) including sales figures, inventory levels, displays, facings, and sales dollars. To see the history, a user clicks on the History tab. To gather competitive information, a user clicks the Rival tab. DCI says any promotions that apply are computed “on the fly.”
The company says that the systems electronic “survey pad” allows as many as 9999 survey questions to be downloaded, with a “legal pad” type entry form used to gather survey information. Survey questions and responses are controlled by the yes or no answers. Information about each customer and product is available and inventory is checked “real-time.”
Orderman is a telsel module that is directly interfaced to the Routeman route distribution management system. It is based upon Routeman Jr. technology and contains much the same tools and capabilities to increase and facilitate selling to customers. Sophisticated promotion plans can be easily set up and manipulated. Promotions automatically activate and deactivate.
DCI says it has replaced its DOS offering with a “new and improved” Windows Promoman promotion management system.
DCI says that its Promoman has been designed to help meet the challenge of finding new and effective ways to promote products. The “Find” feature can be utilized to locate a customer by its account number or name. “Many of DCI’s customers extend credit for their sales (varies from state to state and by product),” Bill Scheff says. “In order to provide a flexible, state-of-the-art Accounts Receivable solution for these customers and, for our product set in general, we have developed an entirely new AR in 32-bit Delphi that has all the “bells and whistles” we could think to put in it. Existing DCI customers are able to upgrade to the new AR at no charge.”
DCI says the current detail Tab is handy for calling accounts for collections. Phone number and contact are readily available. Information can be accessed in various ways. Batch entry can be accomplished utilizing the mouse or entirely with the keyboard - your choice.
According to DCI, the company’s Electronic Commerce program can save money and time while reducing chance for error. Invoices, delivery notices, and electronic payments can be processed automatically.
DCI has dedicated resources to develop and support Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) for Electronic Commerce. EDI supports both the X12 and the UCS standards for Electronic Data Interchange.
As the company adds new document types and features, DCI says it increases the flexibility for trading with different types of retailers. As an example, DCI has added the ability to announce price and promotion changes automatically. The company says that EDI keeps track of all a user’s account numbers. “There’s no need to re-key important data every time you run the program,” Scheff notes, “and a user can set up 9,999 different trading partners.
In addition to the refinement of the company’s 32-bit Windows applications, DCI says it has also kept pace with other changes in the industry. “The wholesale distribution business is becoming more complex every day,” Bill Scheff says. “As a result, never before has business information and the ability to distribute it been more essential to compete successfully in today’s marketplace. Furthermore, the industry is experiencing a trend whereby buy-outs and consolidation are more the norm rather than the exception.”
To meet evolving wholesaler needs, DCI delivered Routewan in 1998.
Routewan is the combination of two industry leading software applications - DCI’s Route Management System. and WinFrame1, developed by Citrix Systems, Inc. WinFrame1 is a server-centric framework that provides a scalable, thin client solution for low-bandwidth connections. WinFrame1 was designed to execute applications on the server on behalf of the client. By doing so, the only information that needs to move between client and server are the screen updates. According to DCI, the combination provides the ability to scale Routeman to virtually any size of wholesale operation. For more information, contact Data Consultants, Inc., Tel: (703) 803-7070 or (800) 536-7070. E-mail:aarond@routeman.com.
Norand links mobile computers
Intermec Technologies Corporation, Norand Mobile Systems Division reports it has developed a network infrastructure device that bridges traditional mobile computing connectivity with networking technology, allowing time savings and reduced cost of connectivity for Intermec users.
The Norand 6710 Mobile Bridge connects RS-485 mobile computers to a variety of Ethernet networks, replacing dial-up networks with the ability to be managed locally or remotely with a faster, flexible wide-area network connection. “The 6710 mobile bridge allows customers to take advantage of the connectivity they’re already paying for,” says Kelly Ungs, product manager with Intermec’s Norand Mobile Systems Division. “The cost of connectivity is kept down by allowing existing installations to continue using the standard RS-485 docking and charging solutions already in place.”
According to Norand, the 6710 Mobile Bridge also allows new programs to be downloaded to the bridge while the unit is operating. “Although the mobile computers do not have Ethernet, the 6710 Mobile Bridge allows them to simulate Ethernet performance,” Ungs says.
For more information, contact Intermec Technologies Corp., Norand Mobile Systems Division, Tel: (800) 452-2757. FAX: (319) 369-3453. Website: www.intermec.com.
Salient sales mgmt. systems
The Salient Corporation’s principal product - Margin Minder - is a set of WIndows-based tools designed to allow managers to search large transaction databases and capture historical facts and relationships that define their trade, in sum or in detail, on-line and swiftly.
The company says that Margin Minder allows end users to see, without limitation, their P & L down to a customer, product and event. The company says that it is an essential mechanism for individuals to optimize the quality (volume plus profit) of each sales transaction. For more information, contact Salient, tel: (607) 739-4511, e-mail at Salient.com.
VIP points to growth of EDI
Vermont Information Processing, Inc. (VIP) says that Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is now fulfilling its promise as a way of saving beverage distributors time and money. VIP, a supplier of information systems and solutions for beverage distributors, first got involved with EDI ten years ago when a large New York-based supermarket chain set itself up to receive invoices in advance of delivery from its suppliers. The enticement was that any supplier already having the invoice in the chain computer would have preferential status at the back door check-in line. A beverage distributor using the VIP Beverage System and delivering to 24 stores signed on early. The savings to this beverage distributor were immediate, VIP says - drivers were cutting their wait time by 30 minutes, an hour, and more. With each store getting an average of 2.5 deliveries a week, the distributor conservatively estimated that they saved 45 hours of delivery time each week.
Beside the great savings in manpower, the beverage distributor found that sending advance invoices saved the time of salesman and office staff in correcting and reconciling orders; improved scheduling of deliveries. Deliveries for the rest of the day were made on time. Trucks returned to the yard earlier so loading could start and be completed earlier; Saved time processing A/R because payments were made from an accurately-priced invoice in the chain’s computer. based on this experience, VIP was convinced that EDI was a worthwhile investment for beverage distributors and, therefore, for future software development. Efforts were soon under way to support EDI as an integrated part of VIP’s information system.
VIP has seen an acceleration towards implementing EDI. In the last 10 years, VIP has set up 21 wholesalers for trading 11 different electronic documents with 8 trading partners.
In the last few months, VIP has started 68 other wholesalers on their way to implementing EDI with one or more trading partners.
As beverage distributors, retailers, and others now see the advantages, VIP says, all are making a commitment to installing the software updates in their information systems to gamer the EDI savings.
For more on VIP’s EDI solutions, contact John Scotnicki, VIP, Colchester, VT. tel: (802) 655-9400, ext. 203; e-mail at john@vtinfo.com.