Upgraded solution to give distributors more productivity, according to provider
Yardley, PA — January 14, 2005 — As a result of distributors' requests, Prophet 21 said it has developed CommerceCenter version 10.5 to help distributors grow in the evolving business world.
Prophet 21 CommerceCenter, an enterprise software solution for distributors, features such functionalities as wireless warehouse management, handheld bin management (with PDA integration), vendor quote processing, and customer relationship management (CRM).
Brian Williams knows how important customer service can be to a distributor. Williams, director of IT for Industrial Supply Co., a general line supply house, uses CommerceCenter's item master inquiry functionality to provide access to product information that can increase the value he provides his customers.
"CommerceCenter 10.5 item master inquiry gives us a quicker response time," he said. "It has been a huge time saver and has improved our productivity. To be able to go to one screen and click around on different tabs and find everything you need is extremely helpful."
In order to assist distributors to take control of the entire sales process, CommerceCenter 10.5 also features vendor quote processing. Vendor quote-processing allows distributors to create requests for quotes (RFQs) for suppliers directly from order entry and sales quote entry for special, direct and non-stock items. In addition, distributors can create and track vendor quotes for multiple vendors for any item from purchasing screen at any time.
"We had been doing this process manually," said Williams. "It is a major time-saver to be able to conduct this process through CommerceCenter and has improved our productivity immensely." He added, "We do a lot of job quotes for contractors, and we have to find the best prices from the supplier and quote the customers. This feature allows us to easily track our quotes."
Additionally, CommerceCenter 10.5 enables distributors to create and edit customer contacts and improve contact management capabilities. Distributors can assign and create tasks linked to transactions to provide flexibility and control over contact management, and they can create contacts for ship records and shows all contacts created for ship-to records.
Finally, Prophet 21 includes a Wireless Warehouse Management Solution. The product uses wireless technology to streamline all warehouse processes, from picking and receiving to cycle counting and adjustments.
"Because the Wireless Warehouse Management Solution automates a lot of the tasks many distributors still do with a pencil and clipboard, it allows distributors to reallocate resources to service-oriented tasks," said Steve Horgan, an executive for NSK Industries, an Ohio-based fastener wholesaler. "This technology will enable us to add more [stock-keeping units (SKUs)] to our warehouse and customers to our database without hiring extra employees."
