Enjoy the Warehouse Christmas Carol

It was the night before Christmas, when all through the warehouse,
Not a forklift was stirring, not even a mouse;

There were no stockings hung, only safety signs that read,
Pedestrians beware, or you could end up dead;

As I looked around I noticed, the inventory was not nestled where it was supposed to be,
The warehouse was out of space and all the world could see;

The supervisor in his ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down and told me, the consultant, “he was sick of this crap;”

Inaccurate inventory, not enough space,
Constant employee turnover, a pile of returns,
He took a deep breath, and then put his hands on his face;

How did we get here, he asked, what are we doing wrong,
How will we catch up with receiving, I thought to myself,
“This is the same tired song;”

Next comes the dreams of a Warehouse Management System, to save us next year,
But it never comes, because a lack of ROI is what the executives fear;

I tell him the lack of ROI is not because of the software,
But because few organizations address their problems,
Before implementing a solution that big,
They merely end up putting clean clothes on dirty kid;

He says, nothing ever changes and wonders if we will be able to keep our sanity,
How many more customers will we lose and blame on the economy;

What will we do when the customer on the phone asks, “Are you sure you have that in stock,”
Smile like always and say, “Can you hold while I check my receiving dock;”

Just then the CEO enters and asks how is it going,
The supervisor smiles and says, “Its going, as you can see its going;”

The CEO then tells of a simpler time when customers weren’t so demanding,
When inventory levels were low and all he thought about was expanding;

Well expand we have done, with a warehouse bursting at the seams,
But is the warehouse too small he asks, or do I need to speak with the Purchasing team;

The supervisor responds no I think we will be okay,
We just need to catch up on the receiving that came in the other day;

Well we definitely need to get those receivers entered so we can close out this year,
So do what you can, to make it disappear;

As he began to stroll away, down the aisle, he stepped over numerous piles of inventory,
He then turned and said, “Merry Christmas you two,” and that is the end of Warehouse Christmas story.

And I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy (Prosperous) New Year.

Rene’ Jones is founder of Total Logistics Solutions, Inc., a national logistics and supply chain consulting organization that focuses on improving your warehouse operations. Rene’ is the author of the acclaimed book, “This Place Sucks (What your warehouse employees think about your company and how to change their perceptions!)” and the book “WMS 101 (Selecting, Implementing and Maintaining a Warehouse Management System”. To learn how TLS can help your organization send an email to info@logisticsociety.com or visit the company’s website http://www.logisticsociety.com/ or give them a call (888) 807-0958.

Activant Introduces its Next Generation of Business Analytics

Activant Solutions Inc. users know the power that Activant's business analysis tool gives them to help make smarter decisions about their operations. Now Activant has introduced its next generation of business analytics -- Activant Business Analyzer -- to give distributors an even greater advantage.

The Activant Business Analyzer solution includes features and functionality that provide distributors with greater insight into their businesses. For starters, it's faster -- queries return results quicker and databases are more compact and take less time to build. It's also easier to customize: distributors can produce charts and tables for specific users and roles, and users can also produce their own custom reports.

"I am particularly pleased with the ability to customize a number of different queries into a very flexible layout of multiple reports that reflect valuable information across different departments in our company," said Rodger Hurt, president of Southern Marketing Affiliates, headquartered in Jonesboro, AR. "In previous generations of executive information systems from Activant, you were limited to a single report on the screen. With the Activant Business Analyzer product, you can have multiple tabs that can be built and modified to show information based on how you want to see it. The graphs and charting functionality is much improved."

In addition to allowing the viewing of multiple reports at the same time, the Activant Business Analyzer solution also lets users set up flags that warn them when performance indicators are weak or headed south. And it's far easier to get important information into the hands of those who need it with this new package.

"You can email reports directly from the application," said Hurt. "You can launch an Excel file with ease that retains nice formatting. Reports can also be set to run on a variety of different scheduling options and then distributed automatically to the people in your company that need the data.

"The ability to create multiple scheduled distributions of varying reports is going to be great as we develop our business further."

The Activant Business Analyzer solution comes packed with other useful features, such as:

* Ability to view data based on calendar or fiscal year
* Security protection to keep users out of unauthorized areas
* Drag-and-drop design tool that creates queries faster
* And many more

To find out more, visit distribution.activant.com, email distribution@activant.com, or call 1-800-776-7438, press 1.

About Activant Solutions Inc.

Activant Solutions Inc. ("Activant") is a leading technology provider of business management solutions serving retail and wholesale distribution businesses in three primary vertical markets: hardlines and lumber; wholesale distribution; and the automotive parts aftermarket. Founded in 1972, Activant provides customers with tailored proprietary software, professional services, content, supply chain connectivity, and analytics. More than 30,000 customer locations use an Activant solution to manage their day-to-day operations. Activant has operations throughout the United States and Canada , Ireland and the United Kingdom .

For more information, please visit distribution.activant.com.

Activant Prophet 21 Offers Functionality for Petroleum Distributors

Activant®, the leading software and services provider for wholesale distributors, announces the addition of functionality to Prophet 21® specific to petroleum distributors.

"Petroleum distributors have unique needs due to the variable nature of supply and demand for our products," said Bob Crouch, CFO of PetroLiance, LLC. "Activant’s product development teams have spent the time to understand our requirements and build them into Prophet 21’s functionality, and they are committed to continuous improvement of these features for the long run."

Special Functionality for Petroleum Distributors

Activant Prophet 21 contains the key functionality important to the success of petroleum distributors, including:

* Integration with suppliers – including ExxonMobil, Shell Oil, and Valvoline
* Integration with routing systems- including Geocom, Centeron Dispatch Compass Integration/E-tank
* Support for delivery scheduler routines
* Extensive reporting, including gallons display and loan processing
* Hazmat Tracking
* PetroVend Cardlock integration
* Integration to Axxis
* Support for drum deposits
* And much more

To find out more, visit distribution.activant.com, email distribution@activant.com, or call 1-800-776-7438, press 1.

About Activant Solutions Inc.

Activant Solutions Inc. ("Activant") is a leading technology provider of business management solutions serving retail and wholesale distribution businesses in three primary vertical markets: hardlines and lumber; wholesale distribution; and the automotive parts aftermarket. Founded in 1972, Activant provides customers with tailored proprietary software, professional services, content, supply chain connectivity, and analytics. More than 30,000 customer locations use an Activant solution to manage their day-to-day operations. Activant has operations throughout the United States and Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

For more information, please visit distribution.activant.com.

What is the Global Food Safety Initiative and how does it affect food producers like me and retailers like Wal-mart?

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) is a collaborative effort by manufacturers and retailers to provide a uniform food safety management system that streamlines the certification process for complying with regulatory requirements while reducing the cost of doing so.

The effort to create a global system of compliance has been underway in Europe for several years. In the US, Wal-mart announced in February, 2008 that all food suppliers will have to have their factories certified against one of the GFSI standards.

With Wal-marts’ high-visibility adoption, it is expected that this standard in the US will be required by other food retailers. This is likely to accelerate the effort of retailers, distributors and suppliers to harmonize food safety standards.

Under the current standards environment there are many certification bodies and thus, many different audit checklists that a supplier must comply with. This is expensive and time-consuming for suppliers to comply with. The GFSI provides for a uniform group of standards that all certifying bodies comply with and thus only a single audit will be needed to achieve the certification.

The Safe Quality Food Institute administers the program in the US and is responsible for managing the many components of this process. They publish the codes, train and license the SQF consultants and auditors, maintain the centralized database of certification and compliance records and provide on-going training.

This initiative has many components to it and companies that participate in the Food Supply Chain need to understand the process so that they can comply with process and reduce their compliance costs. Gary Smith, Technical Director of the SQF Institute will be conducting a free webinar to introduce the GFSI and answer questions on December 3, 2008. To learn more go to http://www.software4distributors.com/sage/registration.html.

Activant B2B Seller Version 5.5 is Now Available

Activant Solutions Inc. announces the availability of Activant B2B Seller version 5.5, an integrated Web-based storefront solution.

"The new version of B2B Seller is remarkably stable and reliable," said Shelby Scanlan, IT manager for Cascade Orthopedic Supply, an early adopter of B2B Seller 5.5. "The feedback we have received from customers is extremely positive."

Activant analyzed users’ specific needs and market trends to determine which features to include in B2B Seller 5.5. The result: a product release designed to help distributors further increase sales, improve customer service and reduce operating costs.

B2B Seller offers distributors the tools they need to service customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. B2B Seller allows them to extend their geographic reach and increase market share, without hiring dozens of additional employees or building new warehouses.

New Features Include

* Search Engine Optimization (SEO) -- Customize meta-tags and titles of specific HTML pages to allow the user's desired site page to have a better chance of being returned in Internet searches triggered through Google and other search engines. Available in B2B Advanced and above.

* Admin users may make changes to the site -- When any setting changes are made, the Web site will be immediately updated with the changes. The areas that can now be configured by the user are: e-mail recipients; feature enablement for certain features; screen configuration for category search results, contact us, item detail, item search; and my account report configuration. Available in B2B Advanced and above.

Special Functionality for Activant Prophet 21 Users

Prophet 21, the leading enterprise software solution for distributors, combines the familiarity of Windows with the power of SQL Server to help distributors increase sales, improve customer service, and reduce operating costs. B2B Seller fully integrates with Prophet 21 and acts as an additional customer support representative 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

* Shopping Carts and Shopping Lists -- Automatically recognize Item ID/Item Code changes in the backend system to allow existing data to continue to work without updating when Item ID/Item Code changes are implemented. Also available to Activant Acclaim users; B2B Advanced and above.

* Select contracts at the line-item level -- Shoppers can choose from a list of contracts associated with a given item; the selected contract will then be used to calculate pricing for that item. Available in B2B Advanced and above.

* Open Quotations can be viewed in the My Account Open Quote section -- View and print quotations stored in their system. This feature adds the capability to select those quotes to be converted to orders. When selected, the shopper will go through the typical checkout process and the quote converted to an order in Prophet 21. Available in B2B Premier and above.

* Distributors with multiple Prophet 21 Companies can now share a single B2B Seller site -- B2B Seller will set the proper Prophet 21 Company ID based on Customer associated with the Shopper. Available in B2B Premier and above.

* Shoppers may apply Merchandise Credits to orders -- Customers can cover a part of the order by using a Merchandise Credit and cover the rest of the order by either invoice or using a credit card. Available in B2B and B2C.

About Activant Solutions Inc.

Activant Solutions Inc. ("Activant") is a leading technology provider of business management solutions serving retail and wholesale distribution businesses in three primary vertical markets: hardlines and lumber; wholesale distribution; and the automotive parts aftermarket. Founded in 1972, Activant provides customers with tailored proprietary software, professional services, content, supply chain connectivity, and analytics. More than 30,000 customer locations use an Activant solution to manage their day-to-day operations. Activant has operations throughout the United States and Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

For more information, please visit distribution.activant.com.

ISSA's Guide

We encourage you to take a look at the link below, to view our Endorsing Association's annual distribution software guide.

This guide helps to paint a better picture of the computer systems used in the industry. One of the surprising things found, is that there are still a lot of distributors running their businesses with off-the-shelf programs like QuickBooks and Peachtree. There are a variety of reasons for this.

Most sophisticated enterprise-resource-planning (ERP) systems are still too expensive for many distributors. Profit margins are tight (as always), and new computer systems just keep costing more. In some ways, that seems counterintuitive: You would think that software companies could lower their prices once they’ve recouped the cost of their initial investment. But in reality, software companies need to continually invest in research and development to stay competitive and expand their customer base.

Another important reason a goodly number of distributors still run their businesses with off-the-shelf programs is that these products are becoming quite sophisticated. What started out as a simple accounting program on personal computers has grown into a robust business solution with a full suite of products. These systems now handle functions like payroll, point of sale, EDI, and warehouse management, just to name a few. About the only thing that hasn’t changed is that they still run on personal computers (although QuickBooks recently introduced a version called QuickBooks On-Line that you can use with nothing more than a Web browser).

And, of course, the users are becoming more sophisticated, also. Ten years ago, people were looking for turnkey solutions. They wanted the software company to install the system, do the training, and provide comprehensive ongoing support. Today’s user is often unafraid to install his or her own software or handle his or her own system configuration.

But what about the big ERP systems? As usual, the large software companies are still swallowing the smaller ones. Rarely do these acquisitions result in a better product or better services for the customer.

If you are looking to upgrade your computer systems this year, should you look at the bigger ERP systems? Absolutely—see the guide by clicking on the link below, listing only those systems that have some real experience serving the cleaning industry.

As for the off-the-shelf software like QuickBooks and Peachtree, they can be a great alternative—although they still aren’t powerful enough for a sophisticated warehouse with bar code scanning and lot control. They also require a tremendous time investment to properly configure them to your unique business processes, especially in a multibranch environment.

Download the Sixth Annual ISSA Today Software Guide

For Immediate Release: From the Editor and Publisher of Progressive Distributor Magazine by Rich Vurva

To learn more about researching, evaluating, analyzing and comparing software request the 2008 Progressive Distributor Supplement Guide released this month.
To order a complimentary copy visit http://www.software4distributors.com/pdsupplementguide/default.aspx

A sagging economy has forced distributors to search for ways to streamline their businesses. One way distributors can become more efficient, lower their cost of doing business, and potentially increase sales is to utilize technology.

For example, in our recent annual reader survey, distributors anticipate that while outside and inside sales efforts will remain their primary sales solicitation methods, they expect Internet sales to grow in popularity in the next 12 months. Doing business online not only provides a quick and easy way for customers to place orders, it’s also more cost-effective for distributors because it reduces costly in-person sales calls.

Technology can help distributors streamline their operations in other ways as well, such as providing greater customer access to inventory, speeding the order entry and invoicing processes, utilizing EDI, CRM and WMS systems, and much more.

In order to gain the greatest benefit from the latest technologies, distributors must have reliable software vendors to help them determine the best solutions for their business.

That is why Progressive Distributor magazine is especially pleased for the opportunity to partner with the Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group to publish this supplement to the Distribution Software Guide. For nearly 20 years, the Distribution Software Guide has earned a reputation as a reliable resource for detailed information that helps distributors make informed choices when it comes time to upgrade their distribution software packages. Our hope is that this valuable supplement will enable your business be better equipped to succeed in a challenging economic environment.

About The Author
Rich Vurva is the Editor and Publisher of Progressive Distributor Magazine, which reaches 37,000 executives and salespeople at industrial and contractor supply distribution companies.

About The Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group
The Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group has been serving the distribution community for more than 20 years through the publication of the Distribution Software Guide, speaking at industry programs, giving free telephone advice to distributors and providing fee-based consulting services to companies who need help selecting the best software packages for their business. For more information visit http://www.software4distibutors.com/.

EDITORS NOTE: Permission to reprint is hereby given to all print, broadcast and electronic media. Permission is also granted for reasonable editing, including article title change and customizing for your audience/industry. Please send a copy of the published information to: Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group, Sara Nelson, 10151 Corporate Square, Suite 100, St. Louis, MO 63132

For More Information Contact:

Sara Nelson
314.983.1393
snelson@bswllc.com