For Immediate Release
Allison Wholesale Selects POW from Ai2
Handheld Order Entry Solution Replaces Legacy System For Alabama C-Store Distributor
CHICAGO - December 30, 2011 - Software development firm Ai2 announced today that Allison Wholesale, Inc., of Paint Rock, Alabama, will deploy Pocket OrderWriter, a handheld solution for sales force automation. Pocket OrderWriter (POW) is Ai2's handheld solution running in the Windows Mobile environment and communicating wirelessly with a distributor's host.
Allison was using older legacy Telxon devices and decided they needed a more robust solution. "We're pleased to bring them a new level of functionality that's going to speed up the order entry process," said Douglas Katich, CEO for Ai2. Allison will also take mobile bar code printing into the field, giving their field sales force of twelve reps the ability to print shelf labels on the go. This means a rep can replace a label instantly instead of printing it at headquarters and receiving it days later.
The convenience store industry continues to move toward more advanced technology as the units from the 1980s and 1990s finally give out. "Those old clunkers lasted a long time, I'll give them that," remarked Katich. "But today's marketplace demands a wealth of information at a sales rep's fingertips. If you can't get the customer the information and the service they demand, they'll go somewhere else."
POW, is an application for mobile sales professionals that allows them to handle orders, returns, bar code scanning, accounting information, planning, customer specific pricing and other mission critical functions. POW runs on Windows Mobile 5.0 and above, as well as CE.NET.
Allison Wholesale was incorporated in 1996 and has a convenience distribution division as well as a cigar shop in Paint Rock, Alabama.
Ai2 was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in downtown Chicago. Their applications are used by over 40,000 users each day to capture over 75 billion dollars in sales each year. Ai2 improves the order entry process for some of the nation’s largest distributors in foodservice, convenience store, grocery, beverage, hardware, medical, beauty and industrial supply. For more information about Ai2, visit www.ai2.com.
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