McLane, a leading supply chain services company, announced two new technologies for their retail customers.
The first is the Smart Handheld for Independents (SHHi), which allows users to track order history, create orders and track upcoming distributions from a single device. The SHHi is tailored for independent grocery and convenience store retailers and provides small chains with the same capabilities to manage their physical inventories and order placements that large chain operations already enjoy.
“Independent retailers have unique challenges. They typically have fewer resources and could benefit greatly by automating everyday tasks. But in general, they don’t have the ability to tap industry-leading technology because of cost barriers,” said Chris Skelly, vice president of sales for McLane’s Western division. “With SHHi, store managers will soon be able to retire their Telxon ordering devices and experience technology that can greatly impact their business with little or no training, and minimal cost.”
McLane also has introduced the Premium Order Management Suite (POMS), which helps retail grocery chains and convenience store operators to simplify tasks, including order procurement, item and category management, inventory turns, manufacturer compliance and more. The enhanced automated inventory management capabilities offer more intuitive Internet-based reports for faster inventory decisions.
“This POMS upgrade takes inventory management automation to the next level, helping our customers to save literally millions of dollars by helping them increase operational efficiencies and mitigate risk,” said Brad Kimbrough, McLane’s vice president of information systems. “By integrating seamlessly with current procurement, logistics and merchandising services, POMS eliminates the need to wait months for implementation or spend precious dollars hiring consultants.”
The POMS offering is a key component of McLane’s Technology Services, and is made up of four applications: Customer Managed Inventory, Default Order, Inventory Order Management and Automated Supplier Incentive Manager. They are accessible via the McLane Web Portal on a 24/7 basis.
Both the new SHHi system and the POMS were demonstrated during McLane’s National Trade Show this week in San Antonio. SHHi will be available for customers by early September 2009 after beta testing with a pre-set customer group is completed.
