Pennsylvania-based Davis Cookie Co, baker and distributor of Archway Cookies brand products, has equipped drivers on more than 50 routes with mobile computers and printers from Intermec Technologies Corp. The new system, which replaces a manual, paper-based process, has allowed the company to more than triple the number of SKUs (stock keeping units) handled by its existing sales force.

"This new mobile computing system let our field sales reps boost their offerings from 50 to 180 SKUs without additional labor," said Dana Davis, president, Davis Cookie. "The system also improved our distributor's productivity and gave our sales department much more flexibility. We now can actually custom tailor our sales for each customer instead of the one-size-fits-all system we had before."

According to Davis, the new system also improves sales efficiency by allowing the bakery to send messages about special promotions, pricing or related events to its independent distributors as often as needed.

The 50-year-old baking company selected Intermec's Model 600 handheld computers for this first-ever sales automation project. Davis field distributors use Intermec devices to enter order and sales information and to call up pricing and promotion information. At the end of the day, Davis distributors set their handhelds in docking stations. The handhelds automatically connect to the bakery's server via modem and synchronize the day's orders.

Intermec partner IntegraSys integrated the handhelds with its DSD Manager™ software and Intermec's 6820 printers to complete the system. DSD Manager software handles all aspects of distribution, including sales, operations, and finance. The printers are kept in the delivery vehicles and are used to print customer receipts.

"Together we drove down costs, streamlined the order process and improved overall operating efficiencies," said IntegraSys managing director Peter D'Angelo. "One of the system's primary benefits is its ease of use. All it required was one day of training on the system at Davis headquarters, including train-the-trainer sessions for district managers who then worked with the distributors."

For a product profile of the Model 600 in .pdf format, click here; for the 6820 printer, click here.

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