JJ Taylor Case Study

Route accounting operations track goods as they are delivered to the marketplace. Being able to provide a customer with a single representative that assists them in all aspects of the buying process from the initial purchase order to settling an invoice gives your customer the service & support they look for in your company. Providing the highest level of customer service while increasing the number of sites a driver can visit each day is what an effective route accounting solution will give you.

The Background

J.J. Taylor Distributing Company is one of the top five distributorships in the United States. The company currently operates in two states, employs 700 people and serves 10,800 retail accounts. In 2004 total revenue was $329 million and represented sales of 23.3 million cases of beer.

J.J. Taylor’s legacy route accounting package utilized Symbol SPT 1700 & SPT 1800 Palm devices running VIP software. The Palm application severely limited the amount of customer service the drivers could provide while the Symbol hardware, though effective, limited the transmission of data between their sales staff and the main office.

J.J. Taylor was most concerned with:

• upgrading their software from Palm to Windows
• increasing the communication between the sales reps and the main office
• providing more customer service at the point of delivery

How Barcoding Inc. helped J.J. Taylor

After analyzing J.J. Taylor’s needs, Barcoding Inc. suggested using the MC9063 from Symbol Technologies. The MC9063’s impact-tolerant design and IP64 rated protection ensure reliable operation in the field for J.J. Taylor’s workers. The Windows Mobile Pocket PC-based MC9063 was coupled with SQL-based EoStar software from Rutherford Systems. Workers also carry around a Zebra RW420 that uses Blue-Tooth technology to connect to the MC9063. At each delivery they obtain the customer’s signature on the MC9063 and then print it on the delivery receipt.

The Results

J.J. Taylor moved from a Palm-based solution with limited tracking capabilities to a state of the art Windows Pocket PC-based application that integrates all parts of the supply chain. Warehouse workers use QL 420’s to place labels on incoming pallets to track their inventory throughout the warehouse. Routes are automatically mapped out for drivers and can be updated throughout the day using the MC9063’s Wireless Wide-Area-Network connection. This connection also allows information to be instantly sent from the field sales reps to the main office. This application has been successfully installed in Minnesota and will roll-out in their Florida location in late October.

This solution combines J.J. Taylor’s route accounting, pre-sale, & warehouse module into one large application that runs in real-time. Managers can see where all of their products are, run reports detailing time between deliveries. Drivers of J.J. Taylor’s 200+ routes can better service customers by having access to critical information, even print invoices & accept payment in the field.

To learn more about route accounting applications, please contact Barcoding Inc.

For Further Information

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