CHALLENGE
URM is a wholesale distributor out of Spokane, WA that supplies over 30,000 products to grocery and convenience stores throughout the Northwestern United States. Over fifteen years ago, URM rolled out a handheld bar code terminal (Symbol PDT1700) to over 450 of their customers. That system has served them well, but it can no longer manage the amount of data that needs to flow between headquarters and the stores. Moreover, the PDT1700 has not been manufactured for several years and finding replacement scanners and having scanners repaired has become increasingly difficult.
SOLUTION
URM discovered AbeTech through an AbeTech software business partner that provides mobile software solutions to a number of vertical markets, and specializes in customer ordering solutions for grocery and convenience wholesale distributors. AbeTech introduced URM to the Denso BHT-1100 and BHT-1200 WinCE handhelds because of Denso's long history of providing top quality hardware, and because the product fit. Offering the right tool, the first time at a pricepoint that made sense was key to success.
Over the course of approximately twelve months, the software was honed and crafted to meet the specific needs of URM and to match and exceed the functionality found in the older PDT1700 application. URM had a number of requirements, such as the fact the scanners needed to be able to communicate to the URM server via Ethernet, WiFi and Modem. Further, they required a second solution for their convenience store members would utilize a smaller, less expensive device which also could communicate via Modem. For that device AbeTech suggested the CipherLab CPT8200, as it is a trusted device AbeTech has deployed to a number of other wholesalers that provide ordering systems to their convenience store customers.
RESULT
URM has deployed nearly 200 of the Denso BHT-1200 terminals with 2D bar code scanners. They have found the hardware and software combination offers a user experience their customers are extremely pleased with and solves a number of the challenges they faced with the older solution. URM will be deploying another 150 Denso terminals throughout the rest of 2014 and approximately 175 CipherLab CPT-8200s starting in Q4 2014. This is a highly reproducible solution AbeTech is excited to promote throughout the grocery and convenience wholesale distribution segment.
