Software improves transportation and warehouse logistics.
Share:
Press Release Summary:
Transportation and Warehousing apps4biz® utilizes application service provider (ASP) approach, which allows companies that ship and store freight to access real-time information about status of their goods via Internet browser. Users can see their deposition at any point in time and determine if they are being received, warehoused, or shipped to 3rd parties.
Original Press Release:
apps4biz Announces Transportation and Warehousing Version of Its Internet-centric Business Applications for Small Companies
McCall Trucking Implements ASP-Version of System to Improve Logistics Capabilities; Enables Customers to Track Shipments Online
ANDOVER, MA. - July 25, 2002 - apps4biz®, a global provider of
Internet-centric business applications for small companies, today
announced Transportation and Warehousing apps4biz, a tailored version of its apps4biz family of business software applications specifically designed for companies that store and transport goods for third parties.
Transportation and Warehousing apps4biz, which is available
immediately, was developed by apps4biz in conjunction with McCall
Trucking, a transportation and warehousing firm that assisted in
defining the product solution.
apps4biz business solutions are comprehensive, integrated, easy-to-use and quick-to-deploy software applications. They include General apps4biz, Manufacturing apps4biz, and the apps4biz Vertical Portfolios (consisting of the General and/or Manufacturing suites tailored to various industries). The suites encompass functionality in the areas of sales order management, inventory management, purchasing management, supply chain management, manufacturing and e-business.
apps4biz's products may be deployed over an internal intranet or via an application subscription approach, offering customers reduced risks and no up-front capital investments. The application subscription approach allows customers to rent the applications and access them through a browser from their own intranet or from apps4biz hosting providers via the Internet. Built-in workflow capabilities support each individual customer's unique way of doing business while management reporting and decision support capabilities add business intelligence to raw data.
One of the benefits of the application service provider (ASP) approach is that companies shipping and storing freight can access real-time information about the status of their goods via the Internet through their browser to determine their disposition at any point in time. They can determine if they are being received, warehoused or shipped to third parties. If the freight is being shipped, they can determine when third parties can expect the shipment to arrive.
"apps4biz is an extremely versatile solution," said Peter Lopes, vice president of sales and marketing for apps4biz. "Through our work with McCall Trucking, we came to understand that its functionality and Internet-centric approach was ideal for industries outside of our core manufacturing business, including those in the transportation and warehousing business."
"When companies contract with us to store and transport their goods to third-parties or job sites, one of their biggest concerns is how easily they can track the status of their goods," said Mark Duffy, co-owner of McCall Trucking. "apps4biz has solved this with its innovative ASP approach, which enables our customers to gain real-time knowledge of the status of their shipments without consuming a good deal of our resources. This enables a small firm like McCall Trucking to compete against larger firms with enormous information technology budgets, and
brings to our customers a level of customer service not previously possible. Moreover, because no information technology infrastructure was required, and learning to use the product was easy, we were able to begin using apps4biz within one week of our purchase."
apps4biz offers customers a number of competitive advantages:
- Ease of Use - apps4biz offers customers simplicity through its unique four-screen user interface without menus, unlike the hundreds of screens and multeilevel menus that other solutions provide. This means that users can be trained to utilize the business solution in a matter of hours versus days or weeks for competitive products. In addition, the application suite can be deployed in days as opposed to other solutions, which often take weeks or months. This is a significant advantage for customers who may be occasional users at best, a large investment in training is not required.
- Ease of tailoring - apps4biz incorporates technology (patent pending) that facilitates the tailoring of the applications to specific vertical industries and customer needs by its partners and end-users. Other systems require custom programming changes to affect the same results. It is through this tailoring capability that apps4biz has been able to create the new transportation and warehousing vertical solution without any programming.
- Industry-specific solutions - Applications have been tailored for plastics processors, printing companies and now transportation and warehousing companies, ensuring that these companies have a solution designed specifically for their needs. This eliminates the requirement for product customization, lengthy training cycles and drawn-out implementations.
- Application subscription option - apps4biz products can be deployed externally via ASPs or internally on a company's own intranet. apps4biz's application subscription approach enables customers to "rent" the software, thereby reducing their business risks as well as eliminating up-front capital requirements and the need for additional information technology infrastructure. This approach also enables small businesses to easily conduct business globally with Web-savvy customers
and suppliers.
To obtain the name of the nearest apps4biz channel partner, interested parties should call Barbara Langathianos at 877-427-7742, ext. 105. Organizations can obtain information about becoming an apps4biz reseller by calling Peter Lopes at 978-749-3092, xl0l, or by applying through the apps4biz Web site. apps4biz Transportation and Warehousing is available on a subscription basis beginning as low as $125 per user per month.
About apps4biz (www.apps4biz.com)
Founded in 1999, apps4biz delivers industry-specific business
applications designed exclusively for smaller companies (less than $50M in revenue). Its tailorable, application subscription approach enables manufacturing and service organizations to advance their established business-to-business processes profitably, without the risks, up-frontcapital, and information technology infrastructure long associated with pre-Internet designed software.
Based in Andover, Mass., it offers both internally and externally
hosted manufacturing, order processing, inventory management, supply chain management, and e-commerce solutions. apps4biz's innovative and patent-pending user-interface and workflow technology deliver leapfrog improvements in ease of use and speed of deployment. In addition to its U.S. operations, the company has a business office in Switzerland.
All companies and products listed herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
