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More Small and Mid-Size Distributors Turning to RF Scanning to Improve Operations

Activant reports that the investment in RF technology is becoming increasingly common not only among users of its newest business management platforms, but also among longtime users of the Activant Prism computer system. With more than 1,000 installations, the Activant Prism system is commonly used in one- and two-store and larger automotive and heavy-duty parts businesses.

Driving this trend are the continued proliferation of vehicle part numbers, time constraints facing distributor and jobber owners/managers and the documented monetary savings associated with the use of RF technology. “Having an RF gun in our receiving area is much faster and much more accurate,” said Clive Treharne, owner of Deb’s Auto Parts Warehouse, Hackettstown, N.J. “Our payback was in six to eight months. It’s another area of our business that has been transformed with technology.”

At Auto Parts Center in West Long Branch, N.J., co-owner Sam Howarth and his team in times past were forced to close down their operation for exhaustive annual physical inventory counts. Harris Steinberg, owner of Morris Auto Parts in Philadelphia, found it difficult to devote ample time to grow his business due to “onerous” manual receiving and inventory management processes. Both of these owners overcame this concern by implementing RF scanning into inventory operations after integrating Activant’s RF scanning solution into their existing Activant Prism platforms.

Auto Parts Center now uses RF guns to cycle-count its inventory throughout the year rather than close its doors for a time- and labor-intensive annual count. The technology also has transformed the store’s receiving operations, where the daily four-hour job of checking in pallets of products now takes a half-hour and virtually eliminates data-entry errors, according to Howarth. He also has extended the use of RF technology to his point-of-sale system. “It’s much faster, more accurate and we can serve more customers in less time,” he said. “We would never go back to the old way.”

Steinberg reported that RF scanning saves several hours each day within the company’s warehouse and store. “More importantly, (RF) increases the accuracy of our counts,” he said. “Now we can use that time and our Activant Prism system to focus on growing the business.”

“RF scanning, document imaging and other add-on technologies can help smaller businesses level the playing field with larger competitors in terms of managing daily operations,” said Tom Aliotti, vice president and general manager of the Activant automotive business. “The owners of small and mid-size parts businesses can leverage these affordable solutions to save time and money and provide the flexibility to focus their talents and energy on more important things.”

For additional information regarding RF scanning technology and other business management solutions, contact your Activant representative, call 800-380-9015, or send an e-mail to automotive.marketing@activant.com.