Posted by Denis Clark on Thu, Sep 02, 2010 @ 11:03 AM
Merrimack Valley Distributing Deploys SignTrak from OnTrak Software
Cincinnati, Ohio – September 2, 2010 – OnTrak Software, the only provider of Web-based software to help alcohol beverage distributors manage, control and measure their 'at-retail’ marketing materials, today announced that Merrimack Valley Distributing Company has selected SignTrak, a Web-based and mobile solution that increases sales through the ordering, tracking and management of printed point-of-sale (POS) signs.
Based in Danvers, Massachusetts, Merrimack Valley Distributing deployed SignTrak, significantly reducing costs and improving efficiency for its entire sign ordering, sign management and sign shop operations. What once used to be started by sketching a design while visiting with a retail customer is now a fully tracked, efficient process that brings numerous business benefits for Merrimack Valley Distributing, including:
- Improved sign shop management
- Control and visibility into the entire POS signage process
- Elimination of errors and reworks
- Reduced time-to-market ahead of competition
“It’s not difficult to immediately see the benefits of using SignTrak,” said Jack Tatelman, Managing Partner of Merrimack Valley Distributing Company. “We’ve clearly improved the impact of our at-retail marketing. SignTrak isn’t just technology. It’s a tool that makes us run our business more efficiently, and consequently, increases sales for our retail customers.”
“OnTrak Software continually sees customers such as Merrimack Valley Distributing Company recognize nearly immediate benefits after deploying SignTrak,” said Mark Fullerton, President and CEO of OnTrak Software. “SignTrak offers a revolutionary approach to POS signage management that serves as a true differentiator within the industry. A distributor’s retail clients see the difference – it’s reflected in their sales.”
About OnTrak Software
OnTrak Software is a technology company that develops software solutions for the alcohol beverage industry. OnTrak’s solutions help beer, wine and spirits distributors improve their sales through the management, control and measurement of Marketing at-Retail materials, including custom, temporary and permanent signs, beverage menus and beverage samples. With dramatically more efficient at-retail brand management, OnTrak customers grow their businesses, prosper in today’s competitive environment, and dominate their segment of the market. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, OnTrak Software is privately held. Visit www.ontraksoftware.com.
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©2010 OnTrak Software. All rights reserved.
Press Contact:
Matthew Zintel
Zintel Public Relations, LLC
matthew.zintel@zintelpr.com
317.848.8804
Posted by Denis Clark on Wed, Jul 21, 2010 @ 01:15 PM
SignTrak Changes Name to OnTrak Software
Cincinnati, Ohio. – July 21, 2010 – SignTrak today announced it has changed its name to OnTrak Software. A leading innovator, OnTrak is the only provider of Web-based software to help alcohol beverage distributors order, track and manage their 'at-retail’ marketing materials, including printed and permanent signs, menus and samples.
To better distinguish between the company and the markets it serves, the name change to OnTrak Software conveys the full breadth of its solutions, which now include:
- SignTrak® - Used by alcohol beverage distributors to order, track and manage the entire custom point-of-sale (POS) signage process, from order entry, to production, through business reporting and analysis, and on to supplier bill-back recovery.
- PermaTrak® - Keeps track of permanent POS signage including: neon, plastic and metal signs, coolers, tap handles, etc. Records inventory status from receipt, through the phases of assignment, installation, maintenance, and removal.
- MenuTrak™ - Manages the entire beverage menu provision process. MenuTrak provides: an automated method to order menus; a standardized method to configure, approve and produce custom menus; and the ability to track and control menu costs, and recover supplier bill-backs.
- SampleTrak™ - Manages and controls the entire beverage sample process beyond inventory management. SampleTrak keeps track of what was sampled; where and by whom; and more importantly, the response to the tasting, and how that correlates to sales results.
“As a fast-growing company, it is important to fully demonstrate the wide variety of innovative solutions that we market to beer, wine and spirits distributors,” said Mark Fullerton, President and CEO of OnTrak Software. “Our new name provides continuity to our SignTrak heritage, and an opportunity to greatly expand our brand recognition.”
About OnTrak Software
OnTrak Software is a technology company that develops software solutions for the alcohol beverage industry. OnTrak’s solutions help beer, wine and spirits distributors improve their sales through the management, measurement and control of Marketing At-Retail materials, including printed and permanent signs, menus and samples. With dramatically more efficient at-retail brand management, OnTrak customers grow their businesses, prosper in today’s competitive environment, and dominate their segment of the market. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, OnTrak Software is privately held. Visit www.ontraksoftware.com.
©2010 OnTrak Software. All rights reserved.
Posted by Denis Clark on Tue, Sep 01, 2009 @ 01:40 PM
OnTrak Software Announces MenuTrak™ for Custom Beverage Menus
MenuTrak™ is the latest of a suite of innovative marketing at-retail solutions developed for wholesale beer, wine and spirits distributors
There is an old adage in the wine and spirits industry that “volume is built off-premise, and brands are built on-premise”. Wine menus are proven to build brand awareness. And while the value and impact of creating custom beverage menus is unquestioned, the menu creation process can be costly when there is no standardized method of gaining end-to-end control.
MenuTrak provides an easy way for sales representatives to submit custom beverage menu orders to a sign shop using a web-based system that prevents errors and reworks and speeds time to market. Menu orders, proofs, approvals and all communication can be viewed online.
With MenuTrak, every line item of a beverage menu order is recorded and used to track brand promotions and, in markets where it is allowable, isolate the relevant information needed to qualify for billback amounts and create reports that facilitate recovery payment authorizations.
“With MenuTrak, distributors with shops that print beverage menus can automate the entire process from order creation to fulfillment using a standardized system”, said Mark Fullerton, founder and CEO of SignTrak, LLC. “The information that goes into every order is recorded — from type of menu and winery to case equivalent and recovery dollars. With a few clicks, the information is sorted and assembled into custom reports that enable managers to make better decisions and to generate reports for cost recovery.”
According to Terri Kurlan, Director of Spend Management for Glazer’s Family of Companies in Dallas, Texas, “Our old manual process of creating custom menus was labor and time intensive. We have many sign shops producing wine menus, and they did not have a standardized process. Now, with MenuTrak™ we have standardized our menu ordering without losing the customized look our restaurant customers want. And we’ve significantly reduced production errors. It’s easy to track our brand message, and supplier billback reports are produced in a fraction of the time it used to take.”
MenuTrak is a standalone system that is complementary, but not dependent on SignTrak® or PermaTrak®, the leading advanced solutions used to order, track and manage custom and permanent POS.
About OnTrak Software
OnTrak Software, is a technology company that develops software solutions for the alcohol beverage industry. OnTrak’s solutions help beer, wine and spirits distributors improve their sales through the management and control of Marketing At-Retail materials, including printed and permanent signs, menus and samples. With dramatically more efficient at-retail brand management, OnTrak customers grow their businesses, prosper in today’s competitive environment, and dominate their segment of the market. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, OnTrak Software is privately held. Visit www.ontraksoftware.com.
©OnTrak, LLC. All rights reserved.
Posted by Denis Clark on Tue, Sep 01, 2009 @ 01:22 PM
OnTrak Software Announces SampleTrak for Beverage Samples
When choosing wholesale alcohol beveage distributors to work with, customers look for wine choices, order quantity, reliability and quality of service. Providing beverage samples is often expected, but the ability to control beverage sample inventories can be uncertain.
SampleTrak™ is a paperless solution designed to securely manage and control sample inventories and provide an audit trail for distribution and receipts. The system is powerful enough to handle any size inventory as well as multiple brands and locations.
With SampleTrak, wine and spirits distributors can protect their marketing investment, reduce write-offs and prevent inventory loss. Real-time inventory and asset control means you always know who distributed the samples and who received them. Sample costs are automatically calculated and reports are easily generated for supplier billbacks.
By lowering the overall cost of providing samples, SampleTrak helps distributors make the most of their marketing dollars for wine and spirits samples.
About OnTrak Software
OnTrak Software, is a technology company that develops software solutions for the alcohol beverage industry. OnTrak’s solutions help beer, wine and spirits distributors improve their sales through the management and control of Marketing At-Retail materials, including printed and permanent signs, menus and samples. With dramatically more efficient at-retail brand management, OnTrak customers grow their businesses, prosper in today’s competitive environment, and dominate their segment of the market. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, OnTrak, is privately held. Visit www.ontraksoftware.com.
©SignTrak, LLC dba OnTrak Software All rights reserved.
Posted by Denis Clark on Fri, Jul 31, 2009 @ 01:49 PM
Indigo Olive calls on SignTrak to deliver an integrated POS management and sales force automation system for wholesale beer, wine and spirits distributors.
Indigo Olive wanted to deliver additional functionality to order, track and manage both custom and permanent POS signage to their already extensive list of wireless, real-time mobile applications and create a unique solution for managing both beverage sales and the related POS process. To accomplish this, SignTrak, LLC and Indigo Olive have partnered to integrate the SignTrak point-of-sale (POS) business intelligence solution with Indigo Olive’s sales force automation systems.
The integrated Indigo Olive and SignTrak system provides immediate ROI for wholesale beer, wine and spirits distributors of all sizes. This new solution also seamlessly integrates with a distributor’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, supporting virtually any software platform.
“SignTrak adds a new component to our highly successful Sales Briefcase CRM product, giving our customers added value in an already powerful wireless, real-time client relationship management tool,” said James Gambaiani, CEO for Indigo Olive. Mark Fullerton, founder and CEO of SignTrak, LLC, said, “We are excited to partner with Indigo Olive. SignTrak will immediately add value to Indigo Olive’s customers and we will, as a result of this collaboration, increase our presence in the beer, wine and spirits marketplace.”
After an initial rollout of SignTrak’s POS solution for POS, Indigo Olive will add two more components from SignTrak’s POS solution suite: a system to track and manage wine samples and another to manage the creation of wine menus.
About Indigo Olive, Inc.
Established in 2000 as Beverage One, Indigo Olive Software, Inc. is recognized as a leading provider of wireless, real-time solutions designed specifically to automate a company’s mobile field sales force, route delivery, and route sales organizations.
For More Information Contact:
Indigo Olive Software
(630) 784-8300
Web: http://www.indigoOlive.com
Email: sales@indigoOlive.com
About SignTrak, LLC
SignTrak, LLC, is a technology company that develops software solutions for the alcohol beverage industry. SignTrak’s solutions help beer, wine and spirits distributors improve their sales through the management and control of Marketing At-Retail materials, including printed and permanent signs, menus and samples. With dramatically more efficient at-retail brand management, SignTrak customers grow their businesses, prosper in today’s competitive environment, and dominate their segment of the market. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, SignTrak, LLCis privately held. Visit www.ontraksoftware.com.
©SignTrak, LLC. All rights reserved.
Posted by Denis Clark on Fri, May 15, 2009 @ 02:01 PM
SignTrak President/CEO Mark Fullerton today announced that the company has appointed Denis Clark as its Executive Vice President.
Denis will lead the sales, marketing and business development functions of the Company. This includes managing sales operations, strategic market planning, go-to-market strategies, and business partner development for SignTrak’s Point-of-Sale (POS) software solution.
Denis Clark has extensive experience in building, leading and operating sales and marketing organizations in both early-stage businesses and industrial-strength corporations. Prior to his appointment, Denis worked as a sales and marketing consultant to SignTrak. Previously, he worked as a senior sales, marketing and business development executive in three entrepreneurial ventures with a focus on software and services— Domin-8 Enterprise Solutions, Stampede Technologies and Xdrive.com. Denis was also a senior sales and marketing executive with three software companies: Candle Corporation, Sterling Commerce and the IBM Corporation. He has a BS Degree in Business Management from the University of Dayton.
Mark Fullerton said, “We are very pleased to be able to secure a talented and capable industry leader like Denis Clark. His unique combination of skills in strategic planning, marketing and sales, business development and people and performance management will enable us to take SignTrak to the next level by building new lines of business, developing strategic alliances and accelerating our growth.”
About SignTrak, LLC
SignTrak, LLC is the leading provider of advanced business solutions to order, track and manage POS for beverage distributors. SignTrak software provides a single point of control for managing and tracking the POS process, an electronic, paperless solution which eliminates errors and reworks, and powerful business analysis tools that provide real time information to decision makers. SignTrak is located in Cincinnati. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.trackmysigns.com.
Posted by Denis Clark on Sat, Feb 28, 2009 @ 02:04 PM
After decades of single digit growth in the face of stiff competition from craft beers and imports, it seems that beer distributors are faced with another double whammy –consolidation and fractionalization. It doesn’t take a crystal ball to foresee a future where fewer distributors will sell less of more.
For generations, most beer distributors were small to mid-sized businesses characterized as either exclusive or non-exclusive purveyors for a major domestic brewery. But the two trends of consolidation and fractionalization are changing what it takes to stay in the game and remain profitable. While Star Trek may be a fictional universe, realities of a changing beer distribution landscape are real and as Locutus of Borg said, “resistance is futile.”
Consolidation
The continuing consolidation of the distributor tier of the three-tier system is well-documented. Over the last two decades, the number of beer distributors has steadily declined, and the pace continues as smaller distributors scramble to sell before values decline further. For the growing distributor this means as trucks head out to deliver payloads of domestic beer, also onboard will be imports, crafts, energy drinks, spirits or even the new wave of organic waters.
Fractionalization
The term fractionalization paraphrases the concept of the “Long Tail” to describe companies with the distribution power to sell a greater variety of products at smaller volumes than popular products at large volumes. Fractionalization is a consumer-driven trend that is splintering traditional buyer habits of choosing only a single brand. Today’s proverbial“Bud Man” is more likely to purchase a beer for its characteristics, a beer that fits the occasion, the food or the mood.
Implications
Each trend means that the dominant big beer brands may see market share steadily decrease. The success of imports and craft beers, for example, has been at the expense of A-B, Miller and Coors. As exclusive distributors chase growth opportunities, they are weighing their opportunity costs and trending toward multi-brand status or branching out into new territories and brands. Now they must sell the bread and butter brands plus new products and brands, and they also must honor POS budget commitments and reporting imposed by suppliers. As retailers demand more promotional support for their burgeoning SKUs, sales reps must persuade retailers to give over precious shelf space to their products. The result is an ever increasing escalation of SKUs and spiraling costs associated with the making and managing of both temporary and permanent POS.
Dealing with 3 - 10 times as many suppliers and brands than before, distributors will see a significant increase in the variety and frequency demand for off-premise and on-premise POS. As the Big Three move toward their own kind of consolidation and fractionalization to grab a share of the import and ethnic beer markets, staying competitive and still holding margins will get tougher. Each new brand will demand distributor time, resources and accountability. Each supplier will demand distributor participation, and demonstrated proof of that participation delivered electronically so it can be recorded in suppliers’ marketing, merchandising, and systems programs. If not delivered, distributors could find themselves defending against termination for nonsupport.
On the demand side, fractionalization requires more frequent and more effective merchandising support than ever before. Most large multi-brand distributors are racing to make retailer marketing support a priority with higher quality POS displays and merchandisers for named accounts. Those who fail to embrace supplier and customer demands will see further market value erosion, even evaporation of the family legacy.
Solution: Technology-managed POS
Will consolidation and fractionalization hurt the beer distribution industry? Not necessarily. Good things can happen when brand proliferation occurs if an industry willingly steps up to embrace the technology to manage it. A Red Bull distributor might complain about the glut of required paperwork, but love the high margins. An A-B distributor may complain about the employee time spent reconciling and reporting POS budget allocations, but supplier incentives make it worth it. So how can these distributors avoid at least part of the brand proliferation pain stemming from fractionalization and consolidation? The answer lies in utilizing technology for POS from the very point of order.
Some distributors may have the expertise to write their own POS management software; for others there are on-demand applications for both temporary and permanent POS. Regardless of the method, the practice can pay big dividends in efficiency, error reduction, and increased operational effectiveness. Data enters the system from the point of order; is used during POS production; then enables the creation of unlimited spreadsheets and reports about POS cost and effectiveness --information that without technology is elusive or impossible to acquire.
Distributors invest in POS not only because of their distributor agreements, but because effective POS simply sells more product. Using technology to manage POS can easily save as much as a half cent per case, according to John Turner of Silver Eagle Distributing, one of A-B's largest distributors in Houston, Texas, who implemented an on-demand version for temporary POS in 2006.
Like all technology that relies on the collection of data over a range of days, months or years to identify patterns and control costs, the sooner a managed POS system is implemented, the sooner an economic return will be realized. By February 2008, less than a dozen beer wholesalers said they use an on-demand solution delivered over the Web, while only a handful utilize an in-house system in place or have one under development. Why is this?
According the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA), “staying ahead of technology advancements and trends is a challenge and vital for survival in today's competitive marketplace. To remain successful in the 21st century, beer industry professionals must understand the benefits of existing technology tools and options available to them.”
Conclusion
Distributor provided POS has traditionally been a key selling tool to drive market share. Without technology to manage POS, sales objectives are more difficult to achieve, accountability to suppliers is tedious and time consuming, and being responsive to retailer demands costs substantially more. Managing POS must rise to business-critical status. POS must be tracked against cost, controlled for efficiency, and measured for effectiveness. It must be targeted to a new kind of beer consumer, increasingly attractive to ethnic groups, and be able to manage the ever-increasing proliferation of products and brands. Managed effectively, POS can impact the difference between lower margins or reliable, predictable, dependable profits that keep beer distributors of all sizes in the game.
For more information on SignTrak™ solutions for POS or to request a demonstration call your Account Executive or the product information line at 800-513-9194, extension 205.
Posted by Denis Clark on Mon, Jan 07, 2008 @ 02:12 PM
When a solution tailored to manage high value assets for beer distributors is coupled with a rapid implementation approach, it can deliver immediate business value, generating a high overall return on investment and a low total cost of ownership. PermaTrak is one such solution.
PermaTrak is subscription-based software from the makers of SignTrak used to manage cash allocated to neon and metal signs, beer coolers, taps, and all permanent and semi-permanent point of sale inventory. It ensures accountability both internally and externally, and provides real-time data access to turnover and maintenance schedules.
Distributors now have the technology to take the necessary steps to monitor competitive activities while at the same time secure and protect high asset inventories. PermaTrak is a new way to look at managed POS: a business process to make people more efficient controlling costs and managing decisions that affect the bottom line.
Interface
PermaTrak provides four main functions:
- Order- The collection portal used to gather permanent POS data
- Track- The viewing screen used to track inventory and sort and complete POS orders
- Manage- The output of POS data used for finance, budgeting and decision support
- Maintain- The data used to schedule cleanings and maintenance
Like SignTrak, PermaTrak is a web-based SaaS application that utilizes controlled access to keep customer information safe, secure, and private. It can be quickly implemented in hours to run in-house on a private network or over the Internet. It’s fully functional online or offline, so can be used from the trade or in the office. When used offline, auto-sync is 4-10 seconds, so users always have access to the most recent activities.
Permanent POS data collection begins at the point of order with input to auto-configured order forms that eliminate mistakes. Sign dimensions can be irregular, allowing for cutouts and enabling custom signs to fit properly on any surface or structure. Thumbnail images with assigned serial numbers ensure that the order input is always accurate. All orders can be viewed by pending, suspended, completed or cancelled status. Since POS can only be assigned to a single location at any time, conflicts are eliminated and asset status is always accurate.
Tracking inventory is easy. Orders can be viewed by most recent activity, customer, class, type, brand and other data criteria. As you build your inventory and asset list, each sign links to its individual inventory receipt and displays a visual thumbnail. The entire asset list can be sorted and viewed by item detail.
Competitor activity can be easily tracked from the trade using any Windows PC or input into the system on a regular basis using data from route reconnoitering. Either way, data is collected on which managers can make strategic decisions based on reliable real-time data. All data can be matched with current or historic data so strategic decisions can be made months in advance. In addition, data can be exported to Excel and used in back office systems to compare POS activity and brand campaign effectiveness to actual case volume.
PermaTrak also creates a “scrub brush” list and maintenance schedule for each asset. Regular cleaning and maintenance not only extends the useful life of inventory items such as neon or other electronic signs, but also creates employee and customer accountability when a maintenance visit created opportunity for inventory confirmation on a regular basis.
PermaTrak is a standalone application. SignTrak customers can opt to include a controlled access link to PermaTrak on the SignTrak interface, or run PermaTrak as a completely separate application. Implementation time is dependent on the accuracy of existing inventory data, but usually takes less than four hours. There are no annual maintenance fees and most users require little or no training to benefit from PermaTrak the day of installation.
For more information on PermaTrak™ or to request a demonstration call your Account Executive or the product information line at 800-513-9194, extension 205.
Posted by Denis Clark on Sun, Jul 01, 2007 @ 02:23 PM
Information Alternatives announces an important new feature that allows users to access and interact with SignTrak through a browser without requiring a network connection.
Using the offline version, POS orders placed when the sales rep is out of signal are synchronized to source data when they reconnect. Virtually all SignTrak features and functions, such as order entry and reporting, are fully functional in the offline mode. Work completed offline is synchronized when the user next connects to the network, decreasing demands on network resources and better facilitating interactivity for the distributor’s mobile workforce.
Using SignTrak offline, for example, a presales rep could bring up a POS order form and work with it, offline, while in the retail establishment or on the road. When the sales rep next connects to the Internet via a wireless card, a WiFi connection or a wired connection, the orders previously input are instantly available to the distributor’s sign shop or POS manager. Online in the sign shop, the sign maker can receive the order, complete the sign, and send an e-mail to the sales rep with the date of completion. Any change to the information in the database is synchronized again whenever the user next has an opportunity to connect to the network —all without the mobile rep being required to ‘download’ via a modem or cell phone connection.
This new capability is so powerful that distributors can roll it out to a mobile sales force working in remote rural areas, where wireless signals are weak or unreliable, without losing the productivity gains from the web-based application. Sales reps that previously had to return to a connected computer at the office can now use SignTrak in front of the customer (if the mobile device is browser enabled) and synchronize their work orders once inside signal at any public wireless environment, at home or in the office. In most cases, the Order Offline/Sync Up Later feature enables the sign shop to receive POS orders earlier in the process, and to be able to plan their workload and manpower requirements further in advance.
“We are always looking for ways to make our product better fit the needs of our customers,” says Mark Fullerton, President and CEO of Information Alternatives, makers of SignTrak. “The enabling technology is something we decided to do after talking with dozens of beer distributors during our webinars. If our distributors have a need, and we can fulfill it, that is exactly what we want to do.”
The new offline functionality is available with any SignTrak subscription at no additional cost to the subscriber. Availability is October, 2007.
Posted by Denis Clark on Fri, Jun 01, 2007 @ 02:24 PM
Most beer and wine distributors say they have no idea how custom POS impacts their business. Automating the POS process to maximize the sales-building potential of their high-dollar investment in POS typically boils down to one claim: “I don’t have time to make it happen.”
The study of the effects of inefficient POS sign management to the bottom line and the ramifications of adopting a hosted application solution as a cost effective alternative to traditional software is the subject of POS Best Practices: the effects of inefficient POS sign management to the bottom line.
The study is being made available to wholesale distribution owners and top level managers in a narrated CD format. The information provides a broad overview about how the traditional benefits of automation, management information and decision support play out in a connected world where ‘software as a solution’ is rapidly replacing more expensive traditional IT.
POS best practices are illustrated for all stakeholders — from presales to sign shop to management and finance. The study addresses the value of POS tracking and how a distributorship’s POS statistics and trends can be utilized for better cash managment and decision support.
A case study provides insight to why A-B distributor Chas. Seligman adopted a web-based solution and how it has eliminated their ‘black hole’ of POS, first for presales and the sign shop by encouraging easy-to-make high quality template-based POS to eliminate inefficiencies, mistakes, lost requests and reworks, then in the area of POS cash management.
To order the POS Best Practices self-running narrated CD, Click Here.