The Distribution Management System (DMS), is a powerful, sophisticated, and versatile business management tool tailored specifically for the Appliance Distribution industry. Tapping the computer power of the IBM AS/400 (System /36), DMS provides the Distributor with an unparalleled facility for increasing the sales volume, profit margin, and the net worth of the business.

DMS is a completely integrated set of business applications which work together to increase efficiency and customer satisfaction, while reducing inventory levels and overhead costs. The system works equally well in a single branch or multiple branch operation. As many as 16 branches can be interconnected to provide on-line access to multiple inventories. DMS provides Invoicing, Ordering, Accounts Receivable & Payable, General Ledger Accounting, and Budget Control. The functions are controlled by a series of menus making DMS both easy to learn and simple to use. The interactive screens lead system users through each function with clarity and accuracy.

Invoice Writing:
The invoice writing program work interactively with many files so that the current customer and inventory information is available on-line.
For Example:
 • Customers Account Status
 • Ship-to Address File
 • Individual price selection determined by:
  - quantity purchased
  - discount from list
  - cost plus
  - price override allowed
• Sub to and equal to selection
• Stock status of branches displayed
• Non-stock backorders and sales
• Optional restock charge and replacement
• Invoices can be transmitted to remote branch
• Invoices can be put on hold and printed at a later time/day
• Counter sales staff can make invoices interactively on a computer terminal while   working with a customer to determine their requirements.
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Inventory Control:
Inventory levels are automatically maintained by DMS. In addition to Quantity On Hand , On Order, On Backorder, etc. the system also maintains last cost, average cost, lead time, last order number and date, as well as a brief sales history for each item in the inventory.
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History File:
All transactions from invoicing, receiving, stock transfers, adjustments and physical inventories are added to a history file which can be large enough to hold two or more years of sales data. The History File is accessed by a pointer file to give immediate access and provide the following:
• Customer enquiry-all parts sold to that customer
• Part enquiry-all sales of that part
• Customer & part-all sales of that part to that customer
• Gross margin by customer by month
• All sales to a customer by supplier
• All sales to a customer by salesman
• Automatic regeneration of order points and quantities
• Repeat sales of non-stock part analysis
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Regeneration:
Automatic Regeneration of EOP's and EOQ's according to sales history. This feature may be run at the Distributor's discretion, and analyzes sales history to determine current volume and trend. The computation of EOP's and EOQ's can be done with or without file update to provide the Distributor with a 'what if' feature. There are five levels of cost so that the EOQ will be higher for inexpensive items and fewer deep sales for expensive items.
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Pricing:
Excellent manual price setting procedures make it easy to set or change prices by supplier, or by individual part numbers. The procedure can affect one or many branches simultaneously. Prices can be set automatically by supplier using a cost or future price times a factor for each of the five prices, or by applying a set percentage to each existing price.
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Ordering:
Supplier requirements for order size and product mix are treated by the system. The purchasing agent is presented with a list of pertinent supplier ordering rules in each suggested order, and a summary of the order in terms of these requirements. This feature enables the Distributor to take maximum advantage of price breaks, prepaid freight, etc.

Central orders are as easy to generate as single branch orders. This is a particularly useful feature as some suppliers maintain high minimum order values that would normally be beyond the capability of small branches. Stock transfers are automatically generated for items received at a central branch but are destined for a remote branch. A specially designed receiving report alerts the receiving staff to the special status of centrally ordered stock.

Non-Stock items which have been placed on backorder by the invoicing program are automatically included in orders to the indicated suppliers. The treatment of these items is sufficiently similar to stock items as to place no additional work load on the inventory manager. A special entry on the receiving report informs the receiving staff of the stocks status. The receiving program computes selling prices from the landed cost, and makes these prices available to the invoicing program.
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Accounts Receivable:
This full featured subsystem automatically receives input from the invoicing program. In addition to the standard facilities such as monthly statements and aged receivable listings found in such systems, DMS provides:
• Open Item or Balance Forward accounting for each account, as required by the    Distributor
• Customized messages are added to customer statements. These messages    can be set by the Distributor for each statement run and can be related to the    customers account status as well as generally applied.
• Interest charges can be added to overdue accounts
• Mid Month overdue notices can be printed to aid collections
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Accounts Payable:
Again, a full set of standard features such as check writing, discount application, payment selection by item, cash requirements and the following special features:
• Split payments. Invoices can be divided into equal installments where the    supplier offers this incentive.
• Two currencies can be treated by the system to provide a foreign supplier    capability
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General Ledger Accounting:
A comprehensive accounting system which includes the ability to produce financial and operating statements as well as budget control.
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Supplier Price Files:
Supplier who publish and distribute their pricing in electronic format can be placed on your computer. These files can then be used for inquiries and also to update your inventory with the latest pricing.
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Documentation:
All functions are well documented. Users are presented with an easy to read, friendly user manual on how to operate DMS, when to call certain reports, and how to interpret them.
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System Support:
Since there are installations throughout North America, on request visits are made on a cost share basis to install the latest version of the software, and to make any individual modifications or changes as requested. Since DMS is distributed with source code, some changes can be made locally, by telephone, or by dialing directly to your computer, if necessary. The annual software maintenance fee covers this service. Modifications or work performed which benefits only the one user are billable to that user on a cost for service basis.
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