DPS Launches Mobile Order Entry Application for PocketPC

by Alex Woodie

New software from Data Processing Services should make retrieval of OS/400-based information easier for sales representatives when they're out on the road. The Indianapolis software company last week announced the general availability of PocketFlash, a new database-driven application that gives sales representatives access to ERP-resident features and information--such as order creation, product availability, and order status--from the field using a Microsoft PocketPC-based handheld computer.

PocketFlash is the pint-sized follow-on to Flash, a self-service application that DPS released several years ago to provide online access to the core functionality of Extend, the company's OS/400-based distribution application, as well as other third-party ERP applications. While the original Flash application focused on several different potential users, including administrators, customer service representatives, and the customers that buy your product, PocketFlash is more concerned with sales representatives.

PocketFlash consists of a client component that runs on the PocketPC 2002 operating systems, and a server component that extracts and synchronizes the information between the ERP and the PocketFlash databases. The application was designed to be used in offline mode, with a database synchronization, at the end of the day. However, if the PocketPC device is equipped with a wireless modem, PocketFlash can be used to transmit updates to the ERP system in real time.

The application gives sales reps the capability to perform a number of actions in the field that they would otherwise have to do by sitting behind a computer terminal, like entering new orders, looking up prices, checking product availability, accepting payment, or choosing a shipping method for a customer.

PocketFlash also includes order-inquiry features that let the user look at summary, as well as detailed, order information, and see shipment information for all customer orders, not just those placed from the PocketPC handheld computer. PocketFlash also includes line-item order entry and search capabilities, as well as administrative and security functions.

Route drivers covering a certain area will benefit from PocketFlash's capability to display information about customers assigned to a certain territory, as well as to present the customer information in a certain order. PocketFlash also maintains a contacts database and can generate reports on daily activity and cash transactions, and a calculator is included for making change for cash transactions. Receipt printing and barcode scanning is also supported, with the right hardware.

One of the first customers to use PocketFlash was a food distribution company in the Bahamas. (DPS supports several customers in the Bahamas, where it recently hosted a seminar with IBM.) This particular iSeries shop, which was not identified by DPS, used PocketFlash to sell fruit juices to convenience stores from a fleet of five trucks. Using PocketFlash, the company's drivers are now able to take orders directly from store owners, to scan barcodes as the products are taken off the truck, and to then print a receipt using a portable printer. The company reports that the application has improved sales force productivity and has nearly eliminated field errors.

PocketFlash works with Extend, DPS's OS/400 distribution system, as well as other ERP systems, including J.D. Edwards and SAP. Licenses cost $29,900, which includes all software, installation services, and the first year of maintenance. For more information, go to www.dpslink.com.

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