Cat Likes ACOM for Shipping Labels

November 30, 2010 Alex Woodie

Caterpillar, the $32 billion construction equipment giant that has long a big user of IBM Power Systems gear, has made a recommendation to its distributors to use ACOM Solutions‘ suite of IBM i-based document management products to generate shipping labels, the vendor announced this month.

Cat machines are sold around the world through a network of hundreds of company offices and thousands of independent distributors. Because Cat uses IBM i gear and RPG applications in its corporate offices, IBM servers and software can be found in many of these locations. By all accounts, the server has served the company and its mammoth global network quite well, and so it’s no surprise that the hugely respected titan of manufacturing has become a frequent reference account for some of the best-known independent IBM i software vendors.

ACOM is the latest vendor to tout the use of its products at Cat. What’s more, Cat has given a big thumbs up to ACOM’s EZeDocs/400 document management software by certifying the product and recommending that it be used to generate the shipping labels that Cat requires its distributors to use for shipment to company offices.

The PDF labels in question were developed by ACOM’s professional services division according to Cat’s specifications. ACOM says it developed them in the PDF 417 two-dimensional format for printing on a Zebra label printer.

Among the benefits of using label software like EZeDocs/400 is the elimination of the need to store barcode fonts directly on the printer. “Since it is software-based, changes to label and other document layouts can be accomplished in minutes,” states James Scott, senior vice president and general manager of ACOM’s core business division.

EZeDocs/400 is a suite of products that can generate electronic labels and MICR checks, distribute via fax and e-mail, and store documents in an archive. The forms design component of EZeDocs/400 runs on Windows, while the print engine component that merges IBM i spool files with templates defined with the forms design component runs on a variety of Windows, Linux, and Unix platforms. Output is generated in PCL and PostScript formats, which is supported on most laser printers, and PDF is also an option. For more information, see www.acom.com.