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PM Industrial Invests in Prophet 21 and E-Commerce Solutions

YARDLEY, PA, December 5, 2007 -- After more than 20 years using a green-screen enterprise software system, the leadership at PM Industrial Supply Company, a leading supplier of metalworking cutting tools, coolants, and machine shop inventory in Southern California, knew it was time to advance to a modern solution designed to better meet their needs.

"We reached a point where we realized we needed to move ahead with new technology to help us get more profitable and do things more easily," said Barry Gerin, president of PM Industrial.

Gerin and his team choose Activant Prophet 21™, making them the 1,200th distributor to invest in the enterprise software solution.

"Prophet 21 was designed for distributors like PM Industrial," said Steve McLaughin, senior vice president and general manager of Activant®. "We combined our years of industry knowledge with Windows technology to create a system that provides deep functionality yet is easy to use."

Integrated for E-Commerce

Last year, PM Industrial Supply Company opened a Web-based storefront. The attractive site gave PM Industrial a Web presence, but little else.

With no integration with PM Industrial's back end enterprise software solution and minimal order capabilities for customers, the site didn't drive business the way Gerin knew it should.

"We received lots of compliments on the look of our old site, but it did little in the way of servicing our customers," said Gerin

With this in mind, when Gerin invested in his Activant solution he also purchased B2B Seller Web-based storefront that fully integrates with Prophet 21.

"Our goal with the B2B Seller site is to free our very knowledgeable staff from doing routine tasks, such as checking stock or looking up customer account information," said Gerin. "We want our customers to visit the site to get that information as well as to place orders."

Knowing that offering an integrated Web site is not enough, Gerin plans to initially beta test the site with some carefully selected customers before rolling it out to a larger audience. Once the staff of PM Industrial is comfortable with the site and the value it can bring to customers, the company will promote the site to customers, including offering an incentive program to encourage use.

"We will measure usage of the site carefully," says Gerin. "We plan to have 20 percent of our sales go through the site within four years of it going live."

Communicating with Suppliers

Not content to look at just one end of the supply chain to streamline operations, Gerin also invested in Trading Partner Connect, which, among other things, streamlines the commerce process between suppliers and distributors.

"As a member of ISA, I am very aware of the value Trading Partner Connect brings distributors," says Gerin. "Many of the suppliers we work with are members -- including Iscar, Precision Twist Drill, and Walter to name just a few. Joining Trading Partner Connect made sense for us with respect to sourcing and working with these suppliers in general."

Gerin looks forward to providing better service to his customers through PM Industrial's use of Trading Partner Connect.

"We're not a big company," concludes Gerin. "We have one location and stock only 12,000 items, but regardless of size, we need to streamline our operations in order to be successful in the future. Activant offers us the tools to do just that and more."

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