LIVERMORE, CA – Activant Solutions has announced a new release of its Activant Vision distribution management system featuring several new timesaving features and an extension of the solution’s Microsoft Windows-based graphical user interface (GUI). The Activant Vision solution is an enterprise management platform designed for two- and three-step distributors that want to simplify their growth strategies and streamline business operations.

According to the company, the new version – Release 8.1 – extends the platform’s GUI to a variety of additional applications, including accounts receivable, purchase order entry/maintenance and vendor entry/maintenance. The company also made system enhancements to the inventory and replenishment modules, including control of multiple replenishment warehouses and custom replenishment by product line to individual store locations. The updated software also includes a new inventory and overstock balancing tool that the company says eliminates the need for products to return to the warehouse before being moved to another store. This “peer-to-peer” capability also enables the distributor to establish a balancing hierarchy by location, product line/sub-line and minimum part cost, the company said.

Other key enhancements featured in the new Activant software include:

· Automatic purchase order generation from manufacturer spreadsheets;

· “Fill or Kill by Vendor” feature allowing distributors to automatically cancel open order quantities for selected suppliers;

· “Product File Audit” capability providing documentation of all manual changes to previously established stocking levels, prices, etc.;

· Order-entry “Companion Parts” prompts for add-on sales;

· “Store in Warehouse” functionality that eliminates the need to process stock transfers when filling orders from a warehouse;

· Automatic stock transfers to/from multiple locations when filling orders received via the Activant AConneX online marketplace; and

· Integration with Activant Dispatch and Delivery Service, enabling the user to optimize delivery services and track orders in transit.

“Distributors that have chosen the Activant Vision system primarily to leverage its extensive CRM and inventory control capabilities inevitably find new ways this software can help dramatically increase their sales, margins and operational efficiency,” said Tom Aliotti, vice president and general manager of the Activant automotive business. “Our product development team builds on these ideas to make each new generation of the Activant Vision platform more powerful and valuable for the user.”

For more information, visit: www.activant.com.