bMobile Tech | The leader in mobile sales and route management systems.

Change your tune from hard rock to country? Wear a Klondike Bear suit at work and for happy hour? Don tightie whities and a cape around your neighborhood? Crazy antics like these could now earn you big bucks.

Klondike has announced the national “What Would You Do for a Klondike Bar?” video contest. People have been asking the iconic question for decades and now Americans can prove it on camera. Who will go to the greatest lengths for the tempting tasty treat?

The grand-prize winning video entrant will receive $100,000 and a trip for a one-on-one digital short consultation with Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone of “Saturday Night Live.” The comedy team also will be part of the overall judging panel to help select the grand-prize winner.

“We know people love their Klondike Bars,” said David Burrows, Senior Brand Director for Klondike. “And we wanted to give Americans the opportunity to show us the great lengths they will go to by answering the iconic question on camera, “What Would You Do for a Klondike Bar?”

“What Would You Do for a Klondike Bar?” video entries will be accepted starting May 13 through July 31 at http://www.KlondikeContest.com, where fans can vote on and rate their favorite off-the-wall videos throughout the summer. Semi-finalist videos will be selected based on fan ratings, as well as feedback from a panel of judges, so every vote counts. Four finalist videos will be announced in August and America also will help select the grand-prize winning video, which will be announced in September.

When you visit http://www.KlondikeContest.com to rate your favorite videos you will be entered into a sweepstakes for a chance to win $25,000 in cold hard cash. Fans can watch and vote for videos throughout the entire contest and are eligible to enter the sweepstakes once a day.

Napa Valley, CA - Vintners in California’s renowned Napa Valley on Monday launched an Internet tribute to pioneering US wine-maker Robert Mondavi, who died three days earlier in his home in the region.

The Napa Valley Vintners Association created an online “toast” to Mondavi on its website at www.napavintners.com, inviting people to share their memories of the icon in words and pictures.
“In all of the years I have been privileged to talk about Napa Valley wines I always mentioned two prominent members as the ‘god fathers’ of the Napa Valley wine industry,” wrote Peter Huwiler, who headed winery there for more than a decade. “Robert Mondavi was one of them. … His stewardship for the valley will be the benchmark for generations to come.”

The son of Italian immigrants, Mondavi founded a winery bearing his name in Napa Valley in 1966 and went on to become one of the most prominent figures of the US wine industry, making famed Cabernets and Chardonnays. He would have been 95 years old in June.

The website memorial comes as the vintners association readies for the Friday start of an online “E-Auction” of prestigious wines as part of an annual event to raise money for Napa Valley charities.

“One of the many important lessons Mr. Mondavi taught us was to always be there to help a neighbor, a friend, our community or beyond,” the association said in an introductory message at the Internet tribute. “He was one of the most kind and generous people we’ve ever known.”

First, my apologies at the length of this, but we learned so many things at the show. It was incredible. The Craft Brewers Convention in San Diego was a great time! We enjoyed the company of the many fantastic members of the association and all of the hospitality of our local hosts. We were able to see other suppliers in the industry, though surprisingly few other software companies. There was a message in this lack of competition.

First, we learned that some of the breweries engage in self-distribution. Some do not. The difference between those that do and those that don’t is about 30%. Not 30% of members doing this, but 30% of PROFIT! Yes, it eats about 30% of profit to use an outside distributor (remember, this is just a ballpark from talking to many people at the show…actual numbers vary based on individual deals and contracts between supplier and distributor.)

Now, I’m not saying distributors are good or bad (after all, most of our clients are distributors.) I’m just saying that there are distinct costs and benefits from using a distributor that should be considered if you are a small brewery (or any other small, production based business.)

Some breweries do not want to deal with maintaining a fleet of vehicles, paying salaries for drivers, etc. Those breweries are often small enough and have a largely local distribution range that they can either put product into the back of one of their own personal vehicles, or they contract with a local distributor to get their product out to market.

The other level of brewery is the one like we toured at the show. Stone Brewing, for example, after a humble beginning in the Southern California market, now has a national reach with their products. Yet locally, they self-distribute with a fleet of large trucks. They recognized that giving up 30% was not a trade-off that they were willing to make. When considering their volume in that local market, that 30% covers those costs of doing self-distribution and makes them a profit.

The question to ask yourself if you are considering self-distribution is, will the cost of doing it in-house be equaled to or less than what you will pay to a distributor? One of the most frequent arguments we heard against self-distribution wasn’t this basic financial point, but more along the lines of “it’s too much to manage.”

It’s that way of thinking that misses the point. Technology such as handheld devices to improve the field experience and route and DSD software back in the office allow for ease of management. This makes the task simple enough that it can be handled internally. The only factor that should matter is if it makes financial sense to do self-distribution, not whether it is perceived as difficult. Technology makes our lives, and jobs, easier for the most part and taking a complicated task like route management and reducing it to a few clicks of the mouse and some simple steps makes financial sense.

Now, how did a company like Stone rise from a small company to one with what I admiringly called “The Disneyland of breweries”? They did it by handling their own product (along with a great overall company strategy, but even some things software can’t do for you!) Every company has to decide whether their corporate future is about growth or simply creating a great product for all of their friends to enjoy. The rest, as they say, is in the details.

Of course there were a number of distributors at the show as well. To them I say, you bear the burden of managing the fleets, the salaries of drivers, salespeople, the marketing, and all of the other components that cost money as part of your business. Most of you are dealing with older, expensive legacy systems that come with a high price tag to maintain and operate. Your challenges come from an equally narrow margin.

So why should a distributor move into a newer system? To save money in operating, labor, and hardware expenses and to increase flexibility in both reporting and management. Most distributors have systems that they put into place decades ago. Back then route and DSD systems were big ticket purchases and that investment continues in cost for distributors in order to keep them running.

Newer systems are now a fraction of the cost, take less manpower to maintain, and give the flexibility to integrate to multiple accounting systems (meaning you are not anchored to one back office system), as well offering greater reporting than ever before. Why spend all of that time and money keeping an old system alive when your margins are thin enough as it is?

Finally, what did the lack of other software companies at the show mean? The only major competitor of ours is one of those expensive legacy systems that requires specialty hardware and a staff just to run it. They weren’t at the show to meet small breweries or distributors and help the market grow. They were there merely as a way to keep their name in the game.

And those others that didn’t even show up? I mean, really, there were suppliers there with a half dozen types of fermentation tanks, pump systems, separators, malts, hops, and every other type of supply to make and package beer. And only two software companies. Draw your own conclusions from that statistic.

Cheers,

Michael

CraftBrewers Tradeshow next week!!

Here at bMobile we are busily preparing for our trip to San Diego and the CraftBrewers Conference. It will be an exciting time to go and meet with many of our customers and new prospects. The craft brewing industry is a market that we are proud to become involved with and help provide solutions.

We’ve already learned a lot from the brewers and will continue to find out more about this great group. Like other route and DSD companies, craft brewers face the challenges of inventory management and route control. It’s all about making sure that the product gets to the customer and nobody runs out! bMobile is heavily invested in making our route system the preferred solution for craft breweries!

We look forward to our time in San Diego with the Craft Brewers Association and we’ll report back on the show. Cheers!

bMobile and you going green together!

At bMobile we believe that society produces far too much waste material. The solution is to think AND act on the problem in order to reduce this waste. Our Route Manager solution helps companies go paperless and achieve this goal. And even internally, we are committed to using less paper and ink (sorry HP and Dell!) and watching what we print.

Our office recently began an internal recycling program. We now take our used paper and separate it. We are also taking cans, glass, and plastic and putting those into appropriate containers in order to help reduce our footprint on the planet.

It’s really pretty easy to do something so simple yet so important in your office. The first step is to figure out what you are tossing which winds up in a landfill that shouldn’t be wasted. Our biggest issue was white paper. Once we realized our folly, we contacted a local recycler and arranged to get bins for everything we recycle. Now our newsprint, catalogues, cans, and lots of white paper goes back in to raw materials and eventually recycled content.

Then when you’ve handled that, it becomes time to move your internal systems to a paperless environment. Route Manager helps by allowing your processes to become electronic. Signatures are captured on the devices in the field, and when or if you need to use them again for delivery confirmation or billing disputes, you can reprint to PDF, an electronic image that is secure, ready for email, and paper and ink free!

We also help by allowing you manage the loads on your trucks more efficiently, thus requiring less fuel. A properly optimized route follows the most direct paths to each customer and maximizes your time and fuel. And this all means more money back in your pocket and less waste!

Going green, it’s something we can all get behind.

-MM/GP

What’s under the hood is important!

In today’s technology marketplace, having the correct software is important. But what is just as important is the technology underneath the covers. Having industry standard technology assures you that your program will be robust and work in the field.

As changes occur to operating systems in both handhelds and desktop environments, standardization allows for smooth and easy upgrading. Managing and supporting those environments and the data in them also is facilitated through standardized components.

At bMobile, we use these standard components in all of our products. Our database is Microsoft SQL and we program in common languages and frameworks. The handhelds utilize SQL and the Windows Mobile operating system. We are constantly improving, learning, experimenting, and testing new technologies to make sure that we are abreast of the industry and in compliance with those industry standards.

The hardware that we help our customers chose is just as important and must also conform to industry standards. We use devices from major manufacturers such as Symbol, Intermec, Zebra, and Printek. By using these companies, our customers can rest assured that should a hardware repair be needed, it can be processed quickly with little disruption to daily business.

We believe that every business is important and nobody should have to use sub-standard equipment or software. Your business is your life blood and should run on only the best, most reliable components. bMobile knows that our solution will improve your business and that having industry standards gives us both piece of mind.

Michael Monnot, bMobile

Retail Stores love DSD, especially large chains. What they love even more than DSD is Full Service DSD. This is when the distributor delivers products store by store and services the account. In other words, cleans the shelves or displays, merchandises the product, hangs pricing, displays and other point of sale material and then goes to the next account.

Stores love DSD because the distributor does all the work for them and because they never run out of product. If the distributor does a good job, the retailer will always be fully stocked with product at all times.

Now how do you know what to load on your truck for the day when there is no presale? That’s where bMobile Route Manager comes in. bMobile Route Manager is a solution that takes the guess work and math out of DSD. Imagine managing the inventory on your truck to the level that you never send out too little or too much on the truck. bMobile can help you figure that perfect amount to load on your truck, saving you time, fuel, and most importantly, making sure your customer always has full shelves.

When considering the style or type of PDA that you are planning on using out in the field for your daily sales, you need to take into consideration your plans for using bar code labels and scanning those labels.

Two devices that have built in laser scanners are the Intermec CN3 and the Symbol MC-70. I recommend purchasing a device that has a built in scanner because the labels that are being read aren’t always clears and straight, these devices will read labels that are damaged or poorly printed.

Another reason to look at a rugged style PDA is the fact that the scanner is then protected from damage during a drop onto the concrete floor or parking lot.

Ken Weirum, Sales

I’m Chris Macaw, CEO and owner of bMobile Technology. We are the makers of bMobile Route Manager, a popular route management solution for the small to medium sized distributor. We realize that success for our customers is not always measured in sales dollars, but more in customer growth, profitability, and appreciation.

bMobile not only helps small companies attain those goals, but also larger ones to organize and control everyday business. For example, we have a major Pepsi distributor in the Northeast that does nearly $400,000 a week in business through our system. While that is a telling statistic, my return on investment for creating bMobile is when a delivery driver explains that our software makes his day easier and allows him to spend more time with his family.

Improvements happen at all ends of the business spectrum when technology like bMobile Route Manager is implemented. I look at Great Basin Beverage in Boise, Idaho, who started with 3 inexpensive PDA devices. In less than a year they have doubled in size, gotten their inventory under control, and rely completely on the technology to assure that invoices are priced correctly and never re-entered by hand into the system. Human errors have been virtually eliminated and now they are able to bring on additional accounts due to the time they have reclaimed by using bMobile Route Manager.

Our challenges for the coming year include continuing to add customers to bMobile and increasing the functionality to help overcome any route management problem. We already interface to QuickBooks, the most popular accounting software on the market. And now our integrations to Cougar Mountain and SAP Business One have opened up our route system to even more businesses.

Chris Macaw

The mobile phone is the most widely-used electronic device on the planet, with about a third of the worlds’ population having at least one. Globally there are more than 3 times more mobile devices than PCs.

The average U.S subscriber spends a half hour a day on a cell phone. The usage is not only voice but a variety of data related applications from games to mobile invoicing.
With the evolution of the pocket pc from the HP-75 with 1-line text display to the PocketPC of today with built-in cell phone, the mobile device has become a very powerful tool for the small business.

Many business owners are just now tapping in to what technology has to offer. Mobile devices can be used for inventory tracking to route management, to calling on customers. Using a mobile device in the outside sales environment reduces human errors, and helps your company go green.

Think how much time, paper, and money could be saved if the order placed by the salesman was invoiced electronically. bMobile Technology has the technology available now. And with an average return on investment of 3 to 4 months, it’s a smart decision for the future of your company.

bMobile Sales