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Technology Enables Medical Supplier to Develop Niche in Direct Sales and Service

YARDLEY, PA, April 20, 2005 - Recognizing that customers have no time for face-to-face sales calls, employees at Mercedes Medical use technology to keep in touch. "We work as hard as we can to bring our offices to theirs because we don't have the same physical presence as a lot of the other suppliers in our space," said Andy Wright, COO of the Florida-based company.

Wright knows this approach has worked. In less than 15 years, annual revenue at Mercedes Medical has grown to more than $16 million, and the company boasts one of the highest sales-per-employee ratios in the industry.

He credits this success to the company's sales tactics, along with a team of great people armed with the right technology. "CommerceCenter enables each of us to be as productive and proactive as possible, which means that we can offer the best service with the fewest number of employees," he said.

And the company still has room to grow: "We could easily do 50 percent more in revenue without hiring more people," he said.

As the leading enterprise software solution for distributors, CommerceCenter combines the power of SQL Server and the familiarity of Windows in a solution designed especially for distributors. Features include order and inventory management, purchasing, pricing, financial management, customer relationship management, business reporting and analysis, e-business, wireless warehouse management, and much more.

"Prophet 21 knows that distributors are working on razor-thin margins, and must work to get the most out of every resource they have," said Chuck Boyle, Prophet 21 president and CEO. "CommerceCenter - and all of our solutions and services - help our customers stretch what they have so they thrive in a competitive marketplace."

Trusting the Solution

In the medical supply distribution industry, excellent fill rates are not a selling point, but an expectation. "If we can't deliver the supplies doctors and lab techs need to do their jobs, they'll lose business - or worse, patients," Wright said. "And that's just not an option."

Because CommerceCenter closely monitors stock levels and offers different purchasing methods for different types of SKUs, employees can ensure that they use the appropriate technique for each product. "We really trust the solution to tell us what to order, how much to order, and when to order it," Wright said.

Because Mercedes Medical's employees have taken advantage of CommerceCenter's various purchasing methods, fill rates have increased by 19 percent, while overall inventory levels have decreased. "We have stock for more than 99 percent of the orders placed at any time, and that's crucial to keeping customers," Wright said.

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