IDEAS Business Modules

IDEAS distribution software runs in concert with the industry-standard Microsoft Windows® 2008 operating system. IDEAS is designed to help clients within the importing and distribution industries to meet the unique challenges of long lead-time purchasing, allocating inventory, credit management, commissions and royalties tracking, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), multiple currencies, multiple warehouse and multi-corporation locations are of paramount importance.

The IDEAS distribution software represents practical, yet advanced, software processes developed through years of ongoing development. The software provides clients with the necessary information to effectively and efficiently manage their importing, manufacturing and distribution business and to make strategic business decisions. This functionality, coupled with IDEAS’ drill down capability, lets users examine individual transactions and information easily and immediately where all transactions leave a complete audit trail so that even the most complex transactions become transparent.

The IDEAS application is divided into four distinct modules, click a module below to view full details.

Sales

Inventory/Production

Financial

Administrative

Sales Module:

	Order Processing IDEAS simplifies order entry, invoicing, back-orders and handling of assortments and distribution orders. You get a complete order processing system that ensures that orders are recorded accurately, that the goods are shipped right the first time, and that orders are invoiced promptly.
	Pipeline Visibility / Sales Analysis Quickly determine inventory levels, including in stock items, purchase orders, on-the-water inventory, production orders and sales orders. Provide up-to-the-minute corporate data, sales information, inventory status, accounts receivable and profit margins with detailed and customizable sales analysis reports and summaries. IDEAS is ODBC compliant, making it possible to use Crystal Reports, Microsoft Excel and Access and other third-party applications to analyze real-time information.
	Remote Order Processing IDEAS provides immediate access to any information, no matter where it’s needed. You can assist your employees and suppliers in responding rapidly to changing business conditions. If remote order entry is required, IDEAS has an interface to PDA devices that can store and forward orders taken by your sales people.
	Royalty Tracking With IDEAS, you can set up multiple royalty contracts with a single licensor or for a single item. IDEAS lets you track advances to licensors, accrue royalty expenses daily through the software's real-time processing engine and generate detailed, invoice-level sales and royalty reports.
	Commissions Tracking With IDEAS, you can assign commission rates based on the sales organization, salesperson, customer, item sold, discount percentage of an order or item and the price paid for the item, as well as generate detailed commission statements.
	Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) IDEAS has an integrated EDI translator supporting both X12 and EDIFACT formats. Dynamic inbound and outbound order, invoice and ship notice creation are featured in addition to functional acknowledgment reconciliation and document history. Other supported documents that are key to supply chain management include the Purchase Order Change, Routing Request, Routing Instruction and Product Activity Report.
	Multiple Currencies With IDEAS, you can easily work in your preferred currency and have the ability to quickly convert between various currencies. You can purchase products in foreign currencies and have IDEAS do the conversions for you.
	e-Commerce Via Biz Talk or ODBC, IDEAS can exchange information with your existing B2B or B2C site.
	CRM Convert one-time purchasers into long-term, profitable customers. With IDEAS, you can quickly view your customer's historical purchasing activity and tailor new product offers to boost sales.

Inventory Module:

	Warehouse Management Operations from receiving and put-away to picking and replenishment need to be seamless and flexible. With IDEAS, you can improve inventory management, optimize space allocation and enhance the efficiencies of your warehouse staff. Flexible bin, zone and location management for single or multiple warehouses ensures that scarce space is utilized efficiently.
	In-transit Inventory If you take ownership of your product at the port of origin, then it is critical that you can track on-hand inventory both in the warehouse and in transit. The IDEAS Allocation System intelligently allocates your inventory regardless of where it is in the pipeline.
	Inventory Control Get up-to-the-minute quantity status and detailed information on each item in your inventory. Set and maintain target finished goods and component inventory stock levels, analyze usage trends and check vendor performance. Automatically update stock records after every sale, purchase, return and transfer to keep inventory data current.
	Dispatch / Delivery More efficiently manage your daily delivery operations. CAI’s Order Delivery Tracking System (ODT) is a flexible, user-friendly and intuitive solution that provides accurate delivery and scheduling information to dispatch, sales, and management organizations. This eliminates the need to call the dispatch office to determine delivery status. Additionally, the system’s integrated GPS tracking technology and wide variety of available black box and fixed mount vehicle options provide real-time tracking and management of their mobile resources, and lets dispatchers coordinate order combination, routing and fleet tracking to get the most out of their delivery operations.
	Production With IDEAS, you gain improved control over manufacturing and kitting operations to minimize costs and maximize sales and warehouse operations. You can coordinate work center tasks, labor and overhead costs. Manage product routing, job tracking and perform standard and actual cost comparisons to maximize profitability.
	Purchasing Smart purchasing can improve your margin levels and enhance the service you provide to your customers. Having the product that your customer needs, when they need it, can be the difference in generating repeat sales. With IDEAS, you can manage the entire purchasing process, including factoring lead time for both purchasing and transportation.
	Pricing / Costing Costing and pricing your goods is essential to maintaining a profitable distribution business. IDEAS centralizes standard and actual costs so, price changes are applied quickly to the finished products. In addition, IDEAS’ Bill of Material (BOM) roll-up allows for quick re-pricing and costing.
	Bill of Material IDEAS supports both single-level and multi-level Bills of Material. Whether your requirements are as simple as kitting or as complex as labor and component production, IDEAS will fulfill your needs.
	Allocation / Reservation System IDEAS includes a complete Allocation / Reservation system that intelligently matches current and future demands against all inventory whether it be on-hand, in transit or on purchase order. The dynamic allocation process re-allocates product to ensure optimal shipping performance without compromising commitments to customers.
	Fulfillment House Support If you buy in bulk from your manufacturers and want to avoid exorbitant inventory carrying costs, a fulfillment company can provide a cost-effective, ‘just-in-time’ inventory and distribution solution. When orders are received from retailers, including via EDI transactions, a PO, pick ticket and bar-coded shipping labels are sent electronically to the to the fulfillment house. Once the product is shipped, a shipping confirmation with freight, fuel and other charges can be applied to the customer’s final invoice.
	Bar Coding Facilitate production, lot tracking and more. IDEAS is barcode ready. You can print and read bar coded inventory labels to help track materials, from receiving through shipping, efficiently and accurately (using barcode printers and scanners sold separately).
	Shipment Tracking With IDEAS’ integrated shipping system you can easily track UPS, FEDEX & AIRBORNE packages directly from IDEAS via the web. Container Receipts Receipt of purchase orders can be done quickly and accurately and can include vital information such as agent, packer, shipping line, port of entry, final destination, vessel and container number.

Financial Module:

	General Ledger Access charts of accounts, balances, tax reporting and other up-to-date financial and accounting data and quickly produce attractive financial reports on demand to gain valuable business insight.IDEAS provides daily financial management tools, not just a once-a-month report. Instantly access every G/L amount and transaction, and set-up your accounts and sub-accounts to enhance your decision making, improve processing time and automate routine activities. With IDEAS, you can create accounting periods based on your fiscal and business cycle, manage bank accounts and cash and automate routines such as check-writing, bank statement reconciliation.
	Accounts Receivable Manage your receivables to maximize cash flow and net profit. Promote and track sales, payments and other customer activity. Record communications with customers and prompt credit managers for follow-up to help you get paid on time.
	Accounts Payable Record vendor related transactions, make payments and track all vendor activity. Gain more control over payables to your vendors with less time and effort.
	Credit Management IDEAS provides real-time, multi-criteria customer credit and order discrepancy checking.
	Cash Receipts Pay a range of invoices and select specific invoices for non-payment quickly and simply. IDEAS also handles charge-backs and charge-back reason codes based on returned merchandise.

Administrative Module:

	Paperless Document Management Scan, file, store, and retrieve documents, fats and efficiently. CAI’s software is integrated with DataView RMS, a total Record Management System developed by MultiProcess Computer Corporation (MPCC). DataView RMS is designed to help you reduce costs, labor, paper and storage; locate documents instantly, prevent document loss, protect documents with image dating technology and restrict access by providing security. Misplaced or lost files are a thing of the past.
	Imaging Print full-color images on quote sheets, job bags and marketing literature. Comprehensive photo imaging capabilities let you view your photos on screen to help reduce errors.
	Open Database Access All business data can be accessed any time, anywhere through Microsoft® applications such as Excel, Word or Access, as well as other reporting tools.
	Graphical and Intuitive User Interface IDEAS lets you easily manipulate and export data into various formats including Excel, Word, .pdf and .txt documents.
	Business Intelligence (BI) Access and utilize valuable data to enhance your business decision processes. IDEAS' integrated BI Module is a comprehensive, state-of-the-art BI solution that lets you view customer, sales, inventory and other key performance indicators (KPI) as intuitive and graphical dashboard objects so you can identify business trends, monitor progress toward business goals and diagnose overall organizational health.