Vormittag Associates, Inc., (VAI) an IBM Premier Business Partner and a leader in enterprise solutions for the distribution, manufacturing, retail, and service industries, has announced the successful implementation of its S2K Enterprise Edition software at Hercules Corp., a Hicksville, N.Y-based firm that sells, leases and services laundry equipment for multi-unit dwellings. Two of Hercules' better known operating sites are Trump Towers and Penn South Mutual Redevelopment Corp.

The project replaced several non-integrated, homegrown applications with VAI's comprehensive enterprise resource planning (ERP) system including accounts receivable, accounts payable, general ledger, customer orders, customer relationship management, sales analysis, inventory management, purchasing, material requirements planning, retail point of sale and service billing. As part of the implementation, Hercules also upgraded to a new IBM System i series server, updated PCs and installed new printers.

Michael Gallagher, VAI project director, said, "Hercules' revenue depends on its equipment being operational. Downtime due to the unavailability of replacement parts is unacceptable. By automating the parts inventoryùboth in the warehouse and on its service trucksùand integrating it with the firm's accounting, purchasing, customer service, and repair functions, Hercules now possesses the capacity to maintain optimal levels and avoid prolonged equipment outages. This capability, coupled with programming parameters to isolate unusual customer refund requests, gives Hercules real-time control over essential business functions."

"We've only scratched the surface of what S2K Enterprise Edition can do for our business," said Thomas Hicks, controller, Hercules Corp., "yet the impact is already being felt in greater efficiencies and uninterrupted revenue streams. Conservatively speaking, I believe we've saved $25,000 since going live. We're minimizing equipment downtime, replacing equipment with high failure rates and better utilizing employee time at headquarters and in the field. Before year's end, we plan to have VAI implement RF technology to streamline our service and warehouse operations even more."

VAI's service billing module allows Hercules to enter and track every service request, review technician workloads and assign work, track service codes, track service history of equipment by serial number and record the labor and parts used to fix equipment. Integrated billing options allow the firm to backorder parts, automatically generate preventive maintenance work orders and create detailed invoices. The addition of the RF technology will automate entry of serial numbers both on and off site.

About VAI

VAI is an IBM Premier Business Partner and an award-winning software developer. Designed for the midrange market, S2K Enterprise is used by a wide variety of midsize companies worldwide, with a number of clients in the manufacturing, distribution, retail and related service industries. Advanced applications such as Warehouse Pro, EDI, CRM and e-Business provide companies the power to leverage their information technology investment. VAI is headquartered in Ronkonkoma, N.Y., with branch offices in Miami, Orlando, Chicago, Newport Beach and Oreville, Calif.. For more information, please call 800-824-7776 or visit www.vai.net.