With today’s technological advances available, there is a lot more information available and exciting new ways of manipulating it efficiently and effectively. You need to know what’s going on now to be able to react promptly and proactively plan for the future. Even then, flexible and responsive systems that rapidly adapt to changing market pressures are required. With our software solutions and support services we can show management how to save your business money and open up opportunities for new workflow efficiencies.

Through the AIC Query/Report Definition Feature, you are able to customize the information provided on inquiry screens and reports. In all major areas of the AIC Software, including forecasting/planning, order entry, sales history, cost sheets, and materials usage, users can select what information they want to see, in what sequences, all at various levels of detail or summary. All AIC inquiries and report requests are designed to let you select only the data you need by selecting specific fields, dates, and ranges of data to include or exclude. This forms fill-in approach lets you sift out the data you don’t want. You can then store re-defined report formats ready to be run at the touch of a button.

By answering some simple questions when your system is installed, the AIC Business Rules Definition Feature lets you adjust the software to your specific requirements without the cost of custom programming. This unique approach allows you to alter the system’s functionality to match your business operations, rather than having to rearrange how your business works just to fit the software. And, best of all, when your business changes or grows, a few simple rule changes allow the software to adjust to your new requirements.

Through the use of the unique AIC Personalization Feature, you are able to establish your own common industry concepts and terminology, such as seasonality, size scaling, roll inventory, cancel date sensitivity, coordinate codes, return reasons, royalty codes, production lot #, etc. The software lets users use their own codes, descriptions and classifications, with an easy pop-up display of these codes from any screen in the system, just in case you forget. This process is not only user friendly, but reduces the learning time for new AIC users.

The AIC Software Formula Definition Feature lets you define the formulas for various values in displays and reports. For example, you can determine whether Available Stock includes or excludes Work in Process (Planned or Actual), Reserved Stock, Returns, and so on. In the Finished Goods database displays and reports, as another example, you can add or subtract any selected transactions to create your own formulas for Available to Sell, Quantity to Make, or any combination you may need to calculate. In other areas such as the cost sheet display, you define your own cost buckets to capture and apportion labor and material costs into totals of your choice, e.g., retooling, labor, packaging, raw material usage, duties, and freights. Any material can still be used under several of these categories in the same bill of materials. This flexibility lets you change the software without paying for programming. It also lets you focus on different views of the same data for different user’s needs. Each user can have his/her own version of a display or report. Now that’s adaptability!

With AIC’s Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) module you respond to your customer’s requirements and production days off order lead times, improve cash flow and save postage, handling, and paper costs in the process. EDI provides a standard system for high-speed electronic exchange of orders, acknowledgements, invoices, advanced ship notices, etc.

The AIC Internet Integration Feature offers additional data-sharing and communications options for your business. In addition to email and data transfer capabilities, you can let remote offices tap into your database and perform other functions via an Internet connection. This greatly reduces the traditional cost of expensive phone lines, long distance charges, and communications equipment. These paperless, quick-response facilities mean your employees won’t waste time waiting for the paperwork to catch up!

The AIC software provides on-line access to real time data. Access to real time data assures information retrieved from the system is the most current as of that moment. Online means ready access directly into the system, even from remote plants, sales offices, or portable dial-in PC’s. Real time is when data can be captured instantly at the point of activity, such as in piecework processing or in receipts-wanding or stock movement confirmation. This process lets you set event-driven triggers or traps to give you early warning of problems as they occur. For instance, if you know when stock location discrepancies are first identified, they are easier to resolve while the trail is still fresh. Setting cost and selling margins, stock levels, order sensibility tests, and credit checks are just some of the ways the AIC software provides help to preempt problems in which time sensitive information is involved.

Knowing the status of a customer order, when production will cover it, or where the shipment is makes it easier to provide good customer service. Major benefits can also be gained by knowing and controlling stock in your own warehouses. The user-defined warehouse layout and stock storage, retrieval, and reservation rules make location management both easy and flexible. Barcode wanding with portable, radio frequency-linked devices gives timely and accurate information and further operating efficiencies.

If you ever lose it, or can’t see why it happened, the AIC movement and transaction audit trails are available to help you figure it out. These reports, for example, may identify someone in need of additional training. Security comes from the AIC Security Tracking Feature. Via user-defined application menu management and activity logging, the AIC security module allows management to control which users have access to each function and to each area of data.