To whom it may concern,

It has been two weeks since we went live with the MMS POS system and it has been quite the time. Your system has done everything that you promised and the staff that implemented our system have been very patient and thoughtful as we adjusted to the program. From the small flat screens to the great search capabilities we have been working through the changes and are now getting a good handle on how the program works.

Although we are not presently using the automatic order guide we have been using the information that is readily available to us to tweak our ordering and obtaining such information as last day sold and quantities sold. Being able to see profit margins at a glance has helped us to adjust categories to reflect a variety of margins instead of sticking with an across the board pricing schedule. Instant updating of shelf labels has helped, as well as producing price scanning labels for items we purchase from TRA and other suppliers that do not have bar codes.

With the back office station my bookkeeper and I can privately view information and do the required print-outs when needed. If something does not seem right on an item we can adjust the information fields at that station. Having two check-outs now has also been a favored improvement by my customers. I can quickly change from inventory and pricing to serving the customers when it gets busy.

Over all, I am impressed with your system. It will take some time to get the full benefits of its use but we are well on our way. At this time with the information at my disposal I would have no problem recommending MMS to similar businesses as ours. Any problems were quickly corrected by your staff or they patiently told us how to do it. I am looking forward to continually improving my use of the system and its many benefits.

Sincerely,

Stewart Jenkins
Owner/Manager
Greenfield General Store

To whom it may concern,

The Antigonish 5 to $100 is a small independent retail operation located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. We operate a 10,000 square foot store with approximately 25,000 inventory items. In the past, our inventory control system was a manual process with a lot of tedious counting and even more guessing. For years we knew that our inventory was not nearly as productive as it should be, with many dead stock items and far too many stock outs of our best sellers. With most retailers our size, the prospect of installing a computerized POS system was an intimidating process, not only in cost, but also in the seemingly unchartered territory lurking ahead. For years we had looked at various systems on the market, but had never gathered the courage to move ahead with a computerized POS system in a fully scanning environment. Our product of choice was a software-hardware system from Master Merchant Systems, a Dartmouth based company in business since 1986. Our decision was based not only on the feature rich software which enabled us to manage a leaner, meaner and more productive inventory, but also references from neighboring merchants in Antigonish. In hindsight, another reason to select the MMS system would be the excellent support from the staff of MMS.

In late May of 1998 we began installation of our computerized POS perpetual inventory system. It was a big job to get our system up and running. As it turned out, the process was not rocket science; the only intimidating part of the process was the amount of hard work. The software itself was easy to use and the hardware ran flawlessly. (The operating platform is Unix - a very reliable and robust operating system - our system has not crashed or frozen in 18 months of operation.)

So what has our POS system done for us?

• With a little bit of tweaking, the MMS system can be set to create accurate orders of merchandise with just a few keystrokes. These orders are based on the rate of sales, or sales velocity, not so much min-max system. This is particularly useful for basic everyday items where great reductions of inventory can be achieved while maintaining an in-stock position. For instance in the summer time when sales of yarns are typically slow, the system will order goods (in user defined pack sizes) based on number of units sold in a given period. As sales pick up in the fall, the system will order more goods to account for increase sales rates. I.e. the system orders based on day’s stock coverage, or turns per period.
  
  
• In our store we sell tole paints from several different suppliers: Delta, Americana, Plaid. In the fall months we order every week, typically an order takes on or two minutes to generate and fax. The order is accurate; the system orders more of the good sellers and fewer of the poor sellers. We have not had a stock out this fall in the popular colors, yet we are carrying far less inventory. Our inventory is now much more productive.
  
  
• Other areas where we have achieved more control are in clothing (Levi's, GWG, Canadelle (thousands of skus)). Our entire hardware and house wares depot is on automatic inventory control. In many areas we have achieved inventory reductions of more than 25%. Seasonal codes can be set to prevent ordering of out of season merchandise, order codes can be set to prevent reordering of one time buys of discontinued stock, etc.
  
  
• Advanced orders and booking orders are more easily and accurately created as sales history for particular items or categories of items are quickly accessed. Historical prices for each item are available and from different suppliers.
  
  
• The system's receiving log records the price of goods whenever merchandise is received. This is a useful feature for Truserv stores, prices can be compared from different sources of supply and on different buying opportunities. I.e. buy it on sale AO, the regular AO, the market AO, or on direct ship?
  
  
• With the automatic order feature, purchase orders for Truserv goods are quickly generated on a weekly basis, taking into account pack sizes and break points Orders are electronically transmitted to Truserv. Invoices are downloaded, the ordered goods are matched to the purchase orders and the system receives the invoiced quantities at the correct prices. Savings are achieved because of the quick and accurate order creation and automatic updating of quantities and prices for those running perpetual inventory systems.
  
  
• AO's can be downloaded and created, new items can be imported into the system easily from these advanced orders.

The bottom line is that my inventory is becoming more productive, turns are better, investment in inventory is reduced while our "in stock" position on good sellers has improved significantly.

In terms of cash flow, inventory reductions achieved in the first year of operation have been enough to pay for the POS system.

A computerized POS system is a big chore to take on, but the payback will come quickly. I feel that the MMS POS system has become an essential part of my operation.

Lloyd Jewkes
Antigonish 5 to $1.00 (1973) Ltd.