This article originally ran in July 2011.
As a market leader in supply chain tracking and equipment management software for returnable transit packaging, TODAY IT, the developers of Avalanche and Avalanche Online, announce enhanced functionality, improved mobility solutions and a “Free” online version of their software with a 5,000 transaction limit.
Already used by leading manufacturers, 3PL providers, retailers and equipment rental companies that include Contraload and Europal, the Avalanche range of software provides one of the most successful solutions for delivering cost reduction through improved management and visibility of valuable reusable packing. As a backbone of the Dutch Floriculture industry and Flower auctions, Avalanche has overcome one of the most complex supply chains to produce significant savings in product wastage and reduction in equipment losses.
The recent enhancements to transaction processing and data exchange make it even simpler to import information from a client’s WMS/ERP system or RFID managed services. This is further aided by the upgrade to “Avalanche Mobile”, providing additional mobility solutions for handheld terminals.
All users have the ability to manage equipment balances through the extensive reporting suite in Avalanche. This can now be extended to all stages of the supply chain including growers, exporters, manufacturers and logistics providers through the “Avalanche Community” web portal, where transaction and balance information can be shared electronically. The functionality to export information to equipment rental companies including Chep will be extended to several licensed versions of Avalanche Online.
Avalanche consists of Windows and SaaS applications, including Avalanche Windows, Avalanche Online, Avalanche Community and Avalanche POOL-IT. New clients interested in Avalanche can make use of the free web version of Avalanche Online, allowing them to process 5,000 transactions and truly manage equipment like pallets, containers, kegs and Danish trolleys during this time without charge.
The more extensive versions of Avalanche Online include the advanced features Workflow Management and Transport Planning. The Workflow Management feature allows you to implement specific business processes within the software which are graphically displayed, improving customer service and reducing administration. These workflows are compiled on request by TODAY IT in conjunction with you, the customer.
Avalanche POOL-IT is the premium addition to the range, providing web and server based solutions, enabling retailers and equipment rental companies to manage their own pools with full equipment costing, hire charge calculation and invoicing. Using additional managed services from sister company Interaxi, Avalanche can provide one of the most advanced and robust barcode scanning / RFID solutions for supply chain tracking of your products, assets and returnable packaging.
One recent client of TODAY IT is Jan de Rijk logistics, a leading supplier of 3rd Party logistic services across Europe and a user of Avalanche Online since the end of 2010. A decisive factor in purchasing Avalanche Online was the company winning a tender for the Greenrail project, a joint initiative between 6 leading Dutch exporters for the transport of plants by rail to Italy. Besides using Avalanche Online to manage increased volumes of returnable transit packaging for the Greenrail project, all 6 participating exporters used Avalanche to manage all their returnable packaging like Danish trolleys. This made data exchange more simple, aspects which the old system did not support.
Jeroen Sprokkelenburg, Danish trolley administrator at Jan de Rijk says, “The old system was extremely outdated and wasn’t being maintained. This resulted in errors and having to enter everything accurately cost us much time.” On 4 November 2010, Jan de Rijk signed an agreement with TODAY IT. Within a month and a half, Avalanche Online was implemented and, at the start of 2011, Jan de Rijk began managing its Danish trolleys. This rapid transition can be partly credited to the convenience of Avalanche’s full online service, which didn’t require any installation of software, updates or connections to other systems.
“We’ve been running Avalanche Online exclusively for a couple of months now. We’re not even close to using all the functions of the application, but it has already proved to be extremely effective and saves us an enormous amount of time. The application functions so fast and is so well-organised that, according to my estimate, we gain a 30% saving in time. And we haven’t even started sending reports using Avalanche. On top of all this, TODAY IT handles all the maintenance, which is fantastic. So far, I’m extremely satisfied”, says Sprokkelenburg.
About TODAY IT
TODAY IT was established in 1997 and together with sister company Interaxi are based in Delft, near Rotterdam in The Netherlands. TODAY IT is a leading solution provider of SaaS and Windows based equipment management software for Returnable Transit Packaging. With agents in Germany, Spain, France and the UK, Avalanche and Avalanche Online has a customer list including some of the most well known and respected manufacturers, 3PL providers, equipment rental companies and retailers in Western Europe; with plans in place for entering the US market during 2011.
For more information on Avalanche, contact Today IT direct on +31 (0) 15 750 10 50 or visit our website www.avalanche-online.com
In the UK and Ireland contact Supply Chain Tracking Ltd on +44 (0)117 230 9492 or visit their website www.supplychaintracking.co.uk
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