NowNews
Now More Than Ever - Capture All Earned Income and Optimze Profits / May 2008
It's May...
and for all of us in the Foodservice Industry that means one thing...the annual NRA Convention. Each year the convention celebrates our dynamic industry.
It is THE forum for manufacturers to introduce thousands of new foods, new and upgraded equipment and a full array of other related items. With approximately 2000
exhibitors, it is almost certain you will be stocking some new items shortly. All the more reason for a full understanding of your Trackmax system and how it can make your
life easier, more productive and help you increase the bottom line of your organization.
The month of May is also notable for being the National Month of celebration for the Egg, the Hamburger, Salads, Salsa, and Barbecue. Then there is "Eat Dessert First
Week" and "Eat What You Want Day" along with Cinco de Mayo, National Pizza Day, and National Chocolate Chip Day. And finally, there is Mother's Day, the second most popular
occasion for people to dine out.
What a great foodservice month to look forward to for relying on your Trackmax system to help you out with new items that you take on and more sales of current items.
Let us know if you have any questions. Just give us a call at 1-888-239-5400 or email us at trackmax.com.
--Your Trackmax Team
Corporate Highlights
Tom Rawson
It is hard to believe that 6 months have passed since our 2007 User Conference and that the 2008 User Conference is only 6 months away. As we told you
in April, our venue this year is the newly renovated Naples Grande Resort. While the location alone is worth attending, there are several important business
reasons to join us this year.
First and foremost, with the economic challenges facing you, every penny does count. In our User Survey last year, 82% of users indicated they knew they
were not maximizing Trackmax functionality. Add to that stat, another one from the survey: 64% of Trackmax users have been using the system for 4 years
or less. The User Conference is the perfect time to increase your knowledge of the system.
Secondly, the User Conference is a great time to meet with other Trackmax users, share experiences and learn things that will make your job easier and more
productive. The networking is always a highlight!
Thirdly, during the Annual User Conference we introduce all the new enhancements that Eric has been making throughout the year.
We will be sending out Conference Material later this month. We look forward to seeing not only the newer users but also the seasoned veterans come
October. Now more than ever, it's a good time to maximize Trackmax functionality.
Profit Headliners
Jerry Peacock
Profit. It is such a great sounding word. It is a great word to be able to use to characterize a business's bottom line. It is also a word that could be elusive for
many of us in the foodservice business this year. Times are tough. Operators are feeling the pain of reduced traffic and check averages. When that happens,
distributors and manufacturers are also feeling the pain. And, it looks like the worst may still be ahead of us.
Profit. For Distributors, profit comes in many forms. The role of earned income is increasingly more important in difficult economic times. Helping you realize
the earned income due you is the essence of Trackmax Profit Optimizers.
We encourage every user to do a quick audit on the reports you should be using on a regular basis, particularly in these tight times. There are 10 key reports
that help you maximize Trackmax functionality and better manage your bottom line: Detailed Aging, Growth Program Status Report, Expiration Dates by Supplier
Report, Funds Due from
Suppliers, Earnings by Category, G/L Reconciliation, Customer Covered by a Sales Program, New Customer
Added, Net Cost Group Reconciliation,Buyer's Performance.
You should be using all of them on a monthly basis. If you are not and have some questions on any of them, call us at the Help Desk at 1-888-540-9200.
Optimizer Update
Tim Rawson
Earned Income Update:
What do 3 UniPros, 1 Golbon and 1 ProGroup make?
Five new Trackmax Earned Income Profit Optimizer users!
We are pleased to welcome to our User Group:
EG Forrest
Winston-Salem, NC - UniPro
Superior Foods Company
Grand Rapids, MI - Golbon
Upper Lakes
Cloquet, MN - UniPro
Ritchies Food Distributor Inc.
Piketon, OH - ProGroup
Honor Foods
Philadelphia, PA - UniPro
True Profit/PIMS Update:
PIMS, our Profit Improvement Management System, is gaining momentum as the industry realizes the benefit of "True Profit"
as the better measurement metric. PIMS focuses on profit optimization, in critical areas, in one system: Contract & Rebate Management, Category Management,
Vendor Profitability Management, Customer Profitability Management, DSR Profitability Management.
New Earned Income Feature!
Eric Schiffli
Miscellaneous Invoices: What are they and why do you need them?
When you setup an earned income program within Trackmax, all of those earnings can be tied to either an item being bought or an item being sold. However there
are other types of earned income that do not specifically tie to either a purchase or a sale. The miscellaneous invoice within Trackmax is used to capture all of those
non-transactional earned income monies.
Now with the new "Marketing" option on the miscellaneous invoice, you can relate those non-transactional payments to a sales transaction. Just check the Marketing
check box on the miscellaneous invoice detail line, assign the appropriate time period, select the products the marketing program applies to in the Payment Override
Distribution button, then create the invoice. The marketing monies will be reported on the various Profitability Reports from Report Central.
Up and Coming
The National Restaurant Association Convention will take place in Chicago, May 15 -18. Tom, Tim and Jerry will be attending. If you will be in Chicago and have any questions about our IRM partnership and how their Discovery tool works with your Trackmax system, and would like to get together, let us know. Email tim@trackmax.com. to set up an appointment.
User Conference Update October 22-24: Naples Grande, here we come. Towards the end of May we will be sending out a complete registration package for the 2008 User Conference. The Naples Grande has extended room rates for the weekend following the conference for all who would like to take a little extra time for relaxing after the conference. To help us out on the count, if you think you will be able to attend the conference this year, please let us know by emailing lisa@trackmax.com.
February 1 marked the debut of our monthly NowNews. Now with our 4th issue, we would love to hear from you on the following two issues:
1. Is monthly too often? Would you like us to go to an every other month schedule?
2. With this issue we are testing a new format. Do you like it better than the format that was used for the February, March and April issues?
Let us know your thoughts at lisa@trackmax.com. And thanks in advance for your help!
Experienced Foodservice Programmer If you know a qualified industry programmer that would like to work with a great company who has great customers in a great location, we are interested in talking to them. Have them contact Eric Schiffli at eric@trackmax.com or 239-540-9200.
Identifying and ranking opportunities to increase vendor and customer contribution, PIMS delivers a complete picture of your business using the True Profit metric as the
foundation.
PIMS will drive a minimum 50 basis point improvement in 12-18 months by:
- Increasing vendor income, including new sources
- Improving margins and cash flow
- Identifying true SKU profitability
- Stratifying products and customers
- Identifying price optimization opportunities
- Making more effective product assortment decisions
Distributors $50 million or more should be looking into this system. Call us today so we can help you assess the appropriateness of this amazing tool for your
organization.
Complete your profit puzzle with Trackmax Solutions.
Profit is our Focus. Foodservice is our Business. Profit Optimize is our Mission.
Visit www.trackmax.com to find out more about our products and services.