Intelligent, Custom-Built Software Built to Accelerate Automotive, Heavy Duty and Industrial Distributors

At ams Computer Group, we go beyond being just a software vendor. We aim to be your strategic partner, delivering comprehensive IT solutions tailored to your needs. Whether it's PCs, custom software, or establishing a robust online presence, we've got you covered.

Industrial

Halo

Industrial

Targeted to companies operating in the Canadian Oil Patch the rich software content of the standard product has extensions for these users that includes work order tracking, bottled gas rental and seasonal purchasing capabilities.

Our core product is trademarked COUNTERPOINT®, a fully integrated suite of software modules designed to automate all aspects of the Sales, Inventory, Purchasing and Financial control processes. COUNTERPOINT® is currently installed in hundreds of automotive, industrial, marine supply and heavy-duty equipment companies across North America.

Point-Of-Sale

The Sales Counter module provides a single point of entry for Sales Orders, Quotations, Special Orders, Returns, Warranties and Core control. In addition, the system allows for "single keystroke" access to such features as CARDEX inquiry, Product Search, Payments on account, Electronic Catalogue, Price Book and Buyers Guide, just to mention a few.

Add to these features the unique capability of the VIP customer management module, real-time credit control, core markup with automatic rounding, date driven specials, contract pricing and our patented "Profit Watch" monitor and what you have is a state-of-the-art system backed up by old fashioned service.

Key Highlights

  • Lookup by Account, Partial Name or Telephone Number
  • Open Order, Invoice, Pick Ticket, Credit Note or Branch Transfer
  • Web Transactions with Unique Clerk Numbers
  • Customer Profile for PO Required, Must Read/Print Notes
  • No Line Code Required on Entry
  • Scan Option at POS Requires No Keystrokes
  • Initiate Branch Transfer on Entry
  • Last Three Prices Paid, Pricing Calculation
  • Standard Line (Stocked or Not)
  • Automatic add of items to inventory on sale
  • Validated Returns / Warranties & Cores to Original Invoice #
  • Back Orders, Special Orders & Comments on any line
  • Take Payment on Account over the counter
  • ECAT Link to Any Application Part
  • Full integration to drop autoecat items into your invoice screen
  • Optional Integration to Credit Card Processor
  • Automatic Feed to Delivery Tracking Module with Default Delivery Type (Shotgun, Scheduled)
  • “Single Click” Interface to Delivery Monitor

Inventory Control & Pricing

The inventory system provides for a single or multi location operation with full bar code support. This allows for increased efficiencies at the POS as well as when receiving, transferring or counting stock. Tracking of non-stocked items allows for automated returns of unwanted product by the systems ability to determine suppliers invoice/document numbers in support of goods that are to be returned.

Key Highlights

  • Multi Branch Support
  • Twenty Character Part #
  • Auto Substitutes
  • Multiple Standard Price Levels
  • Multi Currency Handling
  • Multi & Qty Bar Code Support
  • Standard Packs
  • Alternate Vendor/Part #
  • Product Class / Sub Class
  • Standard/Expanded Description
  • Special Character Suppression
  • Item Notes
  • Multiple Discount Levels
  • Integrated Core Price
  • Dynamic ABC Ranking
  • 24 Months Sales History
  • Seasonal Item Support
  • Kits (Purchased or Built)
  • Warranties/Cores Out Tracking
  • Multiple Bin Location Support
  • Price Breaks
  • Customer/Supplier BO Tracking
  • Dynamic Lead Time Tracking
  • Supplier Line Code Translation

Purchasing

The replenishment of inventory is taken to a new level with the inclusion of "seasonal item" support. In addition, automated scheduled reorders, by line code or supplier, ensures maximum turns at the same time as maintaining high service levels. The integration of special orders automatically links incoming product with the waiting customer, all with a few simple keystrokes. In addition, the ongoing analysis of supplier fill rates, lead times and purchasing to accounts payable matching provide management with the tools to determine how any given supplier is performing.

Key Highlights

  • Multi DC / Branch
  • Review Every Part / Every Day
  • Automatic Vendor Lead Time
  • Prepaid Vendor Threshold
  • Automated Branch Transfers
  • Automated Buy Package Roundup
  • Alternate Vendor/Part # Cross
  • Dynamic EOQ Calculation
  • Target Turns + Lead Time + SS=EOQ
  • Multiple Currency Support
  • Automatic “Pull From” Transfers Calculation
  • Consolidated / Split Orders
  • Automatic Part Ranking based on Sales $’s or Units
  • Target Turns by Ranking
  • Estimated Landing Cost by % by Vendor or Entered Actual at time of Receipt
  • Booking Orders / Special Orders

Financial Systems

Nobody today can afford to have delays in knowing the financial health of their company. It is for this reason the COUNTERPOINT® system includes a financial reporting module. This eliminates unnecessary keying of data to other systems, with the resulting delays and lack of data integrity. This said, extraction of financial transactions into standard data formats for the outside accountant is quick and easy.

Key A/R Highlights

  • Alpha Numeric Customer Codes
  • Separate VIP Customer Database
  • Open Item or Balance Forward Accounts
  • Credit Control by Credit Limit and/or Days Overdue
  • Service Charges % by customer or default with Minimum Amount
  • Must Read for POS Customer Notes
  • Delivery Type and Run
  • Multiple Ship To Addresses
  • Redirect Billing Account
  • Cash Receipt Automatically Apply to Oldest
  • Dating Terms
  • Email or Fax Statements
  • Emailed Statement Attachments
  • Payment and Transaction History

Key A/P Highlights

  • Separate Vendor database for Accounts Payable and Purchasing
  • Enter Invoice Value or Match or PO
  • EDI Integration to A/P
  • Default G/L Distribution Account
  • Cash Requirements Reporting
  • Miscellaneous and Automatic Cheques
  • EFT Payment Advise
  • Vendor Analysis Reporting
  • 3-way AP Matching with PO receipts

Key G/L Highlights

  • Multi Branch support
  • All Sub Systems integrated to the G/L
  • Journal Entries – Normal, Prior Period, Scheduled
  • Customizable Financial Statement Formats
  • Drill down to Transaction Detail

Barcoding

Automatic Product Recognition via the use of bar code scanning offers today's greatest advance in efficiencies for the investment dollar. The ability to sell and receive product without error offers enormous benefits to the parts distributor handling tens of thousands of unique part numbers. The COUNTERPOINT® system utilizes these advantages throughout.

Key Highlights

  • Multiple barcodes per item
  • Package and Case Barcodes
  • PO Receiving via barcode
  • Stock transfer receiving via barcode
  • Barcoded bin handling
  • Bin adjustments by barcode

E-Catalogue

In today's world, an electronic catalogue is an integral part of any automotive point-of-sale system. At ams, we decided long ago that, in order to be able to offer the most cost effective, and flexible software to our customers, we would need to develop an in-house e-cat. Thus, autoecat was born.

Tightly integrated with COUNTERPOINT® point-of-sale software, autoecat allows jobbers and installers of any size to quickly find the product they need and order it. In the fast-paced automotive industry you don't want to waste time, so let autoecat help you find the right part the first time. We are always happy to demonstrate our product, or answer any questions you may have.

To date, autoecat boasts over 750 million application entries, representing over 450 aftermarket suppliers, and is updated almost weekly to ensure our customers have the most current catalogue possible on their counter.

Pricing

Ensuring the product on the shelf is being sold at the right price is paramount to maintaining a healthy business. Our nightly automated price updates take the worry out of pricing your product.

We receive complete price lists from all of the major buying groups, as well as direct from most of the aftermarket suppliers. If you receive product from a vendor, rest assured we can integrate them into our automated price releases.

Key Pricing Highlights

  • Automated price updates from all major buying groups
  • Six STANDARD Price Levels plus Average & Base Cost
  • Ability to Sell +/- from any Level, including Cost
  • Customer Price Groups by Industry / Sales Volume
  • Multiple Formulas within Category / Line Code
  • Contract Pricing by Customer based on Calculation or Net
  • Quantity Price Breaks
  • Price based price Breaks
  • Currency/Exhance handling
  • Core Markup
  • Date Driven Pricing/Promotions:
    • By Customer
    • By Category / Line Code
    • By Part Number
    • By Industry Group
    • By Product Class/Sub Class
    • Net Price OR Discount From…
    • Include Non Stocked (Y/N)
    • Limit Quantity Available
    • Price Break on Quantity
    • Retail Price Rounding
    • Price Point Rounding

CRM

Thinking Retail

"Changing the Customer Mix"

The need to protect shrinking profit margins from increased competition has never been greater. If you are like most jobbers the percentage of your business that is cash ranges between ten and twenty percent. Cash sale transactions typically deliver significantly higher profit margins than wholesale customers, and you don’t have to deliver the product.

The problem is, until now, the only businesses equipped with the tools to service the cash customer, such as Automatic Customer Identification Systems and Preferred Customer Reward Programs, were Big Box Retailers. This is no longer the case, as you will see by reading on…

How it Woks

"Knowing your Customer"

The first rule of successful retailers is to Know Your Customer. The VIP program that has been developed by ams starts with identifying the cash customer. This is done by asking the customer for their telephone number, not uncommon for warranty handling etc. The system will automatically show their current home address from the Address Made Simple database, which contains more than 10 million Canadian residential telephone numbers.

This now allows regular cash customers to be identified for many purposes, such as special pricing and promotional activity. In addition, the customers VIP profile will allow for an e-mail address should they wish to receive notification of promotional activity and/or pricing electronically. The system also provides the jobber all the tools for direct mail marketing campaigns either through a mailing house or by doing it themselves.

The optional information the system can store, such as date of birth, allows flexible options for creative promotional programs, like those used by your Big Box Retail competitors, but still with the advantage of personalized service. The VIP card, when branded with your logo and other corporate information, provides credibility by its professional appearance.

Building Customer Loyalty

"Personalizing the Automotive Shopping Experience"

In addition to correct address information the VIP program offers another unique feature, capturing the ACES standard Car Code for their vehicle as an automatic by-product of utilizing the www.autoecat.com Electronic Catalogue when looking up parts for the customer. This ensures that they will then always receive the correct part for their vehicle, thereby reducing mistakes that cost customers. Another useful feature is that the system will retain complete detail of every purchase made by anybody who is part of the VIP customer program. This further increases your knowledge of their purchasing habits and increases their feeling of recognition.

How to get Started

The process is as simple as calling our country wide toll free number today at 1-800-663-1978 and let ams put it's 50 years of retail and automotive experience to work for you!