Snackfood Maker Lance Inc. Boosts Customer Service and Sales

Lance Inc., a producer and distributor of snack foods in the United States, implements a new mobile solution powered by Windows Mobile and Apacheta Corp.'s RouteACE software with Microsoft Corp. Lance, based in Charlotte, N.C., needed a mobile application that it could deploy, change and support more efficiently. The new solution is helping the company's 1,400 direct-to-store delivery salespeople to improve customer service, run routes more efficiently, track and manage inventory, and access reports on demand. Lance, based in Charlotte, N.C., needed a mobile application that it could deploy, change and support more efficiently.

"Device failure rates had been increasing for several years," says Shawn Cherry, director of applications at Lance. "The business couldn't tolerate it anymore. Our immediate objective was to eliminate the downtime due to failed devices -- and fast."

Lance selected Apacheta Corp.'s RouteACE direct store delivery software for its mobile application because of the integration it provided with Microsoft's .NET Compact Framework.

"We already had experience using Microsoft .NET technology to develop desktop and server applications, and knew that Windows Mobile would enable us to take advantage of that same skill set," Cherry says. "We also knew that Windows Mobile would enable us to choose from a broad range of applications."

In addition, synchronization of the mobile devices is conducted wirelessly using Apacheta communications middleware. The data is stored in the Microsoft SQL Server CE 2.0 relational database running on the handheld computer, and is uploaded to the Web servers running Windows Server 2003 and Apacheta ServerACE software. The data is then kept in a database running Microsoft SQL Server 2005, which is connected to Lance's enterprise resource planning solution.

"Device startup times are down to less than a minute, and synchronization times are at least 50 percent faster," Cherry adds. "Even over dial-up lines, the process takes only a few minutes. With the increased application responsiveness and new capabilities that our salespeople now enjoy, they can complete more stops per day."