The Ever- and Oh So Wonderful- Changing World of Technology
The iPhone is, for total lack of a more appropriate word, revolutionary. What the iPod did for listening to music, the iPhone will do for almost every aspect of our lives using mobile technology. Its clean, intuitive interface is so streamlined and its feature set is so robust you won’t be able to imagine life without it.
With all that the iPhone is bringing to the personal digital lifestyle, many business owners are asking, “How will the iPhone change the way I do business?” Due to Apple’s forward thinking approach to Web 2.0 technologies, the iPhone’s browser supports all standard web technologies. That means web-based applications such as Substruct Mobile, a web-based inventory control and receiving add-on to Cougar Mountain, are fully supported. While Substruct Mobile is supported by most “mobile browsers” Safari’s implementation on the iPhone is so slick, you’ve got to see it to believe it.
One of the first things I did after activating my iPhone was to head on over to http://demo.substructsystems.com/cougar to check out our demo copy of Substruct Mobile. I fired up the Adjust Stock Quantities page, zoomed in on the Stock field, and typed in “Chair1″ with my onscreen keyboard. Sure enough, there was all the information on stock number CHAIR1: the server reported back that I’ve got 70 on hand, with a last cost of $10 and a retail of $100.
Having this kind of access to information is the fundamental drive behind technology like the iPhone. Let’s look at an example. Let’s say you’ve owned a wholesale plastics business since 1975. In ‘77 if one of you larger customers wanted to place a larger than normal order with you while you were on vacation, he would have had to take the following steps:
1. He calls the office. You aren’t there. He tells your secretary to have you contact him ASAP.
2. Your secretary phones the hotel you are staying at, but you are out on the beach. She leaves a message with the concierge.
3. The concierge tracks you down by the bar and gives you the message. You head to your room to place a call.
4. First you contact the customer to find out what he needs. After figuring out what plastic he is after and his quantities, you then call the warehouse to check your stock levels.
5. Your warehouse manager tells you that they’ve got plenty of that plastic in stock, but forgets to mention the fact that half of it has already been sold.
6. You call back the customer with a delivery date you’ll never meet (because you don’t have the actual stock quantity on hand). He later gets upset because the stuff you told him you would deliver is now on backorder.
Granted this is an extreme case, but for arguments sake, let’s look at this scenario again in today’s setting, with your brand new iPhone in hand.
1. The customer calls into the office to place an order with you. You no longer have a secretary because you keep all your contacts and appointments on your iPhone. He dials your extension which is immediately transferred to you in Florida. You’re listening to “Margaritaville” by Jimmy Buffet“ the perfect beach song on your iPhone. The music fades out and you answer the call as if you were in the office.
2. The customer asks about a certain kind of plastic. You flip over to Safari using the resort’s beach front Wireless Internet, you login in to Substruct Mobile. You see you’ve got a ton in stock, but most has already been sold to another customer. You then check the inventory on a similar plastic you carry. Looks like you’ve got plenty of that other but similar plastic in stock.
3. You offer the replacement plastic to the customer, who isn’t picky about what kind of plastic as long as it comes on time. He’s happy as can be.
Quite different, isn’t it? This is just one example of how mobile technology is changing our lives. In a survey of 39,000 people in the days after the iPhone’s release, 90% had heard of the product, and a staggering 32% planned on owning one (www.lightspeedresearch.com). As you can see, this isn’t just the latest toy, it’s a revolution.
Luke Stratton
Co-Founder and CEO
Substruct Systems, LLC
lukestratton@substructsystems.com
For more information on Substruct Mobile and web-based access to your Cougar Mountain Inventory installation, contact your sales representative, 800.388.3038 or business partner today.
Substruct Systems is an award wining Cougar Mountain Business Partner providing mobile and inventory control solutions to businesses around the country. For more info visit www.substructsystems.com.
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