Activant announced key upgrades to three of its industry leading data management software programs this week at the Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo (AAPEX) in Las Vegas. Activant LaserCat, Activant Eagle and Activant Vision feature new capabilities and enhancements that will expand the data available to resellers, jobbers and warehouse distributors, simplify transactions and reduce time spent on parts lookup and data entering.

LaserCat 3
Based on extensive insight from an Activant-commissioned multi-year catalog usability study, the Activant LaserCat 3 eCatalog helps counter professionals dramatically reduce the time needed to look up, recommend and sell the right parts for millions of vehicles. Featuring an innovative graphical user interface that consolidates critical information within a single screen, the new eCatalog enables the user to launch a lookup with any of three application inputs – year/make/model, vehicle identification number or part description. The eCatalog’s advanced logic also significantly reduces the number of “clicks” required for most lookups and allows the counterperson to reduce or even eliminate the need to take notes when serving a customer. Furthermore, the new Activant LaserCat 3 eCatalog helps accelerate each lookup by eliminating unnecessary application questions.

“Many customers provide different pieces of information, in different order, to the counterperson,” said Thomas V. Aliotti, senior vice president and general manager of the Activant automotive business. “When the store is busy and the phone is ringing off the hook, the counterperson is often forced to scribble notes about an application until he or she can ‘catch up’ in their eCatalog. Activant LaserCat 3 instantly launches the lookup with any of three pieces of information, and then helps the user quickly drill down to the right part.”

Eagle has landed
The Activant Eagle for the Aftermarket business management solution will soon be available in a new software release featuring scores of important new capabilities and enhancements. The Activant Eagle system helps distributors and jobbers strengthen their competitive advantage over national retailers and dealership-based parts and service businesses.

The new software release, Activant Eagle 18.1, includes additional features and expanded functionality in seven key business areas: purchasing; inventory and warehouse operations; multi-location operations; catalog/information services; point-of-sale; reporting; and administrative/account management.

Among the new capabilities available through Activant Eagle 18.1 are  the ability to quickly save and retrieve orders and quotes at the parts counter; custom pricing calculation for non-inventory products; in-store gift card processing; bar-code package quantity capture; electronic retrieval of standardized purchase orders via the Activant® AConneX® DX solution; centralized PO processing and automatic stock transfers; enhanced zone bin printing; core banking; streamlined client updates; and the ability to receive bi-weekly Activant eCatalog data updates via the Activant Active Updates™ service.

Clear Vision
A new release of the popular Activant Vision business management solution, features more than 80 key updates and enhancements designed to help two- and three-step aftermarket distributors improve operational efficiency and customer service. The Activant Vision system is an innovative, highly flexible Microsoft Windows-based solution for distributors who want to control costs through highly efficient inventory management and differentiate their businesses by delivering a superior customer experience. The platform features a powerful yet easy-to-use graphical user interface built around Microsoft.NET technology.

The new Activant Vision release, Version 8.3, is designed to help distributors and jobbers dramatically reduce the time required for a broad range of daily processes, including pricing calculations, end-of-day reporting and data transfers. The new software also expands the platform’s scalability, now supporting up to 750 users and multiple main and/or replenishment warehouses.

“The Activant Vision solution is very appealing not only for large two-step distributors, but also for three-steppers who appreciate both its powerful warehouse management functionality, CRM tools and expanded point-of-sale features,” said Aliotti.