Innovative Data Systems (IDS) of Sayville, N.Y., the pioneer in pallet plant floor software and data systems, has entered into an alliance with Automated Machine Systems (AMS) Inc. of Jenison, Mich. This move brings together the two biggest software solution providers to the pallet industry.
For the last two and a half years, AMS has been developing a full-scale Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system tailored to the pallet and lumber industry. This software solution combines all the accounting, resource planning, production and logistic scheduling functions with IDS’ plant floor data collection.
The agreement calls for IDS to be the exclusive supplier of all plant floor data collection systems for AMS. This includes IDS’ kiosk systems, wireless handheld devices, forklift mounted terminals and other unique data capturing equipment.
Known for its development expertise, IDS recently received the NWPCA’s 2007 Innovation Award, which recognizes key products that have revolutionized the industry. IDS’ line of data capturing products is known across the industry by the Pallet Track ® brand name.
As part of the alliance, IDS and its president, Alan Miceli, will support the sale of the AMS Palmate™ Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System as the administrative software for these products in new pallet operations. Previously, IDS promoted its Mill Manager™ to those companies. According to Alan, Mill Manager will still be his preferred solution for pallet recyclers although IDS will support Palmate for any customer that chooses to use it. IDS also intends to continue developing improvements for its software geared to recyclers.
Alan said, “IDS will no longer support the sale of Mill Manager to predominantly new pallet manufacturers… All Pallet Track ® products will fully integrate with the Palmate™ ERP System. This decision allows both IDS and AMS to avoid unnecessary and costly overlap of solutions in the industry, allowing us both to offer a superior product that is ready for the market place today instead of months or years from now. We collectively concentrate on what we do best, and I truly believe the end result is a win-win for both our companies and our customers.”
Both AMS and IDS will offer Pallet Track ® products and the PalMate software at the same prices. This eliminates any price advantage of dealing with one company over the other. It all boils down to personal choice.
Kris Chayer, president of AMS, said, “People should know that we are working together on this to achieve the most cost effective solution, and we are hoping that the industry has a positive outlook when they assess our alliance.”
This new alliance will allow IDS to expand its business while gaining a highly experienced support and sales team. According to IDS, AMS gains the ability to provide “world class” data collection directly from the plant floor and tap into Alan’s 20 years of experience in the pallet industry.
While both industry innovators, IDS and AMS have been fairly strong competitors in the software arena. Both parties said that they have been working on a collaborative agreement for a few years. This new alliance will help companies that have wanted to utilize Pallet Track’s data collection capabilities with Palmate’s ERP system.
Chad Hoffman of AMS said, “Coming together, we are able to accelerate our timeline and provide an excellent solution that combines the strengths of both companies. It is a huge win for the industry. We will be able to get solutions to customers much faster.”
AMS and IDS hope to install integrated systems within months. They are already closing on a customer with a combined system.
Chad said, “All the components work together. So, if a customer wants to start out with just one system, it can still upgrade later by adding software that we sell because it all works together.”
IDS guaranteed that it will not favor one authorized distributor over another or share any confidential information. IDS has a network of distributors
including: Pallet Repair Systems, Industrial Resources of Michigan and Bronco Systems.
Looking ahead, Alan said this partnership was bringing the industry one step closer to a global enterprise system. He explained, “By that I mean a plant in California with a plant floor system can have data sent to its headquarters in New York in real time. The data can flow back and forth much faster.”
