WINTER 2016

88 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK
INxSQL/INTEGRATED INVENTORY SOLUTIONS
1117 S. Cass Lake Road, Waterford, MI 48328
TEL 1-877-4-INXSQL / 1-877-446-9775 FAX 248-681-7215 EMAIL sales@inxsql.com
WEB www.inxsql.com
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING CONNECTED
In today’s business environment being connected is a
necessity. Often when we think of being connected,
Facebook, Twitter or other forms of social media come to
mind, and these tools certainly have a place in our modern
business culture. For many businesses though, being
connected may be as simple as making it easier to serve
their customers or link to their vendors in a meaningful
and time saving way. Today’s fastener supply chain is
evolving from an environment
of phone calls, faxes and
email to one of direct
connectivity between
distributor and supplier.
INxSQL Software and
Porteous Fastener, now part
of Brighton Best
International, envisioned this
wave several years ago. The
two companies successfully
pioneered the first link
between INxSQL and the ERP system at PFC. This link,
called the INxSQL Direct Connect, has expanded today to
include AFIXX, Beacon Fasteners, BBI, Stelfast and by the
end of the year, Metric and Multistandard Components will
join the growing list of “connected” master distributors.
The INxSQL Direct Connect gives users the capability to
check pricing and stock availability in real time as well as
release purchase orders electronically with all of the Direct
Connect partners.
With tools like the INxSQL Direct Connect, INxSQL
users can source and procure the products that they sell
faster, easier and with fewer errors. “One of our goals is
to help our users be more productive” said Bob Reynolds,
President of INxSQL Software. “By directly connecting
INxSQL users to master distributors, we have created a
BUSINESS FOCUS ARTICLE
tool to help achieve that goal.”
“Linking customers and suppliers directly from within
the INxSQL ERP system is a natural and logical extension
of a modern distribution system,” said Keith Jones, Vice
President of Sales for INxSQL. “In today’s business
environment why should someone have to break their
work routine to call or email for pricing? Having to
recreate or communicate information already contained in
a purchase worksheet via
phone or email takes time, it
can create errors and it
disrupts the workflow for
everyone involved.”
In the fairly recent
past, connections were built
with tools via printed media
like the Yellow Pages,
catalogs or mass mailings.
While these were, and still
are in some cases effective,
clearly some of them are no longer viable. While many
questioned the value of the fax, mobile phones, email and
the internet itself, the technology that we have available
today has allowed those who have embraced it to realize
significant gains in productivity and cost savings. And, the
thought of being without the internet and connections like
the INxSQL Direct Connect today is daunting.
The following quote from the Secretary-General of the
International Telecommunications Union, Dr. Hamadoun
Touré sums it up best when considering how invaluable
connectivity and tools like the Direct Connect are in
today’s business environment:
“In the 21st century, affordable, ubiquitous networks
will be as critical to social and economic prosperity as
networks like transport, water and power.”
INxSQL