Custom Vendor Managed Inventory, Customer Managed Inventory, Resupply & Vending Solutions for P21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inventory doesn't always live inside the four walls of your warehouse.

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For many distributors, inventory is sitting at customer locations, in stockrooms, warehouses, jobsites, service vehicles, vending machines, bins, shelves, and other remote locations.

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Managing that inventory efficiently requires more than simply knowing what P21 says is on hand.

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MindHARBOR develops custom Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) and Customer Managed Inventory (CMI) solutions integrated with Epicor Prophet 21 to help distributors manage remote inventory, simplify replenishment, improve order entry, and give employees and customers easier ways to interact with P21.

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Custom Solutions. Not Products.

 

VMI & CMI Built Around Your Business

There isn't one VMI workflow that fits every distributor.

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Your customers, inventory, replenishment processes, pricing rules, locations, devices, connectivity, and P21 environment are different.

That's why MindHARBOR's approach isn't to sell another packaged VMI product.

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We build and extend VMI/CMI solutions around the way your business actually operates.

 

That can include:

• Vendor Managed Inventory

• Customer Managed Inventory

• Remote inventory replenishment

• Bin and stockroom management

• Mobile order entry

• Barcode scanning

• Customer self-service

• Inventory vending

• Automated resupply

• Remote warehouse and jobsite inventory

• Custom P21 order creation

• Pricing and customer-specific business rules

• Integration with existing P21 processes and data

• Custom reporting and visibility

 

Whether you're replacing manual processes, extending an existing VMI program, or building something entirely new, the objective is the same: Make inventory easier to manage wherever it happens to be.

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Take P21 Inventory Management Into the Field

VMI and CMI users don't always work from a desk with a perfect internet connection.

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They may be walking through a customer's warehouse, scanning bins in a stockroom, working at a construction site, servicing a remote location, or moving throughout a facility where Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity vary from one area to another.

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A good VMI solution has to work where the inventory is.

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MindHARBOR's P21 VMI/CMI solutions can provide mobile-friendly workflows that allow users to identify inventory requirements, scan products, enter quantities, create replenishment activity, and feed the resulting transactions back into P21.

 

NEW: Advanced Offline VMI/CMI & Performance Enhancement

Keep Working When the Internet Doesn't

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MindHARBOR has developed a new enhancement to modernize and improve the offline capabilities of our custom VMI/CMI solution using Progressive Web Application (PWA) technology.

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The enhancement is designed for environments where connectivity may be slow, intermittent, unreliable, or unavailable—including:

• Warehouses

• Customer stockrooms

• Jobsites

• Remote facilities

• Large buildings with inconsistent Wi-Fi

• Locations with weak cellular service

 

Users can prepare and synchronize the information they need while connected, continue supported VMI/CMI Order Entry activities without an active internet connection, retain applicable in-progress work on the device, and reconnect to resume normal processing when internet access becomes available again.

 

How Offline VMI/CMI Works

1. Connect & Log In

The user accesses the VMI/CMI application normally while an internet connection is available.

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2. Prepare for Offline Operations

A user-controlled Prepare for Offline Operations / Sync process gathers the application and site information required for offline activity and stores the necessary information locally on the user's device.

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3. Work Offline

Once synchronization is complete, the user can continue supported VMI/CMI Order Entry activities even when internet connectivity is unavailable.

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4. Protect In-Progress Orders

The local Order Queue / Unsubmitted Orders functionality allows applicable orders to remain available on the device while the user is disconnected.

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5. Reconnect & Continue

When internet connectivity returns, the application resumes communication with the VMI/CMI environment so applicable offline activity can continue through the normal connected workflow.

 

Connect. Sync. Work. Reconnect.

 

Faster Sync. Less Data. Better Performance.

The new architecture isn't only about operating without internet access.

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It is also designed to improve performance when the connection simply isn't very good.

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Rather than repeatedly transferring the entire initial dataset, subsequent synchronization can focus on smaller amounts of information.

 

Data exchanged between the VMI/CMI application and the user's device can also be optimized so only the information needed is transmitted where practical.

 

The result can include:

• Faster and more efficient synchronization

• Smaller data transfers

• Better responsiveness over slow connections

• Less dependence on continuous connectivity

• Improved reliability when connections drop

• Better protection of in-progress work

• A modern architecture for future VMI/CMI enhancements

 

Progressive Web Application Technology

The enhanced offline architecture uses Progressive Web Application technology to make required application components and VMI/CMI information available locally on the user's device.

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PWA capabilities can provide the benefits of a web-based application while supporting workflows that traditionally required more complex local application or database architectures.

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For VMI/CMI users, the technology itself isn't really the point.

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The important part is that the application can keep working when the connection doesn't.

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Barcode Scanning & Mobile Inventory

Barcode scanning can make remote inventory management significantly faster and easier.

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Rather than manually identifying products and entering item numbers, users can scan products or locations as they move through a customer's facility.

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Custom workflows can be developed around:

• Product scanning

• Bin scanning

• Quantity entry

• Replenishment

• Order creation

• Inventory counts

• Customer-specific items

• Location-specific inventory

• Mobile devices and tablets

 

The workflow can then connect the activity back to P21 based on the business rules and processes appropriate for your organization.

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Automated Resupply & Replenishment

VMI isn't simply about counting inventory. The real value comes from turning inventory information into action.

 

A custom VMI/CMI solution can help automate the process of identifying replenishment requirements and creating the appropriate activity in Prophet 21.

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Depending on your business requirements, that might include:

• Reorder-point logic

• Min/max replenishment

• Customer-specific stocking levels

• Usage-based replenishment

• Scheduled resupply

• Order generation

• Transfer requirements

• Notifications and exceptions

• Custom approval workflows

 

The objective is to reduce manual steps while maintaining the business rules that matter to your organization and your customers.

 

Inventory Vending & Self-Service

For some distributors, VMI extends into controlled inventory dispensing and vending environments.

MindHARBOR can develop or integrate solutions that connect vending or self-service inventory activity with P21.

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That can help distributors provide convenient product access while maintaining visibility into:

• Who took an item

• What was taken

• How much was used

• Which customer or location consumed it

• When replenishment is required

• How the activity should be processed in P21

 

The exact workflow can be designed around the vending equipment, customer requirements, and P21 processes already in place.

 

Customer-Specific VMI & CMI Workflows

Your customers don't necessarily want to manage inventory the way your ERP does.

That's okay.

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The user experience can be simplified around what the person in the stockroom, warehouse, jobsite, or customer facility actually needs to accomplish.

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Behind that experience, MindHARBOR can handle the integration, business rules, data transformation, and P21 transaction processing required to make everything work together.

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That can create a much simpler experience for the user without forcing your organization to abandon the processes and controls that matter inside P21.

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Already Have a VMI/CMI Solution?

You don't necessarily have to start over.

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MindHARBOR can evaluate and enhance existing VMI/CMI solutions, including solutions we've previously developed for customers.

 

Enhancements might include:

• Modernized mobile interfaces

• Advanced offline operation

• PWA architecture

• Improved synchronization

• Reduced data payloads

• New scanning workflows

• Additional customer locations

• New replenishment logic

• Performance improvements

• New P21 functionality

• Additional integrations

• Updated reporting or visibility

 

Sometimes the best solution isn't replacing what already works. It's making it better.

 

Built for P21. Built for Your Process.

MindHARBOR has been developing custom solutions around Prophet 21 for more than two decades.

Our VMI/CMI work combines P21 knowledge with custom application development, integration, mobile workflows, automation, and real-world distribution processes.

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We can work with your existing environment, your internal team, your customers, and your other technology providers to design the right approach.

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There is no requirement to buy a packaged MindHARBOR product or change your business to fit someone else's software.

We build what your process requires.

 

Have a VMI, CMI, Resupply or Vending Project?

Whether you're considering your first VMI program, replacing a manual process, extending an existing solution, improving offline capabilities, or connecting a new inventory workflow to Prophet 21, we'd be happy to talk through it with you.

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Bring us the process you're trying to improve.

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We'll help determine the best way to build it around P21.

Fix. Build. Bridge.

 

Custom Solutions. Not Products.