Vermont Information Processing
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Type | ESOP |
---|---|
Industry | Route Accounting Software |
Founded | 1973 |
Founder | Howard Aiken |
Headquarters | Colchester, Vermont, United States[1] |
Number of locations | St. Louis, MO Kalamazoo, MI Novato, CA Mint Hill, NC |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Dan Byrnes Ray Rouleau |
Products | >25 Distributor Solutions >15 Supplier Solutions |
Number of employees | 200 - 300 |
Website | http://public.vtinfo.com |
Vermont Information Processing, Inc. (VIP) is a small business in the Route Accounting software industry with a large software suite for soft drink bottlers, wine and beer distributors, and brewers. VIP's Route Accounting Software runs on IBM i in the Cloud and is accessed through Microsoft Windows; Mobile Solutions run on Windows Mobile, iOS, and Android.
History[]
Vermont Information Processing was founded in 1973 by Howard Aiken. The company purchased third shift computer time from a local bus company and focused on providing sales analysis services to distributors of soft drinks, wine, and beer. Distributors mailed retailer invoices to VIP where they were keyed into a mainframe computer for processing, the sales analysis reports were returned to the distributors via United States Postal Service mail.
The transition from a service provider to a software development firm started in 1975 with the advent of affordable IBM mini computers for distributors.[2] The original VIP software applications had an emphasis on route accounting functions as well as the backbone sales analysis suite.
The mainstream use of handheld computers started in 1978[3] with beverage sales reps using the devices to enter retail orders in the field and transmit them to the minicomputers. In subsequent years, handheld computers were heavily used by warehouse and delivery personnel.[4]
In 1979, VIP grew to 15 employees, and moved to new headquarters in Colchester, Vermont. The business expanded to over 30 people by 1991 and the company built and occupied a 32,000 square foot office building.[5]
2001 was a pivotal year for VIP. The company branched from its solid base in distributor software and started offering services for beverage suppliers.[6] The VIP employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) also started in 2001 with 30% of the company being owned by the employees. VIP welcomed the change back to its roots of providing services to both distributors and suppliers, this time via a Cloud computing solution named ASP[7] rather than the 1970s method of using the US Postal Service.
VIP is a Solutions Provider for IBM.[8]
Axces Systems, a supplier services firm from New York, was acquired in 2002. In 2003 and 2005, VIP acquired beverage software competitors MicroVane of Kalamazoo, MI[9] and Wholesaler Computer Systems (WCS) of St. Louis, MO. In 2015, VIP acquired BDN Systems from Neilsen to complement the growth of the Supplier Services.
In 2007, VIP implemented regression testing to expedite the testing of new features and versions.[10]
VIP, now 100% employee owned, counts over 1,000 distributors and 800 suppliers as customers who use its software suite. The company has offices in Charlotte, Novato, St. Louis, and Kalamazoo in addition to the headquarters in Colchester.[11]
Route Accounting Software[]
The core of VIP's software solution is the Route Accounting Software. Route accounting software is used by companies to keep track of product as it moves through the distribution process from the time it is received from the supplier to the time it is delivered to the retailer.
Warehouse Management System[]
VIP has a Warehouse Management System, WMS, that incorporates handheld technology that can transmit information about inventory movements and transactions in real-time to the Route Accounting Software.
Day care[]
VIP has had an on-site daycare facility providing education services to children of employees of the Colchester office since 1991.[12]
User's Conference[]
VIP holds a User's Conference annually in the fall and it is attended by VIP Route Accounting System customers, business partners, hardware vendors, and other interested parties.[13]
References[]
- ^ "Vermont Information Processing - VIP". NBWA Go-to-Guide for Beer Distributors. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
- ^ "IBM Archives: IBM System/32". 03.ibm.com. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
- ^ Computerworld - Google Boeken. 1980-12-15. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
- ^ Edwards, John. "Truckers Get Connected". Inbound Logistics. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
- ^ Vermont Information Processing, Inc. "About | Vermont Information Processing". Public.vtinfo.com. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
- ^ Vermont Information Processing, Inc. "Supplier Solutions | Vermont Information Processing". Public.vtinfo.com. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
- ^ Vermont Information Processing, Inc. "Distributor Solutions | Vermont Information Processing". Public.vtinfo.com. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
- ^ "IBM Business Partner Locator". 304.ibm.com. Archived from the original on 2016-02-03. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Original Software : Case Study" (PDF). Origsoft.com. Retrieved 2013-10-28.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Vermont Information Processing (1970-01-01). "vermont information processing - Google Maps". Google Maps. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
- ^ "Vermont Information Processing, Inc. | Colchester VT Early Childhood Program". ChildcareCenter.us. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
- ^ "2011 VIP Users Conference". Vtinfo.com. 2011-09-09. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
External links[]
- Companies based in Vermont
- Software companies of the United States