Microsoft, The Pepsi Bottling Group, and Shelflink Announce New Mobile Solution

NEW ORLEANS -- Today at the Microsoft Mobility Developer Conference 2003, Microsoft Corp., The Pepsi Bottling Group Inc. and Shelflink Inc. announced that PBG has deployed a new Microsoft .NET Compact Framework-based smart mobile solution built with Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003. The solution provides PBG's 6,000 sales representatives with vital information needed to sell more effectively to customers at 650,000 retail locations. PBG is automating several business processes that will drastically reduce operational costs while increasing the capabilities of its sales force.

"Our .NET Compact Framework-based application built by Shelflink replaces paper-based systems of the past," said Paul Hamilton, vice president of the supply chain group at PBG. "Our business requires our sales force to have all the most current information all the time -- whether they're connected to the network or working offline. The new SmartSelling application will deliver that reliability day in and day out, order by order, as our sales representatives interact with store managers and owners."

PBG takes advantage of Shelflink's .NET Compact Framework-based SmartSelling technology and Web services to integrate data down to an application running locally on a custom-built Symbol Technologies Pocket PC. This data, which was previously captured through an intensive paper-based system, now is organized electronically and is easily accessible via Web services, enabling PBG's sales force to access route management information, real-time demand forecasting, inventory management, promotional information and authorized products on-site from a handheld device. In addition, because of rich offline capabilities in the .NET Compact Framework, the information is available even when sales representatives are away from the network.

Shelflink's SmartSelling solution was developed in only six months by 10 developers using a combination of Visual Studio .NET 2003 and the .NET Compact Framework.
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