Third Wave of Deployment for Companion® Suite at Alex Coulombe Ltd.
The more than century-old bottling company Alex Coulombe Ltd., located in the City of Québec and licensee of Pepsi, Seven-Up and Crush, also offering Montellier mineral water among others, initiates the third wave of computerization for its mobile teams. After the representatives in 2013, and the delivery drivers in 2015, it is the technicians’ turn to free themselves of handwritten work orders, as they too will rely on the Companion® Suite, by CIS Group.
Instead of “products” set for delivery, it will rather be mostly “services” that make up the transactions of these technicians: the delivery of vending machines, refrigerators, or soda fountains, but also the installation work, as well as repair interventions, or the visits planned in the application of the preventive maintenance program.
Their mobile computer, after communicating with the Central in the morning, will supply all the pertinent data related to their tasks: a summary of the day’s route, access to the history of repairs for each customer, or to the remarks recorded for each unit of equipment, a predefined entry screen for information to be captured during each visit, etc. The electronic signature capture function will complete the transaction.
The computer will also handle the automatic adjustment of the parts inventory whenever a part is used in the repair or maintenance process. Automated management will extend to computing the timesheet of the technician, who may also record entries in the payment collection module, or else in his expense report (parking meters, etc.).
Frequent remote communication of the mobile units with the office, combined with GPS readings, will allow administrators to closely monitor the progress of operations. This systematic communication will also transfer, without further intervention, the transactions completed in the field, converting them into accounting data in the company’s enterprise management application.
“The continuous improvement strategy of CIS Group is strongly oriented by the exchanges we maintain with our clients, which are often the source of common initiatives, with a mutual contribution of ideas, in a win-win partnership – and the relation between Alex Coulombe and CIS Group is a very appreciable example of that type of synergy”, comments Éric Tessier, vice-president sales and marketing at CIS Group.
About Alex Coulombe Ltd.
In 1905, Edouard Coulombe founded Liqueurs Coulombe in the city of Québec. His right-hand man was 18-year-old Alexandre, his brother, who later took sole command in 1927. Alex Coulombe Ltd. becomes in 1935 the exclusive Pepsi-Cola bottler and distributor for the Old Capital. Forty cases an hour were then produced, on a pedal-operated bottling machine! With strong demand, production by 1940 has soared to three hundred 24-bottle cases per hour. The second generation joins the company: brothers Robert, Fernand, Michel and René.
Over time, more franchises are added, like Pure Spring in 1950, Seven-Up in 1968, and Crush in 1979. Cristalline spring water and Montellier carbonated mineral water are offered in 1984, and 2011 brings the distribution of Schweppes mixers. In the 1980’s, René’s sons, Richard and Marc, come in as the third generation, joined by their brother Éric in 1993. These are the years when numerous acquisitions extend the territory: Trois-Rivières, Lac Mégantic, Sorel, Shawinigan, Thetford Mines, Montmagny, La Malbaie, Vallée-Jonction. In 2002, Marc becomes the third president of the nearly century-old company. Alex Coulombe Ltd. partners with numerous sports organizations is associated with several major events and supports a dozen charitable organizations.