News: Metaworks
Mantis Retail Offers New Data Management Solution for Consumer Goods Companies
August 2000
HALIFAX, NS: Metaworks is pleased to introduce Mantis Retail™ - a new kind of data collection and reporting system designed specifically for the Consumer Packaged Goods industry.
"Mantis Retail combines the best of Internet, wireless, and handheld computing technologies," says Michael Perry, CEO, "to give our customers a cost-effective solution offering true paperless portability."
The Mantis Retail system includes software installed on handheld computers using the Palm Operating System¨ - used for data collection and editing in the field; a central database used to store the information collected; and a web-based Management System used to view and edit the information in the database, and to create reports.
Mantis Retail's handheld computer component gives sales representatives and brokers real power, explains Christopher Hachey, President. "Not only is it a comprehensive data collection tool for capturing and editing in-store information," he says, "but it's also a decision-support tool, providing information needed to reinforce corporate decision making."
The Management System component gives companies easy access to the kinds of reports they need to do business, says Hachey. "Generating timely and effective reports based on inconsistent and out-of-date information is impossible," he says. "Mantis Retail allows companies to instantly create, store, and export customized reports by drawing upon a database of information that is constantly being updated with current in-store information."
The U.S. consumer packaged goods industry spends billions of dollars annually on technologically advanced point-of-sale systems and manufacturing equipment, but many of those companies still collect product-related information on paper. "The Mantis Retail solution gives them the opportunity to update these business practices using the latest technologies," says Hachey, "in a way that will save them both time and money."
