Yardley, Pa. — In March, The Stanley Works and Black & Decker Co. joined the Trading Partner Connect program of Prophet 21, Inc., as its newest supplier members. The memberships were the result of each company's efforts to improve customer service and reduce transactional costs, said Doug Levin, Prophet 21's executive vice president.

Transactions done in Trading Partner Connect, Prophet 21's product and service plan designed to streamline the supply chain, increased more than 400 percent since last July, said Levin, who is in charge of marketing initiatives and corporate sales strategy. The service's growth spurt is due to the increasing pressure on distributors and suppliers to manage costs — their own and their customers'.

The program reduces transaction costs between supplier and distributors and end users, Levin said. The ability to use one software system for transactions between distributor locations, including those of a different company also on the system, is an invaluable advantage, he said.

Many features of Trading Partner Connect were created to simplify a process and add real-time information access. One feature is automatic point-of-sale information, allowing suppliers to accurately calculate sales commissions for the correct staff member.

"It's a lot easier to calculate and, in turn, is a more cost-effective method," he said. "Also, payables from distributors are electronically simplified."

The Stanley Works is a hand and power tool manufacturer; Prophet 21 has a number of industrial and construction distributors on the system.

"Stanley saw that it is the appropriate time and felt they saw other manufacturers involved. TPC is becoming a standard in the industry," he said.

Electronic standards are moving forward, but distributors have a difficult time trying to comply with them. Standard electronic language is not a priority for many distributors, Levin said. In those cases, Prophet 21's systems become the standard between supplier and distributor.

Black & Decker, also, is aware of the need to get distributors connected electronically, he said. Like The Stanley Works, Black & Decker noticed the connectivity that TPC manufacturer members have enjoyed for several years.

Bud Schreiber, vice president of sales for the independent channel at Black & Decker, said his company received requests from several distributors with the Prophet 21 system to investigate TPC. One key is an ability to leverage Prophet 21's deep involvement in the distributor information business.

"We are piloting the program right now at some key distributors who have Prophet 21," Schreiber said. "[TPC] doesn't force distributors to change what they're doing, but enhances our ability to provide service and still take costs out of the channel."

In other news, Prophet 21 held its annual "Summit" users' group meeting in Orlando, Fla., April 3-6. More than 500 people attended the meeting, which included workshops run by Prophet 21 staff members, consultants and other technology industry professionals. The Summit also included the Prophet 21 Technology Center, where users could get hands-on help on a range of technology issues.

Held just before and after the Summit was Prophet 21 University, the company's ongoing training program, which includes classroom sessions, online seminars and CD-ROM-based training.