Solution
Working with one of the operating companies, ASE and Sysco agreed upon using ASE's DataPrep IServer platform for managing the various processes. The DataPrep platform provided the necessary logging and high availability support required for the tasks. The first requirement, improving speeds at which end users receive invoices, was solved using ASE's SendMail module. Before Invoices are printed they are picked up by ASE's DataPrep and converted to PDF. Then using filename masks, the Invoices are matched with email addresses and delivered via SMTP. A simple to use GUI provides operating companies with control over masks and email addresses. The second requirement , the ability to track Invoices, was dove tailed with existing barcode readers. Using a custom DataPrep module, ASE provided a solution that would insert a 3of9 or 128 barcode on the Invoices and Manifest before printing. Using the same DataPrep infrastructure, the barcode module determines barcode values consisting of date, route number and page number and then places the barcode within empty space on the form. The resulting invoice prints with a barcode that is then read by a Liberty scanning system and logged. The third requirement, the sorting of driver packets, involves a routine that sorts and assembles together reports with the same manifest numbers before printing. The resulting printed output is a single packet containing all of the necessary reports that is easily retrieved by drivers.

Savings
Using ASE's DataPrep IServer solution, SYSCO Foods has reported saving at least 2 hours a night in preparing delivery truck orders and over $3,000/month in paper handling expenses.