Customer stories


FIELDFLEX

FileMaker Pro Tracks In-Store Merchandising Projects Across the Country

 When you walk through the aisles at K-Mart, have you ever wondered who set up that gigantic Kodak gondola film display that grabbed your attention?

Every captivating display takes months of planning and ingenuity, as well as the assistance of technology. If done correctly, corporate merchandising is implemented identically in thousands of stores nationwide without consumers even being aware that it's happening.

FIELDFLEX of Newton, NJ is a merchandising firm that operates in more than 10,000 chain stores across the country, setting up displays for Fortune 500 companies.

"For any one project, we can have more than 2,000 individual store visits,” said Kenneth Bernstein, Director of Operations. "To coordinate that type of task requires a great deal of data processing power, which FileMaker Pro enables us to do.”

FileMaker Pro is a relational database application designed to help manage and share information in the real world. It's a fast and easy software system for creating databases that are completely cross-platform on Macintosh, Windows 95, Windows NT, or Windows 3.1.

"We've been able to create databases that enable us to keep our data organized. Just getting 2,000 people to do the same thing is very difficult. It's coordinated through 30 local offices on both PCs and Macintosh Computers. If a store's address changes, and that information is needed in 10 different places, that used to present a problem. Since FileMaker Pro is relational, we're able to change the address in one place, and it's updated in the other 10.”

FIELDFLEX used the FileMaker Pro database in a recent Kodak promotion to keep track of when the kiosk manufacturer was finished with a gondola display, when it was shipped, and where, and to make sure that a trained employee was on hand to assemble the booth when it arrived at its destination K-Mart.

"These things are so big, they can't just sit in the back room,” Bernstein explained. "Our people have to install the fixtures in conjunction with shipment arrival. We used FileMaker to track the information based on time and distance. Plus, when schedules change, we're able to make one correction at the front end, and all the information distributed to our 30 field offices is fixed automatically.

"One of the reasons we chose FileMaker is because it's so easy for people to learn and use. Each of our offices do things a little differently. They ask me, ‘Can I still do it my way?' I say, ‘Sure. We'll be able to customize it for your needs.'”

Each of the Fortune 500 companies that FIELDFLEX works with requires their reports to be presented with different data and in different formats. In the old days, working with an Excel spreadsheet, customizing reports could take hours. With FileMaker Pro, Bernstein can generate reports the way the client wants — in a matter of minutes.

"Our business is so quick and changing that you need the ability to react at a moment's notice,” Bernstein said. "With FileMaker, we have highly customized software that we can change at a whim, and that evolves along with our business. We can do it cheaper and faster than everybody else. We don't need a staff of programmers to make changes very quickly.”


Overview
  • FIELDFLEX creates and sets up displays in more than 10,000 chain stores across the country. To coordinate these jobs, some entailing over 2,000 individual store visits, FIELDFLEX relies on FileMaker Pro. FileMaker Pro's flexibility means the system can evolve as business grows. And FileMaker Pro's ease of use allows FIELDFLEX to update their system without a staff of programmers.
Industry
  • Medium-Large Business
  • Retail/Wholesale