A South Hackensack, NJ-based distribution company specializing in providing supplies and services to automobile dealerships streamlines its accounting and distribution pipelines easily and inexpensively by aligning with Miles Technologies.

The Challenge:
It's not easy answering to 372 clients, especially if they're gung-ho car dealers who can be more demanding than the customers they sell Mustangs and minivans to every day. After all, with over $600 billion in new car sales in the U.S. in 2000 according to the National Automobile Dealers Association, dealers can afford to be demanding.

But Sue Tassitano doesn't really mind. Tassitano is the president of Wholesale Auto Supply Company (WASCO), a South Hackensack, New Jersey-based co-operative of regional car dealers that provides a full menu of products and business services to its 372 member dealers.

"We're a co-op of new car dealers who own the company," explains Tassitano, who's been with the company since 1971. "We provide them with all the essential products and services they need to run their dealership - services like office supplies, janitorial services, equipment, shop supplies, and after market programs, among others. We give the dealers back 90 percent of our profits. Over the years it's been a great deal for both sides."

Still, for a company with $16 million in revenues in 2001, its track record with information technology was a checkered one. For instance, it sorely needed an e-business web site to tout its services and keep clients engaged online. Unfortunately, wanting one and implementing one proved to be a tough lug nut to crack for the company.

"We went a long time without a web page and without a computer network for that matter," adds Tassitano.
"We'd been using dumb terminals for a long time (since 1973) and hadn't really gotten the most from our computer investments over the years."

The Solution:

Enter Miles Technologies, a Marlton, New Jersey-based provider of highly customized integration, networking and Internet services for a wide range of businesses throughout the Delaware Valley and New York Metropolitan area. The firm was founded in 1997 by current president Chris Miles, a charismatic entrepreneur with an innate ability to combine business logic with today's technologies. The firm prides itself on being a complete solutions provider that provides its clients with a single, tightly integrated system developed by the same team of skilled engineers from end-to-end. This "single source" approach saves Miles Technologies' clients like WASCO time and money they would otherwise spend searching for multiple vendors to provide individual services.

"I had heard about Chris and his company through a friend of mine one night at dinner," recalls Tassitano. "I was telling her how nice it would be to have a computer network where we could exchange information online with our staff and better serve our customers. She said that I had to call Miles Technologies - the sooner the better."

Taking her friends advice to heart, Tassitano called on Miles Technologies and within weeks the firm had jettisoned WASCO's dumb terminals and replaced them with personal computers and network servers. "We were always talking about getting a network up and running but weren't sure how to tackle the problem. But Miles Technologies made it easy."

Satisfied with the new computer network, Tassitano asked Miles Technologies to handle its e-business web site implementation. "We had offers from other vendors, including a major bank, but nothing ever came of it," she adds. "We were used to seeing vendors promise things they couldn't or wouldn't deliver. But Chris Miles was as good as his word."

Working on a tight deadline, Miles and his crack staff of IT experts were given the go-ahead. The goal was a new web site, including a brand new online ordering system that would integrate with the existing legacy systems allowing WASCO to utilize new technologies without a complete overhaul of the company's data systems. Miles Technologies succeeded. WASCO was up and running on deadline and within budget. "Once we were up and running Chris took a personal interest in and was hands-on in helping us get feedback from our dealers and started implementing things they wanted, like instant sales analysis and online invoice printing," adds Tassitano. "I was impressed by his (Miles) personal involvement." Miles Technologies didn't stop there. "They continued to work to add new innovative abilities to our system to help make it easier for our customers, vendors, and our staff. They never stopped trying to make the site better."

Price-wise, Tassitano said she got a great deal from Miles Technologies. "Quotes from other vendors ranged from $200,000 to $500,000, which was much higher than budgeted and prohibited implementation." she adds. "But Chris Miles came in way under that and we wound up getting more than we hoped for the money."

With 15 percent of her new business coming off the web site and 100 percent being ordered through the systems that Miles Technologies developed, Tassitano says she wants to tap Miles Technologies' IT expertise to build her a new accounting system as well. "I'd recommend Miles Technologies to anyone," she offers. "Chris knows what he's doing and he does what he says he will do. The only downside now is that I have to buy dinner for my friend who recommended him to us in the first place."