Acctivate Inventory Management

It took a lot of work, but after putting in the time and learning all about the software, I have to say it is a great system, with so many options and ways to do things. It can be customized to work in most unique scenarios. The strongest points for us is the inventory Lot control, gives us more power over our inventory, and where its coming from, etc. The Activity feature helps us communicate and acts as a CRM for our reps. The way dropship PO's are handled is very helpful, and works almost perfectly for us. Using the mobile device changed the way our warehouse receives and picks products in a good way. Since the software's infrastructure is basically a database, it gives versatility for using with other products, like our shipping software and our website. The Reports side is dependent on Crystal reports, which opens up a world of possibilities, it does add some complexities, but the support that Acctivate gives with there product makes up for all complex situations. I have been helped and things have been fixed numerous times. The software is also in a stage where it will always be improving over time.

There are a few cons. Bugs and things not quite working the way they should require a dedicated person within our company to occasionally be working with Acctivate to clean out these scenarios and learn about limitations and potential future added features. The Credit card system is very limited and makes it a little difficult with the way we do things.

I find myself really loving the way it handles customers, all the different tabs to product history, comments, activities, transactions. The UOM has added a complexity that we needed when it comes to purchasing single units vs boxes vs cases. The ability to setup diff pricing for a product or a customer really helps with on sale items and contract pricing.

Acctivate is a really good inventory control system and it is pretty easy to learn and it has a lot of capabilities and we love it. But here are the problems I have had. I have had numerous problems with technical support, and it has only gotten worse instead of better. In order to reach customer service now, you have go to the Acctivate website and enter a service request, and you may or may not get a prompt reply back. When we are having technical problems with this program, it can bring our entire operation to a halt and there doesn't seem to be any sense of urgency on the part of the technicians at Acctivate. This is my biggest problem with Acctivate and it the one thing that makes me very angry. My only other problem is training. This is a very complex program, and you can learn the basics pretty quickly and that will get you by. But there is no formal training to teach you everything you need to know other than videos that you can watch and some webinars. I think there needs to be a trainer that can teach new users how to use the program in depth at your facility in Arlington so that customers that have purchased the program can spend 3-4 days with some in depth training. I have had this system for over 2 years now and we are still finding new things that we have never seen or used before. When we purchased Acctivate, they do a great job of getting you up and going and answer any questions you might have, but some real hands on training would be so much better. But once you get used to the program, it's great.