

August 2008 Company News \| From the Desk of \| Industry News Special Offer Meet Tony King In our company news section, we've been introducing you to a different Zerion associate each month. But this month we thought it would be fun to tell you more about one of the company's owners that you already may know. Residence: Orlando, Florida Hometown: Ponca City, Oklahoma Position with Zerion: Vice President Sales & Marketing What did you do before starting Zerion? I led Eclipse installations at Hughes Supply, specializing in RF and distribution centers. What is a day-in-the-life like for you? There is no typical day-in-the-life for me. If I'm checking in with clients, pursuing relationships with new ones, or providing training and consulting, you never know where in the country I might be waking up. If I'm in the office, I spend the majority of my day on the phone answering questions from consultants and clients. My phone is pretty much glued to my ear, logging over 40 hours a month. The rest of the time I'm managing our marketing efforts and working on proposals. But no matter where I am or what I'm doing, I never miss my morning Starbucks. What is the best location you’ve traveled to for your job? I would have to say Naples, Florida. The laid back people remind me of my mid-western roots and the beaches are spectacular. If there was one place you could visit in the world, where would it be? Even though I've been there a few times, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico is the ultimate relaxation escape for my wife and me. What do you like best about your job? The variety - in people, places and tasks. If I'm stuck in the office for more than a week at a time, I start bouncing off the walls. What is your favorite “customer success” story? I had a customer in Florida who was going live on Eclipse and at the same time wanted to take all 9 branches up on RF receiving, and 4 on RF pick. It was a big order to fill, and a pressure-filled project, but the reward of success was that much sweeter. How do you spend most of your time when you’re not working? I love to wakeboard (even though I'm not that good at it) or do anything on my boat. I also like to play golf, hang out with my 3 dogs, and fix up my house. What is a little known, interesting fact about you? Emergency rooms were my second home as a child. I broke both arms, along with all of my fingers and toes, as well as tore my ACL and had back surgery for a herniated disc, all before I was 20 years old. Favorite book or movie and why: My favorite movie is Days of Thunder. I'm not a big NASCAR fan, but something about that movie just gets me fired up. As for books, I like anything by Dean Koontz. In one sentence, describe your philosophy on life and work: Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Back to Top I’ve spent the last two weeks staying up later than normal, watching more TV than I usually do, and high five-ing and yelling a little more than I'm used to. Though it may sound like it, I wasn’t entertaining some old college buddies. I was watching the Olympics. And if you’re anything like me, you too became good friends with Michael Phelps, Misty May-Treanor and Shawn Johnson, and got caught up in the fanfare and hype of the entire experience. But all that time on the couch got me thinking – between the widely celebrated opening ceremonies, the massive scheduling and production, and the amazing athletic performances, everyone involved with the Olympics spent a great deal of time preparing for one of the biggest moments of their careers. But most people don’t think about the work, they only focus on the result. It’s the same with ERP software installations and business management consulting. A great deal of preparation and planning is involved in converting an organization from one software platform to another. And a lot of knowledge and training is required to provide purchasing advice, suggest a new rack layout or answer system set-up questions. The goal of partnering with us is often to increase gross margin, standardize processes or streamline operations, but what it takes to get there is the accomplishment. Zerion has done over 500 implementations nationwide and we log thousands of consulting hours each month. On every project, we spend time talking to the client, understanding their needs and challenges, and designing a customized solution to achieve their goals. With implementation, for example, we start with a customized 1,000 line project plan for each conversion and walk our clients through 9 steps leading up to the big finish. Our basic steps include a business impact analysis, hardware procurement and skills analysis, data conversion and rationalization, developing SOPs, training, go live, on-site support, help desk support and an operational review. While it may not be as impressive or exciting as the events of the last few weeks, it's as if we participate in our own little Olympics every day. When we walk away from a company which is operating more efficiently because of us, we feel like a gold medal team. And I think that's something to be proud of, even without the worldwide applause. Alonzo Williams, Vice President 321.239.4509 Back to Top What’s happening with distribution, software and business? Zerion is committed to being a resource for our clients and friends. In the newsroom on our Web site, we have an RSS feed supplying new articles all the time. We also have some links to industry news. Here are some of the recent articles we found most interesting: IT spending to exceed $3.8 trillion in 2008 More IT companies adopting RFID Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (owner of HD Supply) buys testing business Grainger extends geographic scope with purchase in India Want more news? Visit us at: www.zeriongroup.com/newsroom/industrynews.html Back to Top Get a Free Audit of your Product File This month, we'd like to offer you a free audit via webinar of your product file or PDW. This offer is only available for newsletter subscribers for a limited time. Contact Tony King at 321.229.1089 or by e-mail to sign-up. Offer available until September 30, 2008. Back to Top	User Quick Access Function By hitting the Control and F9 keys at the same time, you can easily view the User Quick Access Function. This list allows you to see and toggle to recent purchase orders, sales orders and transfers.

August 2008

Company News | From the Desk of | Industry News

Special Offer

Meet Tony King
In our company news section, we've been introducing you to a different Zerion associate each month. But this month we thought it would be fun to tell you more about one of the company's owners that you already may know.

Residence: Orlando, Florida
Hometown: Ponca City, Oklahoma
Position with Zerion: Vice President Sales & Marketing

What did you do before starting Zerion?
I led Eclipse installations at Hughes Supply, specializing in RF and distribution centers.

What is a day-in-the-life like for you?
There is no typical day-in-the-life for me. If I'm checking in with clients, pursuing relationships with new ones, or providing training and consulting, you never know where in the country I might be waking up. If I'm in the office, I spend the majority of my day on the phone answering questions from consultants and clients. My phone is pretty much glued to my ear, logging over 40 hours a month. The rest of the time I'm managing our marketing efforts and working on proposals. But no matter where I am or what I'm doing, I never miss my morning Starbucks.

What is the best location you’ve traveled to for your job?
I would have to say Naples, Florida. The laid back people remind me of my mid-western roots and the beaches are spectacular.

If there was one place you could visit in the world, where would it be?
Even though I've been there a few times, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico is the ultimate relaxation escape for my wife and me.

What do you like best about your job?
The variety - in people, places and tasks. If I'm stuck in the office for more than a week at a time, I start bouncing off the walls.

What is your favorite “customer success” story?
I had a customer in Florida who was going live on Eclipse and at the same time wanted to take all 9 branches up on RF receiving, and 4 on RF pick. It was a big order to fill, and a pressure-filled project, but the reward of success was that much sweeter.

How do you spend most of your time when you’re not working?
I love to wakeboard (even though I'm not that good at it) or do anything on my boat. I also like to play golf, hang out with my 3 dogs, and fix up my house.

What is a little known, interesting fact about you?
Emergency rooms were my second home as a child. I broke both arms, along with all of my fingers and toes, as well as tore my ACL and had back surgery for a herniated disc, all before I was 20 years old.

Favorite book or movie and why:
My favorite movie is Days of Thunder. I'm not a big NASCAR fan, but something about that movie just gets me fired up. As for books, I like anything by Dean Koontz.

In one sentence, describe your philosophy on life and work:
Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.

From the desk of Alonzo Williams I’ve spent the last two weeks staying up later than normal, watching more TV than I usually do, and high five-ing and yelling a little more than I'm used to. Though it may sound like it, I wasn’t entertaining some old college buddies. I was watching the Olympics. And if you’re anything like me, you too became good friends with Michael Phelps, Misty May-Treanor and Shawn Johnson, and got caught up in the fanfare and hype of the entire experience.

But all that time on the couch got me thinking – between the widely celebrated opening ceremonies, the massive scheduling and production, and the amazing athletic performances, everyone involved with the Olympics spent a great deal of time preparing for one of the biggest moments of their careers. But most people don’t think about the work, they only focus on the result.

It’s the same with ERP software installations and business management consulting. A great deal of preparation and planning is involved in converting an organization from one software platform to another. And a lot of knowledge and training is required to provide purchasing advice, suggest a new rack layout or answer system set-up questions. The goal of partnering with us is often to increase gross margin, standardize processes or streamline operations, but what it takes to get there is the accomplishment.

Zerion has done over 500 implementations nationwide and we log thousands of consulting hours each month. On every project, we spend time talking to the client, understanding their needs and challenges, and designing a customized solution to achieve their goals. With implementation, for example, we start with a customized 1,000 line project plan for each conversion and walk our clients through 9 steps leading up to the big finish. Our basic steps include a business impact analysis, hardware procurement and skills analysis, data conversion and rationalization, developing SOPs, training, go live, on-site support, help desk support and an operational review.

While it may not be as impressive or exciting as the events of the last few weeks, it's as if we participate in our own little Olympics every day. When we walk away from a company which is operating more efficiently because of us, we feel like a gold medal team. And I think that's something to be proud of, even without the worldwide applause.

Alonzo Williams, Vice President
321.239.4509

What’s happening with distribution, software and business?
Zerion is committed to being a resource for our clients and friends. In the newsroom on our Web site, we have an RSS feed supplying new articles all the time. We also have some links to industry news. Here are some of the recent articles we found most interesting:

IT spending to exceed $3.8 trillion in 2008

More IT companies adopting RFID

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (owner of HD Supply) buys testing business

Grainger extends geographic scope with purchase in India

Want more news? Visit us at: www.zeriongroup.com/newsroom/industrynews.html

Get a Free Audit of your Product File
This month, we'd like to offer you a free audit via webinar of your product file or PDW. This offer is only available for newsletter subscribers for a limited time.

Contact Tony King at 321.229.1089 or by e-mail to sign-up. Offer available until September 30, 2008.

User Quick Access Function

By hitting the Control and F9 keys at the same time, you can easily view the User Quick Access Function. This list allows you to see and toggle to recent purchase orders, sales orders and transfers.