Century Old Company Peels Away The Past.
From push cart to PDA, this is a story of how “one little company” has stayed in touch with its customers and technology with help provided by WaudWare.
Founded in 1908 by Italian immigrant Antonio Chiovitti, Chiovitti Banana started as a fruit peddling business with a pushcart, which Antonio ran from his home at Bathurst and Queen Streets. Antonio would be proud (and probably a little shocked) if he saw his company today.
Operating from The Ontario Food Terminal there is a sales floor staffed by 5 professional sales reps. Today, customers come by to purchase a fabulous assortment of everything from tropical fruit to nuts. For years, orders were written up in ‘salesman books’ then keyed in by cashiers. Everything was fine… until 2002. Chiovitti Banana started noticing things: mistakes occurring in transcription – between salesman book and cashier; customers complaining about how long it was taking to get in and out of the store; hand written invoices… It wasn’t like the good old days when time was of little consequence. But what to do?
Chiovitti Banana contacted WaudWare. As a proven supplier of their PICS system, Chiovitti felt confident WaudWare would be able to assist with another business challenge.
The question was posed: “Could WaudWare provide a customized solution so Chiovitti’s sales people could enter customer orders into a handheld device themselves? In addition, the system has to be able to print an invoice quickly after completing the order.” The solution proposed and accepted: WebPICS Sales Order system.
Four years later, Chiovitti Banana continues to sell successfully with WebPICS Sales Order, significantly reducing transcription errors and improving customer service. They have also implemented WebPICS Purchase Order and WebPICS Receiving systems and are looking forward to working with other WebPICS packages soon. When we asked Chiovitti spokesperson Mike Adamo what he appreciated most when dealing with WaudWare, his response was, “the accessibility of the WaudWare staff and response time”. Mike further complimented us by sharing that we have “friendly and personable staff”. Thanks Mike, we think so too!
