The annual TribNet meeting is coming up soon on June 12-14, 2013 in downtown Denver, CO!

As we continue to prepare our agenda, we just wanted to give a sample of some of the TrulinX breakout sessions we are tentatively planning this year:

• Freight recovery
• Emailing documents (including POs)
• Bar coding (including receiving labels)
• Cash deposits on quotes/orders (new feature in Release 13.1)
• Basic queries
• Credit card processing and reconciliation
• WarehouseTWO setup and process
• Advanced work orders
• And more!

The official conference registration packet will be available later this month.

The meeting will take place at the Denver Marriott City Center, within easy walking distance from fantastic shopping, dining, and entertainment in LoDo, Larimer Square and the 16th Street Mall. We'll enjoy remodeled meeting spaces with new technology, and a spacious common area for networking, vendor booths, and relaxing during breaks.

For more information, go to the Member's Only page on the website. To make your reservations online via the Marriott City Center website, click the link and change the check-in and check-out dates on the left as necessary.

Keep in mind, the PPAB will be meeting on Tuesday, June 11th, and the general meeting will run from Wednesday afternoon through the end of the day Friday.

This is a great opportunity to take in some great sessions along with networking with Tribute staff and your peers. We look forward to seeing you in June!
 

Tribute Launches TrulinX 13.1

Tribute, Inc. is pleased to announce TrulinX™ Release 13.1. This latest version of the TrulinX software adds the ability to make deposits against a specific quote, sales order, special order, or back order. This automated process will bring industrial distributors more efficiency and improved tracking of deposits for special-order goods or a large job. Deposits can be made either through the standard cash receipts process, or against a counter order when goods are placed on backorder. The deposit will automatically be applied when the sales order with the attached deposit is invoiced. A new inquiry screen allows users to see the status of open deposits at a glance and easily transfer any leftover funds if a deposit amount still remains after the invoice is paid.

An enhancement was also made to the A/R Aging reports. Users now have the flexibility to age replacement invoices either according to the date of the original invoice, or by the date they were created.

Other features in the TrulinX release include the option to print the quantity shipped as a bar code on the packing list, and the ability to enter the ISO standard country code which corresponds to the TrulinX country code (for use with UPS WorldShip and FedEx Ship Manager software).

TrulinX Releases Version 12.2

Tribute, Inc. announces the TrulinX™ Release 12.2. The TrulinX release has added a new feature designed for hose distributors to their TrulinX software in Release 12.2 – Automatic Generation of Serial Numbers. This feature allows customers to automatically create serial numbers for hose assemblies and also generate a printed label so the assembly can be “tagged” when it is built or received.

The serial numbering feature starts with setup of a standard template for serial numbers, consisting of an inner number which is incremented by 1, along with an optional prefix and/or suffix. The template is then connected to the appropriate product categories. Whenever an order is finalized for a hose assembly in one of these product categories, a new serial number will be automatically generated and printed to a label along with the pick ticket.

Other features in the TrulinX release are Parker Hannifin counter sales reporting, options to specify the payment methods that are valid for a specific payment terms code, the ability to enter contact info for a customer shipping location, Parker Hannifin rebates with customer number cross referencing, and new features for EDI processing and agent order reporting.

The 2012 joint TrulinX™ and Tribute® user's group meeting was held June 11-14 at the Renaissance Cleveland hotel in Cleveland, OH. The meeting brought in 124 attendees from 62 companies. We are happy that so many of you find value in attending the annual meeting.

The week began with a day of intense work by the TrulinX PPAB and the Tribute Program Review Committee. Members review and rank the TrulinX and Tribute open project lists, which helps determine the direction for future software development.

We officially began the User's Group meeting on Tuesday with a welcome from Tim Reynolds, a recap of personnel changes and programming updates from Tribute and TrulinX, and new features to be completed in the upcoming year. Mark Tomalonis of WarehouseTWO followed with a talk on effective business communication. Mark's common-sense tips included: leave focused voice mail messages, go talk to your coworker a few steps away face-to-face instead of sending an email, and never begin an email message with "Hey". Mark then wrapped up our general session with a speech on "Excess Inventory: How to Prevent, Identify and Reduce It".

On Tuesday evening, Tribute and TrulinX customers were welcomed with a reception in the elegant Ambassador Room at the hotel.

Our breakout sessions were held on Wednesday and Thursday. TrulinX and Tribute had some separate breakouts, while others were combined and relevant to all users. These included presentations on bill of materials processing, accounting, credit card processing, report writing, customer consignment, importing/exporting data, EDI, social media, new features, and "tips and tricks". Users also participated in roundtable discussions on subjects such as cycle counting, rebates, and best practices for "going live". We hope our attendees left with new knowledge about Tribute and TrulinX to take home to their businesses and put into action.

We also send a big "thank you" to Rubber Tree Systems as our Platinum Sponsor and generous sponsor of our teambuilding event (otherwise known as "beer pong tournament"). We also send huge thanks to WarehouseTWO, Tour de Force CRM, Enlighten.Net, 3Delta Systems (3DSI) and Parker Hannifin Corporation who also attended the meeting. All of these vendors provide very important products and services and we hope to see them at the 2013 meeting.

Naturally we had to interject some fun into our conference as well. On Wednesday evening we enjoyed the President's Dinner, which was held at Pickwick and Frolic restaurant and comedy club. Everyone savored the great food and three funny comedians, all with their own style. (Please send us a photo if you try those red tinted contact lenses!) It was a great opportunity to have fun and network as a large combined group.

Coincidentally, our conference was held at the same time as Marine Week in Cleveland. Many folks stepped outside the hotel to Public Square and enjoyed a fine display of helicopters, artillery, a tank, Humvees, and other equipment, along with concerts and demonstrations by the U.S. Marine Corps.

Several new officers and committee members were also elected at the meeting. We decided to hold one business meeting and elect a single combined slate of officers representing both Tribute and TrulinX, while keeping separate priority-setting committees. The current members are:

Officers:

• President: Sybille Hamilton (Seals Unlimited)
• Vice-President: Emily Thompson (Hose\Conveyors, Inc.)
• Secretary: Brian Teddlie (Wilson Company)
• Membership Chairperson: Delilah Wirtjes (Monarch Automation, Inc.)

Tribute Program Review Members:

• Kirk Downey (Hyspeco)
• Janie Vasu (IMS Company)
• Tim Pritchard (Zemarc Corporation)
• Terry Montefusco (Epperson & Co.)
• John Dewey (Brennan Industries)
• Maria Panza (Progressive Hydraulics)
• Ed Murphy (The Hope Group)

TrulinX Program Priority Assignment Board (PPAB) members:

• Bryan Green (George E. Booth Company) – Class of 2014
• Samantha Berndt (Hart Industries) – Class of 2014 (Term 2)
• Betsy Hansen (R J Vedovell Company) – Class of 2014
• Teresa Freeman (Indiana Fluid Power) – Class of 2014
• Kevin Cutts (Hydraulic and Pneumatic Sales) - Class of 2013 (Term 2)
• Walt Rodgers (Cline Hose and Hydraulics) – Class of 2013 (Term 2)
• Kevin Martin (S. G. Morris Company) – Class of 2013
• Rod Illanes (Hayes Pump) – Class of 2013

We especially appreciate the efforts of last year's presidents, Sybille Hamilton and Eric Bourg (Connector Specialists, Inc.) with all their assistance in the business meeting.

Next year's conference will take place in Denver, with the date yet to be determined. We look forward to another great meeting in 2013!

We are excited to announce the addition of John Teahan to the Tribute staff! John comes to us from fluid power distributor and manufacturer S.G. Morris and will be taking on the mantle of Manager of Onsite Customer Service and Implementations. John will be leading our customer implementation, training and consulting services team.

A graduate of Villanova University, John has spent 31 years in the fluid power distribution industry holding a variety of positions. Starting his career in inside sales at Ritter Engineering, a change in family status had him moving to Oklahoma where he worked for Aberdeen Dynamics Supply, a fluid power and motion control distributor, in inside sales and as materials manager for the next 18 years. Moving back to the northeast in 2000, John lent his expertise to S.G. Morris as Materials Manager and has been integral in their transition from The Tribute® Software System to TrulinX™.

John is dedicated to organizational management and the principles of Lean Six Sigma, seeking to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects (errors) and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes. He has received certificates of achievement from Villanova's continuing education program on Lean Six Sigma, Human Resources Management, Mastering Organizational Effectiveness, Strategic Organizational Leadership and is a Six Sigma Green Belt.

His years of experience in the industry in a variety of positions, his dedication to organizational management and lean processes, and his knowledge of Tribute and TrulinX software make him the ideal leader of our onsite customer service and implementation team. Please join us in welcoming him to the Tribute family!

Tribute Launches Business Value Calculator for Industrial Distributors

Tribute Inc. is proud to announce the release of an online Distribution Management Software Business Value Calculator. The tool lets users calculate how much their own organizations can improve their bottom line by implementing an enterprise-wide distribution management system.

“Numerous industrial distributors do not realize how much time and money is wasted every day,” says Tim Reynolds, President of Tribute, Inc. “This tool helps them quantify that cost and identify the savings they could receive from deploying an enterprise-wide distribution management solution.”

Developed by Stratavant, a firm with expertise designing value calculators and ROI analysis tools, Tribute’s value calculator is based upon primary research conducted with industrial distributors and secondary research sources such as FPDA, GFA, ISD, NAHAD, NIBA, etc. Thanks to its intuitive design, users can easily generate results that show how a distribution management system can benefit their business. For example, using their company’s own data, users can calculate how much they can save over a three year time period in different areas such as warehouse and assembly labor, scrap material costs, inventory management, and more. This complimentary value calculator can be launched from www.tribute.com.

Tribute Launches TrulinX 11.1

Tribute Inc. announced the launch of TrulinX™ version 11.1 to further streamline distributors' business processes.

Based on industry trends and customer requests, the latest version of the Windows SQL-based ERP solution features new inventory adjustment reason codes, greater flexibility with multiple vendor item versions, inbound freight expense features, and more. These enhancements allow industrial distributors to increase profitability by automating business processes and increasing knowledge of business operations and performance.

"The release of TrulinX version 11.1 reaffirms Tribute's commitment to encourage and utilize input from our customers and provide tools they deem relevant," said Susie Hopper, vice president of Tribute's TrulinX division. "The focus of TrulinX Release 11.1 is on helping distributor's business processes become leaner and more efficient. Features have been added to address a distributor's day-to-day issues proactively to enhance process quality and communication with suppliers."

To read the complete news release in Industrial Supply magazine, click here.

3Delta Systems Delivers Enterprise-Wide Tokenization Security to Tribute Software Customers

3DSI’s CardVault to Reduce PCI Audit Scope, Lower Data Breach Risk and Cut Costs

CHANTILLY, Va. – December 13, 2010 – 3Delta Systems, Inc.® (3DSI), a leader in online credit card payment and business-to-business (B2B) data tokenization solutions, announced today that Ohio-based industrial software vendor Tribute Inc. will integrate 3DSI’s CardVault® tokenization service into its enterprise software applications. As a result, Tribute’s customers will be able to reduce their cost and scope of complying with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) security requirements and better protect their credit card data from a possible breach. The company provides enterprise-wide software to distributors and fabricators in the fluid power, fluid handling, hose, sealing, belting, automation, motion control and related industries at more than 600 locations throughout North America.

Under the agreement, CardVault will be embedded into Tribute’s Windows-based TrulinX™ distribution software and its Unix-based Tribute® software systems. With CardVault, Tribute’s customers will be able to exchange real credit card numbers with reference values called tokens, a process that renders card data useless to criminals in the event of a breach. CardVault will also store Tribute customers’ sensitive credit card and payment data off-site at 3DSI’s secure, PCI-certified processing centers.

Tribute’s customers have been using 3Delta Systems’ EC-Linx real-time, Level-3 payment processing interface since 2005 to capture and pass through detailed, invoice-like purchase information with their credit card transactions. Merchants who include Level-3 data, ranging from unit price to item description when processing B2B purchase card transactions, can realize significant card interchange fee savings.

“CardVault was the clear choice for delivering world-class card security to our industrial distributors and complements 3Delta Systems’ EC-Linx capabilities beautifully,” said Susie Hopper, vice president at Tribute Inc. “3DSI provides the most sophisticated tokenization and payment processing solutions on the market today, coupled with state-of-the-art ‘Software as a Service’ technologies, flexible network platform, industry expertise and extensive customer support.”

“Enterprises that share business-critical credit card data across applications and face PCI compliance mandates often find that outsourcing payment acceptance, storage and tokenization to 3Delta Systems significantly decreases their customers’ PCI audit scope while protecting sensitive information from cybercriminals,” said Aaron Bills, chief operating officer and founder of 3Delta Systems.

In addition to secure card data storage, CardVault also features real-time and file-based Level-3 transaction processing with every major U.S. card processor. Real-time transactions support e-commerce and customer service systems in which a customer waits for their card to be authorized, while file-based processing supports invoicing systems and circumstances where real-time authorization is not critical.

3Delta Systems’ suite of services and technologies meet the most rigorous PCI DSS requirements for safeguarding cardholder data against fraud and data security breaches. The PCI DSS standards are the payment industry’s foremost benchmark for cardholder account security. 3Delta Systems has maintained third-party PCI DSS certification since 2004 and is a participating organization in the PCI Security Standards Council.

Top 10 Best Practices for Fighting Credit Card Theft and Fraud: Click to read a report by 3DSI with tips to protect your credit card data. (PDF document)

About 3Delta Systems

3Delta Systems, Inc. [http://www.3dsi.com] is a payment solutions company that delivers the power of secure, Internet-based purchase and credit card processing solutions to enterprise, business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) customers. 3DSI’s complete suite of payment solutions – each designed from the ground up to be scalable, easy to implement and conform with PCI Data Security Standard best practices – enables merchants and buyers to manage, authorize and settle payment transactions in real-time. As a leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider, 3DSI has processed more than 41 million payment transactions worth over $36 billion dollars for over 6,000 corporations and government agencies since the company was founded in 1999.

Eaton's Van Wert Aeroquip Express Store ... Powered By TrulinX

Tribute, Inc.’s partnership with Eaton Corporation has been strengthened by the implementation of Tribute’s Windows-based distribution management product, TrulinX™, in Eaton’s facility in Van Wert, Ohio. The Van Wert facility, part of Eaton’s Hydraulics business, is a large manufacturer of hoses and fittings used primarily in the agricultural and automotive industries.

Eaton Corporation chose TrulinX’s Counter Store application for their pilot project, the new Van Wert Aeroquip Express Store. This new store will serve three purposes: 1) test market new products 2) serve the local market with high quality products and services, and 3) illustrate to Eaton Distributors a “Best Practice” counter sale operation.

“The Van Wert Aeroquip Express will serve as a real-world training ground and laboratory for Eaton distributors, as well as for Eaton itself,” said Jeff O’Hearn, Eaton product manager. “It will enable us to learn market needs, market dynamics, and merchandising techniques firsthand and to pass this knowledge onto our distributor partners.”

Potential Aeroquip Express store owners, as well as current owners, are encouraged to visit the store that will be a test site for new merchandising programs and to share ideas on how to sell fluid-conveyance products in agriculture, construction, and truck and bus markets.

Tribute’s distribution management software enables Eaton distributors to reduce purchasing expenses and remove costs & errors from the supply chain. We are proud to be a part of this pilot project.

Tim Reynolds on Running a Business in a Recession

Tribute President Tim Reynolds shares his thoughts on running a business in turbulent times:

"Clear thinking and an open mind are critical to small-business success. Take a hard look at your business processes and compare them to the best standards in distribution. Trade organizations can help you determine how you stack up against the competition and offer excellent networking and training opportunities. Take the "blinders" off and streamline your business so you can be ready for the good times to come."

You can read the full article in the March 2009 issue of Industrial Distribution.

Faxon Engineering Revamps Distribution Management System

Founded in 1946, Faxon Engineering has evolved to become a leading distributor of hose, fittings, hydraulic, pneumatic and lubrication components throughout New England. Their commitment to quality industrial distribution is supported by an experienced sales force, dedicated inside staff and conscientious warehouse personnel, all striving to make it easy to do business with them. The one area needed attention was having the right set of tools so they could more effectively serve their customers. Faxon Engineering recently invested in new technology to maximize their efficiency, productivity and profitability. That's where Tribute, Inc. and their state-of-the-art Windows-based distribution management system called TrulinX came in. Click here to view the article in PDF format.

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Success Stories

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TrulinX Business Value Calculator

Click here to calculate the potential savings of using TrulinX in your company.