Technology

AFS Products are now in a mature state of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). The architecture is enhanced to include mobile platforms supporting iOS, Android®, Windows 8 operating systems and Cloud environments like AZURE. The architectural foundation has enabled AFS to implement newer products in a multi-tenant, SAAS architecture by extending SOA with Model View Controller (MVC) framework and patterns.

Newer AFS products can now be used on devices and tablets including iPad®, Galaxy®, Windows Surface® and smart phones including iPhone®, Galaxy® and Windows phones.

AFS Product Architecture

How Does this Benefit Customers?
AFS investment in R&D and technology is your guarantee that:

You will not be stuck with obsolete technology that is difficult and expensive to support.
You can add new products and functionality to your existing products in a modular fashion. This would be of particular interest to those, currently using legacy systems and have an urgent need to address the lack of efficient financial reporting, order entry processing, driver delivery or warehouse management capabilities. AFS architecture would allow you to bolt on new modules to the legacy system without having to change your core system.
Reusable services are part of SOA architecture. This means that we can add new functionality, be it custom or standard code, faster and cheaper than traditional systems.
You will be able to extend the applications to Mobile platforms like iPad, iPhone in a cloud environment.
Systems from AFS SOA products can communicate to the outside world using any standard communication protocol.
AFS products are scalable.The architecture allows processing to be completely accomplished on a single CPU or distributed across many systems to spread the processing load. In other words, provide both “scale-up” and “scale-out” capability.

AFS Core Solutions

Enterprise Supply Chain Solutions

AFS ERP system is designed and optimized for CPG, Food and Beverage Distribution and light process Manufacturing. In addition to offering the fully-integrated ERP solutions, AFS offers a number of modules that can be integrated with existing solutions. Our comprehensive Order Management System can augment any ERP system with the ability to handle the complex layered pricing required by the CPG industry. Our advanced financials and Business Intelligence Software can provide sophisticated financial reporting or dashboards without requiring to change core ERP systems.

Mobile Mobility Solutions

AFS offers a comprehensive suite of solutions that can be deployed on Windows, iPad®, iPhone® or Android® Solutions. The technology is such that any solution that be deployed on multiple operating systems using the same data base. The solutions offered include:

• Order Management Systems including layered pricing, rebate management, inventory status and sales commission visibility

• Retail Execution and Merchandising
• Full DSD and Route Settlement
• Sales Agency CRM and Ordering
• Business Intelligence for any product

TradePro™ Trade Promotion Solutions

AFS TradePro™ Suite provides comprehensive tools to manage trade promotion spend for Food Service and Retail. The solutions deployed as Software as a Service (SaaS) can be deployed in a shorter time frame than any other competing solution, with costs for implementing the solution included in the monthly subscription costs. In addition to establishing and monitoring claims, the AFS solution provides the option to include Claims Settlement Services, where AFS undertakes the outsourcing of settling and paying all claims. AFS also offers a cost-effective data cleansing and reconciliation process.

AFS Discovery™ G2 (AFS Sales Discovery System® or SDS), when integrated with the TradePro™ solutions, provides unparalleled post-event analytics in the industry.

Planning

Prior to implementation, a clear project timeline, scope and execution plan is developed which provides a roadmap for AFS and the customers.

Define and SOW

Once the plan is accepted, AFS will work with the customers to create a detailed Statement of Work (SOW). AFS consultants will make recommendations for “Best in Class” processes so the customer can benefit from the industry best practices. This is an important benefit to the customer as years of experience, focused on one segment of the market, allow our Professional Services team to be true consultants. Our goal is not just to implement our solution but “delight” the customer and provide true consulting services.

If hardware is required to be ordered, these are specified as part of SOW.

Configure

Based on the SOW, AFS will work with the client to configure the system, and at this stage, plan data import process to populate historic information and various customer and product information. The extent of configuration and data import/conversion could take a day or weeks, depending on the software being implemented and the complexity of the operation.

Pilot and Training

This is the first “test run” of the product through the full cycle and is usually conducted by AFS with the key sponsors from the client. End users are usually at the first Conference Room Pilot (CRP) as this is when changes and adjustments are made. 2 to 3 CRP are recommended, the last one being with the end users. Integrated testing is completed in each of the CRP.

Once the final CRP is completed, AFS provides in depth training using “Train the Trainer” concept.

Deploy

The deployment is initially conducted in parallel with the previous system or process and results are compared to ensure the new solution is accurately tracking the transactions. Once the parallel process is checked and approved, AFS works with the client to “cut over” to the new system.

Support

AFS consultants stay as point of contact for approximately 30 days while the client is adjusting to the new system. During the transition period, AFS will introduce the support manager and once the system is stable and has run through one full cycle, the client is passed to the support team, and for several months, a special group in support will continue to assist the customers as needed.

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AFS Product Architecture

AFS Core Solutions

Planning

Define and SOW

Configure

Pilot and Training

Deploy

Support

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