Snack food manufacturer Lance Inc., of Charlotte NC, has deployed a huge network of Windows Mobile devices.

Today Microsoft put out a press release telling the story of how snack food manufacturer Lance, Inc., of Charlotte, NC, has implemented a large Windows Mobile network. The manufacturer uses what they call a direct-to-store delivery model. They employ over 1400 delivery salespeople who drive routes to the 65,000 stores that carry Lance products in 25 states. Now these people are armed with Windows Mobile devices.

Instead of rolling their own software, Lance started with a package called RouteACE from Apacheta Corp, which includes a customization module for Visual Studio, allowing Lance to create their own customized version. Using the software, the salespeople manage inventory, streamline delivery logistics, develop pricing models, place orders and even run reports. Then they can synchronize the data wirelessly with a SQL Server 2005 database.

According to Shawn Cherry, Director of Applications at Lance, “Device failure rates had been increasing for several years. The business couldn’t tolerate it anymore. Our immediate objective was to eliminate the downtime due to failed devices — and fast.”

He added, “We already had experience using Microsoft .NET technology to develop desktop and server applications, and knew that Windows Mobile would enable us to take advantage of that same skill set. We also knew that Windows Mobile would enable us to choose from a broad range of applications.” 

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