Vermont Information Processing & Micro Vane, Inc. join forces - Tech news: new products, new services, new alliances

Modern Brewery Age, Jan 26, 2004

In January, 2003, Micro Vane, Inc., of Kalamazoo, MI, originators of the dBEV Beverage Management System, joined forces with Vermont Information Processing (VIP) of Colchester, VT.

Together, the two companies have over 50 years of service to the beverage industry and combining them has doubled the size of VIP's customer base. The company reports it now has 38% market share of the total beer wholesaler industry, roughly twice the size of its nearest competitor. This customer base includes over 750 beverage customers, including 10 of the 20 largest wholesalers in the USA.

VIE dba Micro Vane, remains fully operational in Kalamazoo, MI where it still develops and markets the Windows dBEV Beverage Management System to beverage distributors nationwide and continues its award-winning support for its 350 dBEV customers.

"The benefits of the acquisition were immediate, with Micro Vane taking full advantage of the powerful Palm software developed by VIP for both driver-sell and pre-sell operations," according to Bob Pursel of Micro Vane. "Demand was so strong for small, palm-powered handhelds that some customers even placed orders prior to the new interface being fully completed!"

In a statement, VIP said that the deal brought a synergy of technologies that "now gives VIP complete solutions for wholesalers of all sizes, from the smallest to the largest. dBEV is typically targeted at the small-to-medium sized beer, wine and soft drink wholesaler while the VIP System, generally speaking, appeals to the medium-to-very large wholesaler requiring the most intricate software features available."

VIP also offers an ASP (Application Solution Provider) solution for wholesalers of all sizes wishing to reduce their computer hardware investment and handle all their data processing on-line (via the Internet).

According to Brad Fonger, one of the founders of Micro Vane Inc. and now manager in Kalamazoo, "both companies have a great deal in common, with both staffs placing a strong emphasis on quality software, value, customer support, and developing long term relationships with their respective customers. Our (combined 85 ) employees have an average of 10 years experience with the beverage industry."