Our former system was a bad user experience, which led to no one using it. Four51 is a much more complete and user-friendly experience. And managers can get all kinds of reporting and status by group.
- Project Manager at restaurant chain with 3,000 locations
My Job Is…to Meet Business Challenges Head-On
Four51's Smart Catalog Technology automates the entire requisition-to-reconcile process for indirect goods. Meaning? In complex, highly distributed, n-tier businesses, a system like Four51 improves the lives of lots of people! More than 1 million users in a wide variety of industries use Four51 to drive cost out of indirect goods purchasing and better performance into their field operations.
Find your job here and click to see how Four51 can help you.| Marketing Field Sales Channel Partner Sales Management Operations & Logistics |
Finance Business Improvement Team Shared Services Branch/Store Management IT Professional |
Marketing
Control Your Brand
Many large companies invest heavily in brand development and strategy. This investment can be squandered if brand assets get altered and brand guidelines ignored in the field. Four51 ensures brand integrity by allowing Marketing to lock down critical brand elements without stifling creativity in the filed and without trying to police cumbersome approval processes.
End the War with Sales
There is a way to re-establish a healthy partnership with Sales. Four51 Smart Catalog Technology. You want adherence to brand standards, rapid roll-out of new campaigns and no obsolete materials circulating in the Field. Sales wants the materials it needs when it needs them without jumping through hoops or being forced to learn a different system for every category of product required in the Field. Four51 offers compliance, one-stop shopping and field empowerment simultaneously.Reduce Waste and Eliminate Obsolescence
For Marketers, conversations that begin with "Did you know that the rep/partner in Boise is still sending out last month's promo?" are always bad. Four51's Smart Catalog Technology eliminates hording of materials in the field, which in turn eliminates the delivery of obsolete, incorrect customer and prospect messaging. How? Four51 is simple to use, which leads to mass adoption. And only current, approved materials are available for ordering. A follow-on benefit is reduced costs as the Field learns that it doesn’t need safety stock.
Field Sales
Field-based users include sales reps, partners/VARs, branch managers, franchise locations, retail store managers, manufacturers' reps, or any remote employee who needs a single, fast access-point to the latest go-to-market messaging and materials without having to worry about adherence to corporate approval rules and purchasing contracts.
All You Need Is a Web Browser
Four51 is a 100% Web-based application that provides a buying experience equal to the best consumer sites. If you can shop on Amazon.com, you already know how to requisition on Four51.
Simple Interface Gets You In and Out in Seconds
Employees use an intuitive, shopping cart-based interface to select items from a catalog or "punch out" to access suppliers' websites. Imagine needing to know only ONE system to order everything from business cards to store grand opening kits to paper clips.
Compliance is Built-In
You don't need to know the purchasing rules or policies associated with your role, your company, the product you're ordering, or the supplier you're ordering from. All relevant rules are systematized. Compliance increases while your time spent on administrative tasks decreases. You can't break the rules...simply using the system means the rules are being followed.Channel Partner
Channel Partners are like most field-based users (include sales reps, branch managers, franchise locations, dealers, retail store managers, and manufacturers' reps) who need a single, fast access-point to the latest go-to-market messaging and materials without having to worry about adherence to another company's corporate approval rules and purchasing contracts.
All You Need Is a Web Browser
Four51 is a 100% Web-based application that provides a buying experience equal to the best consumer sites. If you can shop on Amazon.com, you already know how to requisition on Four51.
Simple Interface Gets You In and Out in Seconds
Employees use an intuitive, shopping cart-based interface to select items from a catalog or "punch out" to access suppliers' websites. Imagine needing to know only ONE system to order everything from business cards to store grand opening kits to paper clips.
Compliance is Built-In
You don't need to know the purchasing rules or policies associated with your role, your company, the product yo'’re ordering, or the supplier you're ordering from. All relevant rules are systematized. Compliance increases while your time spent on administrative tasks decreases. You can’t break the rules…simply using the system means the rules are being followed.
Personalize and Localize All Marketing Material
To be successful in your specific markets, you need the ability to leverage the power of your brand and your local presence in conjunction with a corporate brand. Four51 allows you to tailor marketing campaigns and point-of-sale materials to suit your needs while preserving the integrity of the corporate brand. And there are no time-wasting approval cycles via phone, fax, and email. Compliance to standards is built into the system.Sales Management
Solve the Problem Once for All Your Channels
If you're responsible for driving revenue in a hybrid channel, you know it can be difficult to deploy corporate systems such as CRM and Requisitioning evenly and consistently. Often the indirect channel is forced to accept something less than the direct channel. Four51 solves this problem. Four51's Smart Catalog Technology can be configured to provide identical buying experiences to all desktops, or configured behind the scenes to enforce certain rules for certain groups. For example, you may want direct reps to pay by PO but require new Partners to pay by credit card for a period of time.Increase Time Actually Selling
Nothing is more frustrating for Sales Management than seeing precious, finite selling time gobbled up by administrative tasks. Four51 automates the ordering and approval of sales collateral, promotional items, trade show kits, business cards, and much more. In doing so, your filed sales force has more time to spend with prospects and customers. And there's no need to train users on multiple systems – Four51 consolidates ordering into a single user experience. Which means it’s convenient for your team and it gives you comprehensive reporting.End the War with Marketing
There is a way to re-establish a healthy partnership with Marketing. Four51 Smart Catalog Technology. Marketing wants adherence to brand standards, rapid roll-out of new campaigns and no obsolete materials circulating in the Field. You want the materials it needs when it needs them without jumping through hoops or being forced to learn a different system for every category of product required in the Field. Four51 offers compliance, one-stop shopping and field empowerment simultaneously.Drive Rapid, Thorough Adoption
The only thing your reps and resellers need is an internet connection and a Web browser. Four51 is a 100% Web-based application that provides a buying experience equal to the best consumer sites. It’s open for business at anytime, from anywhere. If your team can shop on Amazon.com, they already know how to requisition on Four51. And the system that’s easy to use gets used.
Operations and Logistics
Slash Overhead Costs with Complete Workflow Automation
Four51 streamlines the entire requisition-to-reconcile process, with savings every step of the way. Employees save time by using a simple, context-aware shopping cart to place orders in seconds. Managers approve purchases right from email. Requisitions can automatically route to approved suppliers, including In-Plant operations.
Reduce Total Cycle Time
A major contributor to maverick spending is Corporate's inability to deliver the right materials on time. We've all heard strange-but-true examples, such as the franchise owner who would simply like to receive new uniforms while the employees are still employed! Four51's Smart Catalog Technology reduces cycle time by automating paper-based processes and eliminating re-keying of order data.
Control Who Has Access, What They Can Order or Modify, and How Orders are Processed
In environments with high turnover, seasonal employment and specialized functions, it's important to control all aspects of the requisition process and implement a single system that's easy to use and easy to explain. In fast-paced environments where the customer experience is planned down to the hour, you can't afford the wrong stuff on time or the right stuff late. The Four51 Smart Catalog Technology user experience can be locked down very tightly to ensure accuracy at each step.
Ensure Compliance with Purchasing Rules
Employees have been known to break rules, but software does what you tell it to do. Why rely on people to choose the right vendors and secure the proper approvals? Four51 allows you to systematize compliance with approval rules and ensure that contracted spending programs are followed and maximized. The benefits are obvious, but the fortunate by-product is rapid, complete adoption of the system in the field because field-based users are freed from having to know policy and procedure. Four51 handles that for them!
Gain Vendor Independence by Separating Technology from Suppliers
Many suppliers offer proprietary online ordering systems. In addition to the difficulty you'll face deploying multiple buying sites to the Field and the lack of consolidated reporting, beware of the lock-in effect. The supplier's product and its technology can't be decoupled. Four51 is pure technology, completely independent from any product. Buying using Four51, your company can maintain flexibility, retain critical leverage over your entire indirect supply chain, and enjoy the benefits of workflow automation without being held hostage by a particular supplier.Finance
Approve Requisitions, Not Invoices
When employees hit Check Out, Four51 can automatically create a requisition and email the right person for approval. Approvers can ok a purchase right from email. No more ask-forgiveness-not-permission purchasing and no more waiting until you see an expense report to find out someone bought something he shouldn't have.
Understand the Big Picture
Four51 provides comprehensive reporting to track spending across the extended enterprise, by product, category, cost center, franchisee, branch, Rep, Channel Partner, etc. A global, consolidated view of spend activity is simply not possible when companies adopt multiple supplier-sponsored buying platforms. And because forcing multiple buying methods on the Field will kill adoption, manually consolidated data won't be accurate anyway.
Ensure Compliance with Purchasing Rules
Employees have been known to break rules, but software does what you tell it to do. Why rely on people to choose the right vendors and secure the proper approvals? Four51 allows you to systematize compliance with approval rules and ensure that contracted spending programs are followed and maximized. The benefits are obvious, but the fortunate by-product is rapid, complete adoption of the system in the field because field-based users are freed from having to know policy and procedure. Four51 handles that for them!
Eliminate Maverick Spending
The amount of spend under management has a direct and dramatic effect on operating expenses. You'll drive better pricing from vendors and eliminate time spent by accounting staff trying to uncover and decipher rogue spending hidden inside expense reports.
Free Up Cash with Better Demand Planning
If you are responsible for a centralized production capability that supplies field-based operations, such as an In-Plant print facility, one of your primary challenges is predicting and responding to demand in a manner that satisfies the Field's need for quick turnaround without tying up precious cash in inventory. Four51 gives you consolidated, real-time reporting of historical order activity and the ability to react quickly to new order activity.
Gain Vendor Independence by Separating Technology from Suppliers
Many suppliers offer proprietary online ordering systems. In addition to the difficulty you'll face deploying multiple buying sites to the Field and the lack of consolidated reporting, beware of the lock-in effect. The supplier's product and its technology can't be decoupled. Four51 is pure technology, completely independent from any product. Buying using Four51, your company can maintain flexibility, retain critical leverage over your entire indirect supply chain, and enjoy the benefits of workflow automation without being held hostage by a particular supplier.Business Improvement Team
Eliminate waste across the entire ecosystem
LEAN teams appreciate Four51 for its ability to eliminate manual, error-prone processes quickly. And Four51 can be deployed on a massive scale, creating permanent cost reductions in traditionally "hard to reach" areas like field operations.
Self-Service Enablement
Four51 can be configured to provide various levels of self-service to the users and groups placing orders. Order tracking and reporting are two common examples. Giving users controlled access to help themselves eliminates the need for Shared Services to field the "Where’s my stuff?" phone call, and allows the team to focus on value-added activities.
Gain Vendor Independence by Separating Technology from Suppliers
Many suppliers offer proprietary online ordering systems. In addition to the difficulty you'll face deploying multiple buying sites to the Field and the lack of consolidated reporting, beware of the lock-in effect. The supplier’s product and its technology can't be decoupled. Four51 is pure technology, completely independent from any product. Buying using Four51, your company can maintain flexibility, retain critical leverage over your entire indirect supply chain, and enjoy the benefits of workflow automation without being held hostage by a particular supplier.
Eliminate Maverick Spending
The amount of spend under management has a direct and dramatic effect on operating expenses. You'll drive better pricing from vendors and eliminate time spent by accounting staff trying to uncover and decipher rogue spending hidden inside expense reports.Shared Services
Shared Services refers to the provision of a service by one part of a company where that service had previously been found in more than one part of the organization. Thus the funding and resourcing of the service is shared and the providing department effectively becomes an internal service provider. One purpose of Shared Services is the convergence and streamlining of an organization's functions to ensure that they deliver to the organization the services required of them as effectively and efficiently as possible. A key advantage of this convergence is that it enables economies of scale
Ensure Compliance with Purchasing Rules
Employees have been known to break rules, but software does what you tell it to do. Why rely on people to choose the right vendors and secure the proper approvals? Four51 allows you to systematize compliance with approval rules and ensure that contracted spending programs are followed and maximized. The benefits are obvious, but the fortunate by-product is rapid, complete adoption of the system in the field because field-based users are freed from having to know policy and procedure. Four51 handles that for them!
Reduce Manual Workload
Automation of manual processes reduces errors and improves total cycle time. When you consider that most research indicates manual processing of internal orders can drive the cost per order well over $50, automating even a portion of the "req-to-check" cycle using Smart Catalog Technology can drive significant savings.
Enable Self-Service
Four51 can be configured to provide various levels of self-service to the users and groups placing orders. Order tracking and reporting are two common examples. Giving users controlled access to help themselves eliminates the need for Shared Services to field the "Where’s my stuff?" phone call, and allows the team to focus on value-added activities.Branch / Store Management
Control Who Has Access, What They Can Order or Modify, and How Orders Are Processed
In environments with high turnover, seasonal employment and specialized functions, it's important to control all aspects of the requisition process and implement a single system that's easy to use and easy to explain. In fast-paced environments where the customer experience is planned down to the hour, you can't afford the wrong stuff on time or the right stuff late. The Four51 Smart Catalog Technology user experience can be locked down very tightly to ensure accuracy at each step.
All You Need Is a Web Browser
Four51 is a 100% Web-based application that provides a buying experience equal to the best consumer sites. If you can shop on Amazon.com, you already know how to requisition on Four51.
Reduce Total Cycle Time
"It would be nice if the uniforms showed up while the people still work here." That's a sad but true, and all too common, complaint from stores, branches and franchise outlets. A major contributor to maverick spending is Corporate's inability to deliver the right materials on time. Four51's Smart Catalog Technology reduces cycle time by automating paper-based processes and eliminating re-keying of order data.
Compliance is Built-In
You don't need to know the purchasing rules or policies associated with your role, your company, the product you're ordering, or the supplier you’re ordering from. All relevant rules are systematized. Compliance increases while your time spent on administrative tasks decreases. You can’t break the rules...simply using the system means the rules are being followed.
Personalize and Localize All Marketing Material
To be successful in your specific markets, you need the ability to leverage the power of your brand and your local presence in conjunction with a corporate brand. Four51 allows you to tailor marketing campaigns and point-of-sale materials to suit your needs while preserving the integrity of the corporate brand. And there are no time-wasting approval cycles via phone, fax, and email. Compliance to standards is built into the system.
IT Professional
No Hardware or Software to Buy
Four51 was architected from the beginning as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), so you don't need to buy, install and support hardware, software, or middleware anywhere in you company or in your extended ecosystem. A browser is all that's needed.
100% Automated Monitoring, Upgrades, and Scaling
We monitor your system, ensure you have immediate access to new features, and scale your system to maintain peak performance whether you have 10 users or 10,000 users.
Make a Major Contribution to the Company’s Health
In trying economic conditions, smart companies make sure all hands are on deck and contributing in a tangible, visible manner to the company’s success. Or in some cases, to its survival. IT can play a leading role by championing a technology that drives systemic cost savings with no new CapEx.