Coca Cola Beverages Sri Lanka replaces error-prone traditional method of store-to-store sales management with rugged Android-based Winmate E430M2 handhelds.

Sri Lanka is an island nation in the northern Indian Ocean off the southern coast of India. Once known as Ceylon, Sri Lanka has thousands of years of documented history, went through some difficult decades of internal strive, and is today a vibrant multi-cultural nation of 22 million with one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Sri Lanka's per capita income is the second largest in the South Asian region, and the country was also first in the region to introduce the latest mobile broadband communications technologies. This is a promising economy and a promising market.

It is therefore no surprise that smart application of modern mobile technology is high on the list of priorities among local business and enterprise.

Case in point: Coca Cola, which has a bottling plant in Biyagama, right on the lushly wooded shores of the Kelani River. Coca Cola Beverages Sri Lanka has almost 500 employees and sells over ten million cases of their beverages per year through a network of about 130 distributors.

Traditionally, the Sri Lanka Coca-Cola sales force manually counted product inventory at each customer's store—a time-consuming and error-prone process little helped by attempts to use consumer smartphones to keep track of things. The phones had small screens that were difficult to navigate, they easily broke, and they lacked a dedicated, reliable barcode reader. Coca Cola Beverages saw a clear need for a comprehensive hardware/software system to address both the logistics as well as equipment performance and reliability.

Enter Winmate Communication's Android-based E430M2 rugged handheld computer. The E430M2 represents the second generation of Winmate's industrial PDA platform. It's an ultra-rugged device that can handle five-foot drops (1.5 meters), is completely dust- and waterproof, yet only weighs 8.1 ounces (230 grams). It has a large 4.3-inch high-resolution capacitive multi-touch screen that can easily be viewed even in bright sunlight. It's also impervious to temperature extremes, can be equipped with up to 32GB of internal storage, and its battery easily lasts through a full shift.

On top, the rugged Winmate handheld can be equipped with an industrial-grade barcode reader, exactly what's needed to quickly and accurately scan and record inventory. And they include precision GPS so sales staff can easily find unfamiliar locations, as well as 3.5G mobile broadband for constant communication with the Coca Cola data center.

Today, Coca Cola Beverages Sri Lanka sales staff simply log into their new sales force automation system for information on sales routes, customer locations, order status, order details, sales targets, and everything else they need to quickly and accurately dispatch their duties. With the new automation technology and their Winmate handhelds, recording inventory is quick and easy, resulting in far fewer errors and much less time required to process each store. And they don't have to worry anymore of their handhelds breaking down on the job.

It's a win-win situation all around. With the new Winmate rugged handheld-based system, it's much easier for Coca Cola Beverages Sri Lanka to efficiently service its growing distributor network. Sales staff now has efficient, reliable tools to do their job faster, quicker, and with much less frustration. Store owners appreciate their error-free, timely deliveries taylored towards their inventory situation. And customers love being able to quench their thirst from well-stocked shelves, coolers, and vending machines.

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