“We just hired two people, and we are looking for more,” says Allred, chief operating officer of PCS, who is still in search of a technical/creative writer, as well as programmers.
With clients that include Urban Outfitters/Anthropologie, The Gap (which also owns five brands, including Banana Republic and Old Navy), and Bed Bath and Beyond, PCS is a supply chain software firm. Their product, PCSTrac, helps companies keep tabs on millions of pieces of inventory.
“The Gap has 3,500 stores,” explains Allred of just one of PCS Technologies' clients. “They use our scanning software to populate the enterprise wide system. Store associates don't scan at all. It's a huge labor savings.” And a huge responsibility. “If there is an issue with our application, it's not just affecting the logistics and supply chain, but it's also affecting national and international inventory.”
With under 25 employees, PCS software makes sure a million cartons a week get from the manufacturer to the store. Allred left her consulting business to join PCS in 2009. She was hired to retool the company's strategy.
“They were at a pivotal point in terms of growth. One of the co-owners of the firm approached me about running the company,” Allred explains. “Since then there has been tremendous growth. In two years, our client base has more than doubled, and our installations have tripled.”
PCS, says Allred, makes its money through recurring revenue. While there are initial licensing fees for its software, the company's main revenue stream comes from monthly product support fees.
“It's the reverse of a lot of software applications,” says Allred. “In this industry, normal maintenance costs are 18 percent of licensing costs. Ours is completely flipped. Our software is very high maintenance. If data isn't showing up, you're stuck. It's a production environment.”
Next time you're trying on a fuzzy cardigan at Urban Outfitters, it's PCS that gets it there.
Source: Chandra Allred, PCS Technologies
Writer: Sue Spolan