Overview
Industry Leader
ARI Network Services, Inc. (the “Company” or “ARI”) is a leading provider of electronic
parts catalogs and related technology and services to increase sales and profits
for dealers, distributors and manufacturers in the manufactured equipment markets.
We focus our sales and marketing on the North American and European manufactured
equipment industry (the “Equipment Industry”), providing direct sales and service
in North America and operating through a combination of direct sales and service
and value-added sales and service agents elsewhere.
Sales in these markets are driven
by dealers’ and other servicing agents’ need for technical parts and service information
needed to perform repair, warranty, and maintenance services, as well as to reduce
operating costs and increase sales. The Equipment Industry is made up of separate
sub-markets in which the manufacturers often share common distributors, retail dealers
and/or service points. These sub-markets include: outdoor power, power sports, motorcycles,
agricultural equipment, recreation vehicles, floor maintenance, auto and truck parts
aftermarket, marine, construction, and others.
By “Equipment”, we mean capital goods
which are repaired rather than discarded when broken and for which the repairs are
generally performed by a distributed network of independent dealers and/or repair
shops. The Equipment Industry has been a growing percentage of our revenue over
the past three years, representing 96% of fiscal 2006 revenue. We expect the Equipment
Industry to continue to be the Company’s largest Industry in fiscal 2007, and expect
to expand into other sub-markets within the Equipment Industry which have similar
business needs.
Products and Services
Our products and services enable Equipment Industry dealers to automate business
communications with the manufacturers and distributors whose products they sell
and service. We supply three types of software and services:
- robust Web and
CD-ROM electronic parts catalogs,
- dealer marketing services, including a website
creation service and technology-enabled direct mail and
- eCommerce services.
The electronic cataloging products and services enable partners in a service and
distribution network to look up electronically technical reference information such
as illustrated parts lists, service bulletins, price files, repair instructions
and other technical information regarding the products of multiple manufacturers.
Dealer marketing services help a dealer increase revenue. For example, the website
creation service makes it easy for a dealer to create a professional web presence
and optionally to conduct electronic business with its customers.
The eCommerce
services allow the dealers to exchange electronic business documents such as purchase
orders, invoices, warranty claims, and status inquiries with the manufacturers and
distributors who supply them.
Our products and services use the Internet for data
transport and a combination of the World-Wide Web and CD-ROM technology for user
interfaces and data presentation. At this time, the primary product line is electronic
catalogs; the other products leverage our position in the catalog market. We expect
that dealer marketing services will represent a larger percentage of revenues over
time, as management attention is focused in this area.
Sales and Marketing
Our sales and marketing activities are focused on dealers, distributors and/or service
points directly and on Equipment Industry manufacturers and distributors that sponsor
our products and services within the service and distribution network. Using direct
sales, we sell additional dealers as well as additional databases and additional
products (such as WebsiteSmart™) to existing dealer customers. These products are
used by dealers to save time and money, as well as to increase revenues.
We also
sell directly to distributors and manufacturers. We believe that the implementation
of our products can reduce internal costs for manufacturers and distributors and
increase loyalty and productivity in the service and distribution network as well
as end-customer satisfaction. In addition to software licenses and support services,
a typical implementation for a given manufacturer or distributor will involve professional
services for project management, software customization and continuing catalog updates.
Partnerships
An important aspect of our business is the relationships we have developed with
over 85 dealer business management system providers through our COMPASS Partners™
program. A dealer business management system is used by a dealer to manage inventory,
maintain accounting records, bill customers and focus marketing efforts. Our software’s
ability to interface with these systems provides the dealer with a more robust,
informative, and cost-effective solution. It also differentiates us from competitors.
As part of our historical business practice, we continue to provide eCommerce services
to the North American agribusiness industry, which accounted for 4% of our total
revenue in fiscal 2006.
No single customer accounted for 10% or more of our revenues in fiscal 2006.
Headquarters
Our executive offices are located at 11425 West Lake Park Drive, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
53224-3025 and our telephone number at that location is (414) 973-4300. Click here to
view all of our locations. ARI is a
Wisconsin corporation, incorporated in 1981.