Three industry veterans have launched a new venture intended to help increase "back room efficiencies" and return staff to the sales floor from ordering, stocking and managing inventory.

Randy Voorhees, president of Bookstore Manager, Tom Torbett, president of Appalachian Distributors, and Steve Potratz, president of The Parable Group, unveiled Unison, which aims to offer the first of a series of integrated business systems early next year.

The enterprise has been launched in response to industry-wide concerns about the need to improve Christian retail's supply chain system. In time, some of its services may be offered to non-Bookstore Manager, Parable stores and Appalachian customers.

First up will be a CIO (collaborative inventory optimization) system, which will help retailers better track and analyze their inventory. "Stores don't have a lot of time to waste right now," said Potratz. "They need a system to cut supply chain costs right away. We believe that this new collaborative effort will provide an industry solution and systematic approach to the process of planning, forecasting and inventory replenishment."

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