The company is one of the few in their industry with a national distribution presence, supported by six fully stocked warehouses from which they can reach 70% of the country's population with Next Day Service. Alpha Shirt products are available through catalog, direct and Internet sales, and each distribution center features a showroom for close-up product inspection as well as a pick-up counter, from which customers can "pick up" merchandise within three hours of placing their orders.

Integrated Warehousing Solutions implemented the IRMS Warehouse Management System at four of Alpha Shirt's regional distribution centers via centralized deployment from their corporate data center Wide Area Network in Philadelphia. Together the facilities, totaling 600,000 square feet, distribute Alpha Shirt products to more than 40,000 customers in the screen printing, embroidery, retail and advertising specialty industries. IRMS implementation requirements in this environment have included integration with radio frequency (RF) technology as well as Cutsey Business Systems' FDM4, an Enterprise Host ERP system.

In conjunction with the Host, IRMS provides Alpha Shirt with fast and efficient order entry, online customer service and complete inventory visibility. With the system, Alpha Shirt can trace their operations from the point an order is dropped from their Web-based order entry through receiving, putaway, picking, packing, consolidation and shipment. Most all of these functions are directed and monitored from the warehouse floor via the RF component. Taken together, the company has seen productivity improvements in their facilities in particular with IRMS receiving and stock putaway, and achieved 99.9% inventory accuracy, allowing them to double their business without increasing warehouse personnel.