(March 23, 2015) – Bastian Solutions, a leading systems integrator, announced today the acquisition of Forte Engineering.
Aaron Jones, Bastian Solutions’ President commented, “The acquisition of the Forte Engineering team completes a highly strategic move in an effort to combine the leading wine and spirits industry warehouse execution system (WES) of Forte and the real-time information systems of Bastian Solutions. Over the last few decades, Jim Love and Bernie Victor have built an amazing software platform that will be fully integrated into our Exacta suite. The industry has been lacking this type of turnkey software package, and I could not be more excited to bring this solution to the market.”
Bastian Solutions and Forte Engineering see the merge as a way to strengthen the companies’ overall product offering to wine and spirits clients. Over the past few decades, the Forte team—led by Jim Love and Bernie Victor—authored the software marketed by Contech, a platform that has become an industry-recognized leader in wine and spirits distribution.
Bernie Victor, co-owner of Forte Engineering, remarked, “I am excited to consolidate the efficient, targeted and time-tested functions of Forte’s WES with the power and depth of the Exacta platform. This synergy will create the best suite for planning, executing and proactive monitoring of wine and spirits systems.”
Forte has always held customer satisfaction in the highest regard. Now with the backing of the Bastian Solutions customer service group, Forte customers will receive the best-in-class complete life cycle software package.
Greg Conner, Bastian Solutions’ Regional Director shared, “I have had the pleasure of working with the Forte Engineering team on several systems for our beverage distribution clients. Each time, it has been a successful project for all involved. Not only will Forte’s platform complement our Exacta suite, but the addition of Forte’s knowledgeable team will also be a huge asset to Bastian Solutions and its customers.”
Bastian Solutions will blend the cutting-edge features of its Exacta WES software with the industry specific features of Forte’s solution. Features such as tablet and smart phone based viewing, configurable reporting and web-based platforms are just a few of the features that will be incorporated.
Mark Booth, Vice President, Distribution & Technology at Southern Wine & Spirits, commented, “Southern Wine and Spirits is very excited about the joining of two of our strongest partners. We’ve worked with Bastian Solutions and Forte Engineering for many years and believe this acquisition will be a great benefit both to our company and the entire wine and spirits industry.”
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For more information, visit Bastian Solutions during ProMat at booth #3953, or contact Stefanie Hardy, Assistant Marketing Manager, at 317-575-9992 ext. 1079 or shardy@bastiansolutions.com.
About Bastian Solutions
Bastian Solutions is a global material handling systems integrator and expert in e-Commerce fulfillment automation. An innovator in the fields of material handling automation, goods-to-person systems, wearable AR technology, supply chain software, and robotics, Bastian Solutions is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, with an additional 16 domestic offices and 7 international offices in Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Uniquely positioned, Bastian Solutions offers customers complete and innovative turnkey material handling systems, from design and simulation, all the way through installation and operations.
Bastian Solutions provides integrated material handling systems reducing the total cost of order fulfillment and delivery cycle times for its customers; tremendous productivity gains and a quick return on investment are ensured. Automating supply chain logistics with harmony between material flow, information flow, and operational processes, yields a unique and important competitive advantage.