BRISBANE, Australia, Tuesday, March 30th, 2004 - Well known rural merchandise supplier, Norco Rural Stores, has given approval to Brisbane-based Markinson Business Solutions to implement MomentumPro into its 22 branch network throughout Northern NSW and SE QLD.

MomentumPro is an advanced enterprise management software solution, developed by Markinson, which has been specifically designed to meet the demanding global needs of distribution and supply chain companies in the SME market.

Based in Lismore, NSW, Norco Rural Stores is a business unit of Norco Co-operative Limited. Norco Co-operative Limited commenced trading in 1895, while the Norco Rural Stores division began servicing the rural merchandise needs of its customers in 1948. The Norco Rural Stores division currently comprises 19 Rural Retail outlets, one Wholesale Warehouse, one Mitre 10 Hardware store and a Stockfeed Manufacturing Mill.

The company has experienced good growth in recent years and a software solution that would support the company's aggressive growth strategy became critically important, according to Norco Rural Stores' Administration Manager, Peter Daley.

"With 22 branches, and a strategic growth plan in place, we needed a solution that was more attuned to our business needs, especially in managing our large inventory, and a solution that would scale up to meet our future growth," said Daley.

MomentumPro is tightly focused on meeting the specific needs of distribution and supply chain companies like Norco Rural Stores which has an annual turnover in excess of $70 million, and carries more than 24,000 active stock lines.

According to Daley, "We conducted an extensive evaluation process that included several well known software packages before making the decision to go with MomentumPro. One of the key reasons behind our decision was MomentumPro's ability to handle our complex inventory requirements. After all, inventory is what we buy and sell; it's our business so managing it effectively is crucial."

Markinson is also currently developing a comprehensive Rebates module for Norco Rural Stores which is critical to their business. According to Norco Rural Stores' Product Manager, Michael Murphy, "The Rebates Module Markinson is working with us to develop for MomentumPro will be the best in the industry and will allow our business to achieve some significant savings."

Norco Rural Stores regarded a partnership with the software vendor as an important factor in selecting new software. "There were several things we considered on the vendor side before making our decision. Markinson's key strength as a vendor was that we were able to talk to people at Markinson that understood our business and our industry; and that's important," said Murphy.

Daley also noted that "Markinson's focus on businesses like ours, a clear product upgrade path and the local support Markinson can provide us will help to ensure we get a quick return on our investment in MomentumPro. The total professionalism and integrity Markinson staff displayed in dealing with us throughout the evaluation process was also a major factor in our decision."

Markinson's Managing Director, Paul Watts, commented that "Norco Rural Stores is a well established and successful business. We're very pleased to have been chosen as their IT partner to further this success in the coming years."

Markinson's other customers include Ideal Electrical Suppliers, John R. Turk, Burson Automotive and many others.

About Norco Rural Stores
Norco Rural Stores are a business unit of Norco Co-operative Limited having been operational as a farmer owned business since 1895. The network of over 20 outlets services the rural merchandise needs of customers throughout Northern NSW and SE Qld with a vast array of quality and technically supported products.