Cardinal Health, PAR Technology Corp, and ECR Software Corp have formed a strategic alliance. The group will create a solution to provide supply chain and marketing automation for Cardinal Health and its independent retail pharmacy customers. The system allows independent pharmacies to automate the replenishment of merchandise using up-to-date statistics-based reordering methodologies.

The orders are sent electronically in a bidirectional manner, providing accurate coordination of cost/quantities for merchandise ordered and shipped between the Cardinal Health warehouse and the independent pharmacy. The orders and deliveries are tracked for timely notifications on the status of all orders at every point in the supply chain. On the demand end, the system provides total promotional automation. The participating pharmacies receive automatic promotional updates to their pricing monthly. The software is combined with PAR's ViGo Xi POS terminal. The terminal features an integrated customer billboard that serves as a dynamic multimedia system for displaying brand promotions to consumers.