Karmak is celebrating its 25th year of providing business management software systems to heavy-duty truck parts distributors, dealers, manufacturers, service shops, lease/rental facilities and fleets. Incorporated on Dec. 31, 1981, Karmak began in response to the need for useful software to handle the specific needs of the heavy-duty trucking arena.
Schien Body and Equipment employees Richard Schien and Alan Weller collaborated to design and build a software system from the ground up. Schien soon formed Karmak and began marketing a computer system to heavy-duty businesses from their Carlinville, Ill. location. In July 1997, Karmak purchased Rinfo, and with it acquired the Info 5 heavy-duty business system for truck and trailer dealers. Rinfo became the second branch of Karmak, and is located in Springfield, Mo.
Today, Karmak supports more than 500 customers at about 1,800 locations throughout the United States, Canada and Latin America. The employee-owned company now includes almost 200 specialists in areas such as inventory control, service shop management, accounting and new and used truck sales, as well as information technology and systems engineering.
“Our 25th year devoted to the heavy-duty market is a major milestone, which wouldn’t be possible without the vision of our chairman, Richard Schien, and veteran staff members,” says Bill Healy, president and chief executive officer. “We plan to continue to enhance our premiere Legend and Info 5 business systems, while introducing new Windows- and Web-based products including our ProfitMaster and Director Series lines. By continuing to listen to our customers and work with partners such as Microsoft, IBM, Hewlett-Packard and heavy-duty manufacturers, we are positioned to provide outstanding products and services to meet the changing needs of the industry.”
