Post Falls Software Maker Being Sold Smart Shop Software Expected To Remain At Its Riverbend Commerce Park Facility

Smart Shop Software Inc., which sells software to small and mid-size manufacturers, is being acquired by USDATA Corp. of Dallas.

The deal will give the Post Falls company the deep pockets it needs to keep pace with competitors, said Michelle Dickman, outgoing chairwoman of Smart Shop.

Smart Shop had been looking for about nine months for a partner to help it expand.

“USDATA is going to help us do more and better what we’re already doing,” Dickman said.

“We think Smart Shop is doing very well, and we want to fund that growth,” said Bob Merry, president and CEO of USDATA.

Smart Shop employs about 50 people at the Riverbend Commerce Park. It will remain at its Post Falls location. USDATA has no plans to move it to Dallas, Merry said.

“Great locations will attract good software people, and we think it will be one of these,” he said.

For now, the company will keep its name, and Dickman and Maloof will remain with the company.

Dickman’s husband, Michael Maloof, founded Smart Shop in the Silicon Valley in 1988. The company moved to North Idaho six years ago.

“What we think we do better than anyone else is `finite-capacity planning,”’ Dickman said. That’s software that tracks workers’ and machines’ capacities, availability of materials and other inputs to chart when a product will be ready for shipping.

USDATA, which trades on Nasdaq, sells software to manufacturers in 50 countries. The company expects sales of $27 million this year. It counts General Motors, Ford and Anheuser Busch among its clients, Merry said.

USDATA has been looking for ways to expand its software offerings, which currently focus on products that operate equipment and track products through production stations.

The company plans to adapt Smart Shop’s products for larger manufacturers, Merry said.

Terms of the merger were not disclosed Monday. They’ll be available when the deal is completed later this week, Merry said.

The acquisition is good news for the area, said Jobs Plus President Bob Potter.

“This will give Smart Shop added resources,” he said. “We need to keep companies like this here.”