Reynolds and Reynolds
Company
Detailed Timeline
Our History
Reynolds and Reynolds Canada Ltd.
Mississauga, Ontario

1963 - The firm moved into the Canadian market by purchasing the automotive division of Windsor Office Supply at Windsor, Ontario, and from this base formed Reynolds and Reynolds (Canada) Ltd. This wholly owned subsidiary supplied automotive forms and systems to Canadian dealers.

1967 - Reynolds purchased the auto dealer forms business of Alger Press Ltd. of Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. This made Reynolds and Reynolds (Canada) Ltd. the predominant supplier of standard forms and systems to Canadian auto dealers.

1974 - Reynolds Canada introduces Vim II in Toronto, an online parts and accounting system using Bell Telephone phone leased lines and 110 baud KSR printer terminals.

1975 - The company relocates from Belfield Road in Rexdale, Ontario to a 70,000 square foot facility at 2100 Steeles Avenue in Brampton, Ontario. Reynolds was providing batch computer services for over 400 accounting and parts inventory customers on a Burroughs 3800 mainframe at the time.

1983 - Responding to an emerging trend of internationalization in the world's auto industry, by the end of fiscal 1983 the company was marketing to auto dealers (through wholly owned subsidiaries, joint ventures and license agreements) in Canada, Australia, France, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

1985 - Reynolds announced the realignment of the company into the Computer Systems Division and the Business Systems Division. Reynolds also develops the first stand-alone PC-based Dealer Communications System (DCS) for General Motors Canada using Microsoft's version 1.0 Basic compiler. It utilized the IBM XT personal computer with a 10 megabyte fixed disk and 384k of RAM.

1988 - Reynolds introduced the new ERA family of integrated computer systems for auto dealers. The systems included the ERA 96000 for mega-dealers requiring up to 200 user workstations, the ERA 64000 for dealers requiring up to 48 workstations, and the ERA 24000 for dealers requiring up to 16 user workstations. ERA computers work with ERA database software for complete integration of information throughout the dealership.

Reynolds also introduced PartsVision, an electronic parts catalog system, which uses a computer and CD ROM technology to bring parts information and graphics to dealers in an easy-to-access electronic format. The system is jointly marketed to automobile dealers with Bell & Howell.

Reynolds signed agreements with General Motors and Chrysler to market electronic parts catalog systems to their dealers.

1990 - Reynolds introduced a new electronic parts catalog system designed exclusively for the small automobile dealer.

1991 - Released the electronic parts catalog system for Volvo dealers in the United States and Canada.

Reynolds introduced the Colorfile system, a highly efficient, color-coded filing system for the automobile dealership.

The company released the Reynolds Body Shop System, an automated estimating system using bar-coding technology.

The seventh generation of ERA software enhancements were announced, which included the integration of the Reynolds Body Shop System, and laser forms generation. A new, more powerful hardware platform for the ERA system was introduced. The new platform, using advanced RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing) technology provides quick memory access and fast execution speeds.

1993 - Reynolds and Reynolds (Canada) Ltd. acquired BVI Information Systems Ltd., a Montreal, Quebec-based provider of computer systems to automobile dealers. Their product was called Vehilog and utilized Bull Unix hardware.

Reynolds began education partnership with Georgian College, CAI to provide DMS systems and solutions for student "virtual dealership" education and training.

1994 - Reyna Financial Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary, was formed by the company to assist its customers in purchasing computers, related hardware and software.

1995 - Reynolds purchased Service Systems Enterprises Inc., a Chicago-based provider of highly targeted direct marketing services to automobile dealers.

Reynolds purchased Pioneer Systems, Inc., a Florida-based provider of service pricing guides to automobile dealers.

1997 - Reynolds Business Systems acquires Crain-Drummond, a leading Canadian provider of business document outsourcing, document management and work process optimization services. Crain-Drummond had over 1,000 employees and 10 printing plants in Canada.

1998 - Toyota Canada Inc. selects Reynolds as the exclusive provider of dealership management systems and consulting to their entire dealer network and as a strategic business partner to help grow their business through our deep industry knowledge and national coverage, coast to coast in both languages.

Reynolds announces a $50 million investment for the second generation of ERA. ERA2 undergoes a complete redesign that transforms the way Reynolds does business to shift the company philosophy to "Customer Centric" Customer Relationship Management (CRM) & Dealership Management (DM) based solutions, another industry first for Reynolds.

Reynolds moves to Mississauga, Ontario, to establish the new home of Reynolds Corporate Head Office for Canada.

1999 - Reynolds' automotive sales force was recognized as World Class on the 1998 H.R. Chally's Annual World Class Sales Award list. The Automotive Products and Fixed Services Group sales force ranked #1 in Chally's Paper and Business Forms category. The Automotive Solutions Group ranked #4 in Chally's Computers and Software category, and overall, Reynolds ranked #14 on the list of 134 sales organizations.

2001 - BMW Group Canada signs agreement to allow Reynolds as its exclusive provider of retailer management systems and related products and services to help grow their business through our deep industry knowledge and national coverage, coast to coast in both languages.

Microsoft and Reynolds form a multi-year partnership. This relationship provides for joint marketing and selling opportunities and access to advanced technology. .NET is the key to integration, it is the enabler that leads to a retailer being connected any time, any place, and on any device. Microsoft technology combined into Reynolds' solutions enable customers to protect their investment and grow at their own pace.

2002 - Reynolds introduces a new family of customer relationship management (CRM) solutions that are built on an open architecture platform utilizing Microsoft .NET technology. Contact Management, Sales Management and Reynolds Web Solutions incorporate advanced customer relationship management solutions and reporting tools that provide new customer insights and information when and where automotive retailers and car companies need it.

2003 - Reynolds sets industry record for 10,000 active North American customers now using ERA to run their dealerships with the highest level of integration, flexibility, and process control of any DMS.

Reynolds continues partnership and signs new five-year relationship agreement with Georgian College, Canadian Automotive Institute (CAI). As part of its upgrade to the CAI dealership management lab, Reynolds Canada provided the latest version of its industry-leading retail management system, allowing students the ability to manage their own simulated auto dealership.

TODAY Reynolds merged with Universal Computer Systems (UCS) in 2006 to form the automotive industry’s largest and most trusted provider of automobile dealership software, services and forms. By combining the tradition of innovation at UCS and the brand strengths of Reynolds, the new company can now meet the needs of customers more completely and more effectively than anyone else in the industry.