Manufacturers, retailers hook up on Internet
By Brian Carroll -- Furniture Today, August 18, 2003
Savannah, Ga. — A survey by the Information Technology division of the American Furniture Manufacturers Assn. indicates growing rates of Internet-enabled connectivity among furniture manufacturers and their dealers.
The IT executives of about 200 manufacturers were polled, with some 40 responding, representing an estimated $7 billion in annual sales. Respondents for the most part were either upholstery specialists or full-line producers, said David Purvis, vice president of the IT division and the survey's administrator.
According to the study, 86% receive at least some orders from retailers electronically, while two companies reported receiving as much as 60% of their order volume via either electronic data interchange or the Internet. Also encouraging in terms of e-commerce implementation was the 81% reporting that they are electronically sending at least some of their advanced ship notices.
Also signaling progress was the almost 60% who said they apply Universal Product Code labels to their products. The same percentage said they were aware of AFMA's conventions and standards for UPC labeling of special-order upholstery.
"This is very significant," Purvis said. "A year ago, and for almost 20 years, special-order upholstery producers said they couldn't use UPC labels. We set up a subcommittee about a year ago to come up with labeling conventions and it appears (the standards) are being adopted."
The UPC labeling conventions have been available for about a year.
For electronic catalogs, 64% of the manufacturers reported offering them in some form, and another 22% said they plan to develop them in the future.
Not surprisingly, connectivity with suppliers lags behind manufacturer-retailer linkages. Only 42% of the manufacturers responding said they are linked electronically in one way or another with suppliers. Only 25% are connected with at least one of their transportation companies.
"The responses do show that demand for e-commerce transactions is growing," Purvis said. "The NHFA-Exim alliance is for AFMA a huge endorsement of e-commerce. FurnishNet is reporting record volumes. Symetri is doing incredible things as well."
Last month the National Home Furnishings Assn. tapped Exim Technologies as its official B2B e-commerce service provider. GERS-owned FurnishNet and High Point-based Symetri also provide B2B Internet services.
Purvis said progress has been slow but that the costs of not embracing e-commerce have grown too high to ignore.
"Manufacturers have to do it to drive down errors, returns and allowances, reduce order-entry staff counts, and increase speed," he said. "It's foundational."
The next step for manufacturers, Purvis said, is to implement XML-standard product catalogs.
