By Matthew Spieler
Technology is imbedded in every part of our lives, and the flooring industry is no different. From helping to design products to the manufacturing of them and from how dealers communicate with suppliers and customers, the use of technology dominates every facet of the business.

One area where the use of technology is growing by leaps and bounds is at the retail level through the use of various computer software and business management systems and tools. This was clearly evident at Surfaces, where software providers across the board noted a surge in interest and business in their products and services with retailers seeking new ways to make their stores more efficient and profitable.

While many reflected the sentiment that overall show traffic was down some, they quickly noted how they were either busier than ever before or those who stopped in were more serious in terms of wanting to upgrade their businesses.

“Visitors to our booth were down, but those who came by were serious shoppers and buyers,” said Dev O’Reilly, president and CEO of RollMaster Software. “Frankly, we sold more dealers on-site at Surfaces than ever before.”

Trent Ogden, CFO of QFloors, said this year the company doubled the size of its booth and it paid off. “We sold three times as much here as we did last year. We’re seeing a surprising amount of new dealers who just started in the last few years and are either rapidly growing or have outgrown QuickBooks and are looking for more flooring-specific software, especially ones that do estimating. That’s been our number one request.”

Mark Magnuson of Kashmoo said even dealers who still use QuickBooks are seeking ways to integrate it with industry-specific software, such as the company’s new manager program which synchs with the accounting program in real time. “They understand the need to invest in technology to help them run their stores. Even those who are not big enough or simply don’t want to switch from using QuickBooks because their in-house accountant is used to it.”

Building for the future Terry Wheat, president of RFMS, who was announced as the 2008 inductee into the World Floor Covering Association Industry Hall of Fame, a first for a person involved on the technology side of the business, said, “People are looking for ways to improve their business and they are realizing that technology can help them achieve those goals. The people who understand that they need to build for the future are the ones that are here.”

He noted in today’s climate of the savvy consumer and architect/designer, as well as younger people who have grown up in a wired world, there are two important reasons to incorporate technology into a retail business: “First, you can’t sell to your customer who is technology driven. This is especially true on the commercial and builder sides but ever more so in residential with consumers using the Internet to conduct their research before heading out to the store.

Secondly, you will not be able to hire anyone younger than 30. These people grew up with technology and use it in every part of their life, and if you are still doing things by hand, they are not going to come to work for you. It’s become mostly a given that technology is needed to help with the back-office operations, but now it is needed on the front end as well.”

Bob Noe Jr., president of Pacific Solutions, agreed, saying the company was so busy it ran out of literature half way through the show and had to run out to get more made. “It says a lot about the interest in our company as well as the desire to use technology in general. People are starting to understand the advantages of being able to consolidate all their data processes into one system— t eliminates redundancies, which makes you less prone to error. The fewer mistakes you make, the more profitable you become.”

Added Edgar Aya, president of Comp-U-Floor, “Retailers realize they need to be automated to be competitive. And, today, many companies are importing products and they are interested in knowing if we can accommodate them with such things as metric and currency conversions, and tracking shipments, and we can do all that and more.”

Shopping for software

While Surfaces is primarily a place where attendees shop for and see the latest in floor coverings, this year was different with some actually coming to Vegas to check out the newest software and computer technology.

Jon Ford, president of Advantage Flooring Services in Columbus, Ohio, said he came to Surfaces for two specific reasons, with one of them being to buy the first piece of software for the company. The other was for a certain type of installation equipment.

He purchased RFMS’ estimating software to start, saying he wanted to take it one step at a time before purchasing an entire management operating system. By the way his business is growing and the fact that companies need to become more efficient in light of a tougher economy, the timing was right to start getting involved with this kind of technology. “It’s a start; we’ll look at the rest as we grow comfortable using this program.”

While the company is just getting into computer software to help with its operations, Ford said he already understands the benefits it will bring. “I was really interested in its accuracy, its time management aspects and the fact it is a good sales tool. We do a lot of design/build business and what this software offers is the ability to not only do accurate drawings in 3D, but to work with and show our customers right on the spot.”

Bob Seiter of Sun Country Commercial Flooring Specialists in Mesa, Ariz., was at the Bid Tech booth talking to potential customers about how using the software has helped his business over the years. “Back in 2000, we were using a custom DOS package. I came to Surfaces, looked around, found this system and have never looked back since.”

His positive experience, he said, has “made me hungry for technology that makes my job easier. Since that time, I have spent $100,000 on our system, and I can easily say it has paid for itself 10 times over. “Using software is easier, faster, more accurate, you name it,” Seiter added. “It has the ability to make every facet of the business better. From B2B to the mundane, having use of this technology is a true blessing.”

Lorrie Balusik, president of Texas flooring contractor Floor Pro Network, said her company has been using the FloorEstimate Pro from Floor Covering Soft “for five years and now the mobile edition has substantially enhanced our estimating efficiency even further.”

The software company was running demos of its new FloorEstimate Pro Mobile at its booth, allowing visitors to draw room shapes and import sizes into the program to be fine-tuned with laser accuracy using a Disto A6, said Steven Wang, president. “The system increases productivity, reduces errors, and gives the estimator a competitive advantage.”

Dave Munson, owner of Floor To Ceiling Mankato in Mankato, Minn., and a Kashmoo user, probably summed up best why retailers need to invest in technology: “It’s not just that it has saved me 10 times what I paid for it over the last year, my entire business is more productive and efficient. Everyone communicates better and there is a lot less stress.”

Considering how tough 2007 was, and that 2008 is not shaping up to be any better, the more stress a business can remove from the day-to-day operations may be just the medicine the doctor ordered.

(Editor’s note: With so much activity taking place around software companies at this year’s Surfaces, future issues of FCNews will look in detail at the new tools and systems the various providers are introducing in 2008.)