Hicksville, N.Y.—At Surfaces 2002, retailers, manufacturers and software suppliers got together to launch an industry-wide initiative designed to eliminate mistakes and speed up the order and delivery process by utilizing the Internet and state-of-the-art e-commerce technology. One year later, key personnel behind the initiative are set to not only discuss the implementation of this ground-breaking business-to-business (B2B) technology but explain how anyone and everyone along the supply chain—dealer, buying group, distributor and manufacturer—can utilize it.

An informational “how-to” session has been set to address questions and concerns. It will take place in Las Vegas during Surfaces 2003 on Jan. 29 at 1 p.m. in room 403 of the Sands Expo Center. With nearly two dozen companies already participating in this endeavor including the big three carpet manufacturers and every major software supplier, not to mention the backing of both the World Floor Covering Association ( WFCA) and the Carpet & Rug Institute (CRI), executives are confident the industry can make the push into an electronic commerce arena where no one has yet to venture.

While electronic data interchange (EDI) has been around since the mid 1970s and is still very much in use today, including the big boxes, Bob Turner of VenCom B2B said the flooring initiative will allow the industry to “leap frog” what companies such as The Home Depot and Lowe’s are doing as they continue to utilize “the old fashion EDI. “What is being developed for the floor covering industry involves using the World Wide Web,” he continued. “That means all trans-actions are done in real time and can be easily tracked from start to finish right from your desktop.”

Software companies such as Comp-U-Floor, RollMaster, RFMS, SystemsNet and Qfloors, and technology companies like VenCom have been working diligently over the past year with both manufacturers and dealers to test the new programs. What they have been working on to one degree or another are some of the more common documents retailers and mills deal with on a daily basis—product/price catalog; purchasing orders and acknowledgements; shipment notices, and invoices. The task has been to develop a set of agreed upon standards so no matter what floor covering computer system a dealer, mill, buying group or distributor has, the documents can be viewed by all parties.

And, even though the testing and overall B2B Standard is far from complete, it is well enough along to where the industry can begin to reap the benefits. “These Beta tests have proved very successful,” said Aaron Pirner of CAP Carpet One and chairman of the committee heading up the initiative. “In fact, we’ve been doing electronic invoicing since before Halloween and have certainly noticed a difference. To be honest, we saw the difference the very first time we tried it.”

“We believe B2B is that rare product which will benefit both small and large dealers in a very positive way, as well as the manufacturers,” said Edgar Aya of Comp-U-Floor. “What we’ve been trying to teach retailers for years is,” said Terry Wheat of RFMS, “how software can help make their businesses run more professionally and be more cost effective and efficient. The B2B Standard is the next step in that development.” Pirner estimates a dealer can immediately reduce his overhead from 1% to 5% depending on current size and how much of the store’s business is currently done via the computer.

“Not only does it re-duce overhead, it allows you to get rid of those redundant, time consuming tasks by automating them which gives you the opportunity to spend more time dealing with issues that make floor covering such a unique product. Not to mention more time to find other ways to improve your business’ profitability.” With the B2B Standard ready to go online, officials said the biggest task now is getting companies, namely dealers, to start wanting to use it. This will put more pressure on the software makers and other mills to start adopting these procedures so that within five years the entire industry can be operating in a more efficient way.

“It’s going to take five to 10 years for the industry to be fully integrated,” said Pirner, “but we have to start now.” It is believed only one-fourth of the nation’s flooring dealers currently use a floor covering software system or some other type of basic bookkeeping program. This 25% represents about 85% of the actual buying power at the dealer level. Also, officials feel only 20% of existing dealers are actually ready to adopt the Standard and start using it. “There is a list of criteria a retailer needs to check off before he can implement this type of system,” Pirner explained.

At the official Web site set up to educate the industry about the initiative, www.flooringb2bstandard.com, a nine-point checklist is posted for a retailer to see if his business is ready to take it on. Once ready, all a dealer needs to do is contact his software supplier which will help set up an e-commerce file between the store and its suppliers. For those who do not currently have a software supplier, the B2B committee has listed on the Web site all the companies currently participating in the initiative with the necessary contact information. To learn about the B2B standard visit the Web site but, more importantly, make plans to attend the Jan. 29 meeting where you can get first-hand information.