Naturwood taps FurnishNet to automate transactions with top 20 manufacturers

Furniture World Magazine

Naturwood Home Furnishings, a Northern California retailer, today announced its selection of FurnishNet for Internet-based supply chain solutions. The family owned and operated retailer will subscribe to the transaction exchange service to reduce manual processes and automate the transmission of purchase orders and purchase order acknowledgements with its top 20 manufacturers for improved communications and reduced cycle times. "Right now, we spend too much time at the fax machine sending POs, and our vendors spend too much time keying in information," said Bob Skamnes, MIS Director of Naturwood. "With FurnishNet, we can immediately connect to our top 20 manufacturers, eliminate those time-consuming and error-prone processes, and work together to provide quicker, more competitive service for our customers." FurnishNet’s solution for Transaction Management speeds the accurate transmission of purchase orders, purchase order acknowledgements, advance shipping notices, and invoices. By integrating electronic data interchange (EDI), email, and faxed-based processes into a unique "Any-to-Any" exchange, FurnishNet translates the information into the appropriate format for the immediate electronic flow of information between business partners, significantly reducing the costs associated with traditional EDI solutions. It also allows retailers and manufacturers to automate document transfers with a broader range of business partners, thereby lowering costs, reducing manual errors, and shortening cycle times with a greater impact to their overall bottom line. "By automating these processes, we’re hoping to shorten the cycle times on special orders, and decrease the lead time we quote to customers," added Skamnes. "Naturwood’s experience of spending time manually processing orders is very common throughout the industry," said Ron Sellers, Vice President of Sales for FurnishNet. "We’re offering a solution that will immediately and significantly improve the way Naturwood conducts business with their manufacturers, while also helping them to provide a higher level of service for their customers." Currently, FurnishNet is connecting its retail partners to more than 130 home furnishings manufacturers for streamlined transaction processing. To learn more about Transaction Management solutions available through FurnishNet, contact Ron Sellers at (800) 854-2263, ext. 2525 or visit www.furnishnet.com. About FurnishNet FurnishNet, a wholly owned subsidiary of GERS, provides Internet-based supply chain solutions for retailers, manufacturers, and suppliers in the home furnishings industry. FurnishNet offerings include solutions for transaction management, order status, and product catalogs that streamline processes, eliminate waste, enhance operations, and improve consumer satisfaction. Leveraging GERS Retail Systems’ 27 years of experience in the home furnishings industry, FurnishNet is well positioned to offer solutions tailored to the business needs of the trade. For more information, visit www.furnishnet.com.