Canada's Largest Buying Group Signs with FurnishNet For B2B Initiative

Furniture World Magazine

FurnishNet, a leading provider of Internet-based supply chain solutions, announced that Mega Group, Canada's largest home furnishings buying group, has contracted with the company to automate document exchange between Mega Group, their manufacturers, and their retailer members. Mega Group and FurnishNet recently completed the first phase of this three-phase initiative with the conversion of 50 of the buying group's traditional EDI manufacturer connections onto the FurnishNet Internet-based exchange. Manufacturers Ashley, Sealy, Simmons, and Palliser were among the companies involved in that first phase implementation. The second phase will integrate Mega Group to over 70 manufacturers who are currently connected to the FurnishNet network of over 500 manufacturers. The final phase of the initiative targets the buying group's retailer members for electronic document exchange with the buying group as well as the remaining manufacturer trading partners. When complete, the initiative will encompass over 315 manufacturers and 400 retailers who conduct business with the Mega Group. "We are always looking for ways to provide better service for our members, and streamlining the supply chain is a top priority because of the cost savings involved," said Donna Ettles, Director of IT for Mega Group. "With electronic transaction exchange we not only reduce paperwork, labor, and errors but we also cut down the time it takes to get merchandise. That adds up to significant savings and happier consumers." The buying group has targeted invoices, purchase orders, acknowledgments, and shipping notices as transactions to be automated under this initiative. Mega group currently processes over 1,000 invoices a day. One of the reasons Mega Group selected FurnishNet for their move to electronic document exchange was FurnishNet's large, growing base of connected manufacturers. FurnishNet has added 110 manufacturers in the last 12 months to reach the 500 mark. FurnishNet currently has over $2.4 billion of home furnishings purchases under contract for electronic processing and is on track to process over 500,000 purchases electronically for FY2004, a 64% increase over FY2003. "When our former EDI VAN (Value Added Network) provider told us they were changing systems, forcing us to revise all our internal processes, we started researching alternatives," stated Ettles. "FurnishNet offered reliable, cost-competitive VAN services, and their connected manufacturer base and home furnishings expertise were second to none. I was very impressed with how fast they were able to move to support our migration." FurnishNet's solution for Transaction Management speeds the accurate transmission of purchase orders, purchase order acknowledgements, advance ship notices, invoices, and many other transaction types. By integrating e-mail, web applications, electronic data interchange (EDI),and XML into a unique "Any-to-Any" exchange, FurnishNet is able to translate business transactions into appropriate formats for the immediate electronic flow of information between business partners of any size, running on any corporate system. This reduces errors and costs and shortens delivery cycles to improve customer service. "We believe that standardizing the Mega Group on FurnishNet's electronic document exchange is going to have a significant impact on the Canadian marketplace and certainly help Mega Group provide a competitive advantage to its retailer members," said Ron Sellers, Vice President of Sales for FurnishNet. "Buying groups, wholesalers, and distributors are an important part of our growth strategy, and we look forward to leveraging our work with Mega Group for further success in these areas." About Mega Group: Owned and operated by independent, retail members from the Atlantic to the Pacific, Mega Group is Canada's largest buying group for the home furnishings industry. Their sole purpose - and entire focus - is to help members achieve greater profitability and sales through Retail Systems, Promotional Networks, volume purchasing, marketing support, and related programs. The retail programs - Countrywide, Multi Meubles, Sleep Experience, Digital Connection and Promotional Networks - are a few examples of the great opportunity Mega Group offers the independent retailer. For more information, visit www.megagroup.ca About FurnishNet: Over 575 of the nation's leading retailers and manufacturers are using FurnishNet's electronic document exchange solution to streamline their supply chains. For more information or a list of connected manufacturers, call 1-800-854-2263, or visit www.furnishnet.com