Synchronicity: Technology Providing Service

One of the most interesting aspects of the Elite Furniture story is their sales, product tracking and distribution technology. Software, developed exclusively for Elite, provides both the company and its customers with a powerful and comprehensive relational data base of information. "The formula we have developed allows our dealers to have their orders entered into our system at a single point, the national sales office in San Jose, and get a detailed confirmation electronically via the Fax or EDI. They don't have to call us back to see if their order is in the system or if it will ship," said Pathiratne.

This proprietary system was designed for Elite over a two year period and is now in place and ready to meet the challenges of the future. "This powerful tool allows us to have an up to the minute handle on the current state of both our on hand and in transit inventories. When an order comes in from the field the system allows us to look at things like stock status, availability, incoming, reserved, and other information as well. This gives our customers the information they need to make a decision to buy based upon fact not an educated guess," said Jeff Dyson, Elite's West Coast Sales Manager. "We can let a customer know that a particular product will not be here for ten days and then put in a subsequent reserve order so that when that sku lands it is shipped to that customer before it could possibly be committed to someone else," he said. The system allows the Elite team to make reasonable commitments and then keep them because it tracks inventory in real time based upon information on the company server. This server is accessed and updated as the number of outgoing orders and incoming inventory change. "This is the only way you can run a national distribution system," Dyson said.

"Elite's company wide goal is to meet a 48 hour turnaround time deadline for all shipments. When you back that up with professional field reps and sales training for retail associates for almost any city in the country you have an idea of the commitment we have made to be a leader in this futon industry, a leader that delivers the best value and superior service," Pathiratne said.Besides these up to the minute details, the new system also allows Elite's home office to track regional buying patterns, including information on what has been selling best in each dealer's store or stores. "This information will allow us to see what patterns develop and will hopefully allow our customer service people to alert dealers to possible product shortfalls as well as availability situations several months down the road," he said. The system also gives Elite a great handle on receivables, a critical issue in a growth oriented market. "The system flags late payers by locking out order processing until a principal makes a phone call to clarify the situation," said Kumar. Like all suppliers Elite understands the importance of cash flow in an immature market, and has always tried to work with their dealers during the dry spots. The system alerts them to changes in payment patterns and gives them an opportunity to begin to address the issue before it hurts either their position or their dealer's.

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