Award-Winning Technology, Coming Soon to a Computer Near You!

As many of you know, at the 2013 Surfaces convention, QFloors was awarded the Best of Show award for Technology. As broad a category as “technology” is, and with as many technological advances as there were in our industry, we were flattered QFloors was recognized. After all, technology influences hundreds of different products, techniques, and services in this industry. When you think about it, technology is behind anything new in the floor covering industry, whether it’s a new product or a new way to do our jobs. With all of the options, and such an expansive category, we feel very honored that our flooring software product was deemed worthy of the award.

The award was specifically in recognition of the new web services features (Stock Check, Related Items, etc.) inside of QFloors. QFloors software has been the undisputed leader in bringing this type of trail-blazing business-to-business (B2B) technology to the flooring industry. Last fall, QFloors did a live demonstration with Shaw and Dancik, showing the feasibility of the technology. During the presentation, we showed how QFloors could connect with Shaw and several flooring distributors and immediately check stock in their warehouses. The demonstration was a big hit and caused a great deal of excitement. Why? What’s the big deal?

This new feature is seen as something everyone will use in the flooring industry, from the retailer to the distributor and manufacturer. Once use is widespread, its benefits will be felt throughout the industry. The “instant stock check” technology allows a floor-covering dealer to check inventory at the manufacturers’ or distributors’ warehouse 24/7. So right from the sales floor, you can instantly see availability. Along with checking inventory, you can also see the availability of related items such as trim pieces, reducers, glues, etc., also in real time. It automatically brings up a list of everything you would need to have when installing a particular product, and gives an update of each items’ current stock. This not only saves time but also assures that you don’t get out ready to install a job only to find you are missing a key component, or the wrong glue was ordered, or other costly mistakes.

This technology is an extension of the B2B functions already found in QFloors software. We have had one of our dealers testing this feature extensively since last fall. We are just waiting for our partners to make their end available. So as the manufacturers and distributors bring this feature live in their environments, you will automatically have this capability if you have QFloors Version 6.1. Shaw is expected to turn theirs on sometime around April 1, 2013. Dancik (Jaeco, JJ Haines, WM Byrd, BR Funston, TriWest, etc.) is expected to turn theirs sometime around June 1, 2013.

These features open the door to many more possibilities in the near future, such as being able to place electronic orders easier, and making the B2B ordering process more like reserving or purchasing an airline ticket online.

The best news of all: even better things are on their way, thanks in part to our QFloors customers’ great insight and suggestions. Be ready!