| Requisitions for pencils, pads of paper, and even modems are the kind of routine purchases that keep businesses humming but distract purchasing staff from the more crucial tasks of forging relationships with suppliers and negotiating services. What's more, the order process only seems simple. Orders are costly, with companies typically spending $135 to $150 to process each paper-based purchase order, according to industry estimates.
To ease the situation, AFD Contract Furniture instituted an intranet on-line shopping system that streamlines the buying process for their contract based clients. The new vision, "A web-catalog." A new way of organization in purchasing that has fresh ideas and is focused on reducing costs and upgrading technology.
The cost savings are huge but that's only part of the return. For employees, shopping will be a snap! They can search for items, get product specifications, obtain reports and process their purchase orders on-line. The user-friendly interface is custom-designed for AFD clients according to industry specific needs.
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The setup will allow AFD to create a for each of its clients a custom tailored catalog that displays only authorized products and prices that makes sure individual employees don't spend more than their set limits. Purchases will be sent automatically to AFD eliminating almost all of the typical $150 cost required to process a traditional purchase order. The significant cost reduction in purchasing within the first year alone that can amount to millions.
The database was developed by KISP, Toronto and is based on a secure NT server at AFD Corporate headquarters in New York City. The security issues offer more stable features and ensure that its users access only the products and prices specifically set up them. In addition, by running the clients catalogs on AFD's server rather than having the clients employees access catalogs on the vendors web sites or shuffling through printed media, the system offers a custom developed interface that is specific to the needs of each client. ----by Theresa Quirk (10/29/97)
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