New technology improving order-tracking

Web provides industry with real-time information

By Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, February 1, 2004

HIGH POINT — HIGH POINT — When it comes to buying furniture, most customers don't just want it at the right price and style. They also want it now.

And if they can't have it immediately, they want to at least know it soon will be on its way.

As a critical link in achieving that goal, retailers and manufacturers are relying more than ever on trucking companies to help track the flow of goods. Fortunately, technology is making many peoples' jobs a lot easier in that respect.

While retailers and trucking firms can't necessarily speed up the production process, they now can at least track products en route and better communicate information about delivery schedules to their customers.

Some trucking companies recently have enhanced that process by adding tracking capabilities to their Web sites. For example, by inputting a password and product order information, retail customers can access anything from order paperwork to delivery status.

Thomasville, N.C.–based S.D. Johnson Trucking added order information to its Web site last year. Now a retailer can visit its Web site to check the status of an order and find out when it will be delivered.

And thanks to a link on Broyhill Furniture Inds.' Web site, visitors there can access S.D. Johnson's site even more quickly.

The company currently inputs data manually, but will move to electronic input when it installs a bar coding and scanning system in the next year.

"We just want to make it simpler for the retailer to track and trace and know where their freight is," said Tim Hylton, sales manager at S.D. Johnson Trucking. "The quicker we get it to the retailer, naturally, that helps their sales. And we don't want to sit on it long because that helps us make money."

Before now, many retailers and manufacturers relied on customer service departments to track and communicate such order information. In many cases, those departments still handle customer inquiries.

But by making delivery information available on the Internet, companies have made it easier for those with Web access to keep up with the status of shipments.

Mount Airy-based Cooke Trucking introduced its online order-tracking capabilities this past December. With the use of a password and an acknowledgment number, a retailer can find out when Cooke picked up specific merchandise from the manufacturer and when their store will receive it.

It also shows contact information and delivery dates for third-party carriers involved in the delivery process. And like S.D. Johnson, Cooke's site is linked to certain manufacturers.

24/7 communication

Online capabilities give customers access to information on a 24/7 basis, explains Cooke controller Rodney Jessup. "The main idea is to improve the flow of communication."

MGM Transport has had real time, online order tracking for the last 10 years. The company updates that information hourly to allow customers to trace the progress of shipments.

Since billing information is also in the system, the company can provide the retail customer proof of delivery, freight bills and bill of lading material electronically, once the final delivery occurs.

Some of these developments have occurred thanks to improved communications between the manufacturer and the trucking company terminals and headquarters. Bar coding technology is also very useful in identifying shipments.

MGM has had bar coding technology since 1987. Through Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) technology, MGM receives advanced shipping notice material and related bar code information directly from the manufacturer. In turn, it transmits this data electronically to the retailer.

Bar coding allows MGM to track every piece of furniture with fewer errors than its competitors, according to Mike Caldiero, the company's vice president of sales and marketing. It also prevents MGM from shipping merchandise to the wrong customer.

"On a weekly basis, we run an inventory of what we have on our floor vs. what freight bills we have and match them up," he said. "If I have a piece of furniture and not a freight bill, it shows up (in the system) automatically. I know it's lost before it's lost. By knowing about it you can track it down a lot faster."

Morganton, N.C.–based Four Truckers has used bar coding technology for five years and has been set up on EDI for about seven months. This helps the company keep track of documents as well as merchandise on its trucks.

"From a quality standpoint, bar coding has had the most significant effect on our company in terms of the service we provide," said President Eric Clarke.

"It gives retailers a complete map of the time a shipment originated to the time it will be delivered," he said. "They can see the trail of the shipment and how it progresses."

Satellite hookups

Companies also use satellite computer systems to track the location of individual trucks. Similar to laptop computers, drivers carry these with them in the cab and even use them to send and retrieve e-mails.

Still, bar coding is a more accurate way to track shipments and that's why more companies such as S.D. Johnson are trying to upgrade their systems for such technology.

"That way we can track each piece," Hylton said. "We have made a lot of progress in the past year upgrading our systems, but we are looking at making a whole lot more progress over the next year."

But bar coding is not trouble-free. Because some companies use different bar codes on their shipments, a single product can have several labels all meaning something different to the manufacturer, the shipper and the retailer.

Hooker Furniture officials see standardization of bar coding as a key to improving the delivery and communications process.

"Delivery is everything," said Talmage Fish, Hooker's vice president of information services. "It's all geared toward having a very efficient and streamlined supply chain that is cost-effective, that uses standardized data and that provides information throughout the whole cycle. It's really a cradle-to-grave type thing, from the time we get the orders to the time the customer receives the product."

That's starting to occur thanks to efforts among different home furnishings associations and Furniture Industry Data Exchange (FIDX), an industry group that is studying technology issues.

Manufacturers such as Broyhill, Hooker and Thomasville also are asking more of their trucking industry partners to move to EDI. The technology allows bills and other important documents to be transmitted electronically from the manufacturer to the shipper.

Cooke Trucking is among those making the change.

"What that does is, instead of our customer service department having to enter bills, it comes straight from the manufacturer," said Cooke's Jessup. In turn, that same flow of information helps the company update its Web site with order information.

Like other companies, Roadway Express has tracked real-time shipping data on its Web site for several years. It has improved the flow of information by correlating different bill ID numbers recognized by its computers and the computers of retail clients.

Traditionally, Roadway uses a bill of lading that details information such as the product, the destination and other related shipping data. For a retailer, that type of information is typically on a purchase order.

Thanks to Roadway's efforts, retailers can more easily track order information online. Now, instead of having to have a bill of lading number, they simply can input the purchase order number to retrieve information.

Such advances can help retailers better allocate resources in both their warehouses and in areas of customer service.

"I would say the more communication you have and the more visibility there is, the retailer knows when it's coming and can accept the load," said Brian Krejsa, marketing manager of supply chain technology for Roadway Express.

Those on the retail side of the industry appreciate such developments. That's because having accurate, timely information can help them with staff scheduling and the routing of their own delivery trucks.

"It is extremely important to increase the level of automation not only from a customer service standpoint, but from an effectiveness and efficiency standpoint to the retailer," said Sharon Bradley, president of the Western Home Furnishings Assn., a trade group representing 2,600 retailers in 10 western states.

"It's savings to their bottom line to be able to easily access information."