Independent Carpet Retailers

http://www.independentfloors.com.au/

Management Information System

site launched 1/10/2003 Background
ICR is a buying group established more then two decades ago which now services over a hundred members located throughout Australia. ICR facilitates the management and distribution of carpet and flooring products.

ICR required an intelligent IT solution in order to better manage its large member base and extensive stock holdings. And so 'FRED' was born - a system which could fulfil these needs and much more.

Timeline (ICR Meets GetStarted - and the magic begins...)
* 2003, Q1 -> ICR contacts GetStarted.
* 2003, Q4 -> FRED* launches.
* 2004, Q4 -> FRED version 1.5 is released.
* 2005, Q2 -> FRED goes to version 2.1
* Strong customer relation forged over the years.
* Continued investment due to positive results.
* History of hitting deadlines & budget.

Benefits to Organisation
* Stock management (with historical tracking).
* Product searching & browsing.
* Shopping basket (with ‘on hold’ & pre-ordering).
* Order management & fulfillment system.
* Extensive reporting (exceptions, stock levels, invoicing, etc).
* Improved member to member communication.
* Streamlined processes (productivity boosts).
* Enforcement of business rules.
* Reduced human error.

The ‘Bad’ Old Days…(before ICR had FRED)
* 2003 -> 100 members, 1 PC in whole group!
* Members dealing directly with suppliers.
* Paper everywhere (massive wall ‘charts’).
* Huge amounts of phone calls.
* Poor stock tracking (stock ‘all over the place’).
* Unknown stock value.
* No searching capabilities.
* Rapid growth with no IT utilisation.