Rugs Direct Improves Order Fulfillment Process with Epicor

Epicor Software Corporation (NASDAQ: EPIC), a leading provider of integrated enterprise software solutions for midmarket companies, today announced that Rugs Direct, a multi-channel retailer and leading supplier of rugs from around the world, is leveraging Epicor for Distribution to improve efficiency nearly company-wide, perform tighter order tracking, and achieve real time visibility into drop-shipments.

Epicor for Distribution is a single source solution that provides powerful distribution functionality, tightly integrated with back office financials management capabilities for general ledger, accounts payable, and budgeting. Using Epicor for Distribution, Rugs Direct has also seen a reduced burden on its customer service center. With Epicor for Distribution, we are able to provide a high level of order detail and tracking which has significantly reduced the number of calls from customers and suppliers on order status, said Randy Kremer, president of Rugs Direct. This translates to a significant cost savings as well as contributing to our overall efficiency.

Implementing Business-Critical Functionality
Offering a collection of more than 60,000 rugs through its e-commerce site, two brick and mortar stores and a mail order business, Rugs Direct has specific business needs for managing its multi-channel operations which requires the use of several line-of-business solutions. In our search for an ERP (enterprise resource planning) solution, we not only needed to find a solution that was robust enough to meet our needs, but we were also looking for a technology partner that we could develop and grow with in the future, said Kremer. Epicor provided the functionality we needed at an affordable price point and was clearly a company that would work with us to create key customizations to fit our business needs.

Working with Epicors Enterprise Consulting Services team, Rugs Direct created interfaces to its e-commerce system and its homegrown systems for the call center and a point-of-sale (POS) system used in the retail stores. Rugs Direct also created an interface with its UPS shipping solution that, through automated triggers, pushes select data from Epicor for Distribution into the UPS system so shipping labels can be generated and printed, and then pushes shipping and tracking information back into the Epicor system for order resolution. That we are able to utilize these solutions concurrently while leveraging Epicor for Distribution as the main hub for all transactional and financial information is a key benefit, said Greg Culler, CIO for Rugs Direct.

The integration between Epicor for Distribution and the UPS system has elevated Rugs Directs order processing capabilities. Previously, we were lucky if we could ship 70 packages a day because of all the manual processes, said David Craig, CEO for Rugs Direct. Now, we have had days where weve shipped over 300, an increase of more than 400 percent.

Pairing Robust Functionality with a Flexible Platform
With integrated modules for warehouse management, customer relationship management (CRM), back office financials and distribution, supplier relationship management (SRM), and business intelligence, Epicor for Distribution provides a comprehensive solution for distributors providing all the necessary functionality to succeed in the 21st century. In addition, the solutions flexible Microsoft SQL Server platform enables straightforward integration with line-of-business solutions enabling further precision in industry-specific operations.

Epicors core functionality in combination with the flexible SQL platform, gives us the tools we need to operate in line with our business model and improve on current processes, said Culler. The Epicor solution has enabled my department to create a level of efficiency within our systems that I dont believe our competitors are able to do.

For companies like Rugs Direct with non-traditional distribution needs, it is essential to leverage an integrated solution that can grow and adapt to meet changing business demands, said Rod Winger, director of product marketing for Epicors distribution and supply chain solutions. Epicor for Distribution allows midmarket companies to leverage the best of the solutions functionality alongside essential industry specific systems to create technology processes that match business requirements.