Covering Their Bases With SX.enterprise and Expertek Systems

Barrow Industries is a leading designer, importer, and supplier of fabric to a wide range of customers that includes retailers, furniture manufacturers, and designers. The company employs nearly 300 people worldwide and operates a 275,000 square foot warehouse outside Atlanta, Georgia.

When Barrow Industries wanted to implement a new business system, they solicited proposals and received submissions from nearly 50 vendors.

“We selected Expertek and the NxTrend SX.enterprise System because of the breath and depth of the software and the knowledge and professionalism of the Expertek team,” said Gary Silverstein, executive vice president.

“Since implementation, we have automated the warehouse and eliminated most of the paperwork through the use of RF (radio frequency) terminals,” explains Gary. “The system provides numerous benefits to the warehouse. The system tracks all product movements through the warehouse, and we are no longer limited in where we can put away product. The inventory accuracy is excellent. Product can now be stocked in any location, and the system always knows where it is. That allows us to utilize space more efficiently and to save time locating product.”

Sizing Up the Inventory

As a fabric supplier, having visibility to pieces and sizes of pieces in inventory is critical. Our previous system kept track of total yardage, but gave us no visibility to what was actually in inventory for pieces. This situation created problems for customer service, since it was not always possible to know if they had the right piece size to fill an order. Additionally, management had no way to track remnant pieces. Their ability to track and liquidate those pieces has improved considerably.

Much of their product line is imported from the Far East. They sell a fashion product and having long delivery lead times from overseas means that there is little margin for error in replenishing inventory.

“In our old system, we printed extensive replenishment reports on green-bar paper on a nightly basis that were used by our buyers to reorder product,” stated Gary. “These reports provided too much information in some cases and not enough in others. With the new system, all of that information is accessible online. Our buyers can compare product supply with demand interactively side-by-side and can drill down into detailed information when they need it. Furthermore, the system tracks what has been reviewed and calls attention to what products need immediate attention. Having this information has allowed us to keep a tight reign on inventory and minimize costly air freight charges.”

Barrows Industries has an internal IT staff.

“We depend upon Expertek for system support,” says Gary, “and they have always been available to us when we’ve needed them.”

To learn more about Barrow Industries, visit www.barrowindustries.com.