best systems are able to predict future demand based on past history, and some systems combine customer history information with sales information so that companies can construct direct mail databases. Inventory control systems, in short, are comprehensive systems that affect all aspects of a company's business.
Inventory Systems Available in the Furniture Industry
There are three systems which are considered the leaders in the furniture systems industry: Levitz, American Data, and HFD. The Levitz system is one of the most popular systems available in the furniture industry, but it is by no means the only system available. Other popular systems include the American Data system (now distributed by Triosoft) and used by companies such as American Furniture, and the HFD system. The American Data system was originally developed for the wholesale distribution industry, but was adapted in the mid-1980s for the hardgoods retail industry. In addition to furniture stores, the system is used by electronics and appliance retailers, such as Top's Appliance and Nobody Beats the Wiz. The HFD system was originally developed for hardgoods retailing and regularly competes against the American Data and Levitz systems for business.
The Levitz and American Data systems were developed for the Hewlett-Packard 3000 minicomputers; Levitz has since ported its software to run on the Hewlett-Packard 900 machines (Unix-based), while the American Data system remains on the proprietary machine. HFD is an IBM-based product using AS400 technology. Of these machines, the Unix platform offers the greatest flexibility for the vendor, and Levitz is considering developing a version of its software which can run on DEC platforms, as well.
All furniture systems have some components in common. They require that the system accommodate purchasing inventory from suppliers, pay for that inventory, and sell the inventory. Since commissions are a common way ...