Home Page

Chairman Products

Case Studies
Put IT into Furniture
When off the peg isn't good enough

Support Services

Additional Services

Special Offers

Any businessman knows that the success of his company will rise and fall in direct relation to the skill with which the business is managed, as well as the quality of his products. Competition in the 90's and though the Millennium is intense, and if the company doesn't invest in systems, then it will be left behind.

The problems arise when decisions have to be made regarding which system is to be used. Manufacturing companies typically have some type of software which handles the manufacturing process, and then an accounts package. If the company is forward thinking, the two are linked, but rarely completely, or in any sophisticated manner.

The furnishing industry knows these problems well, and then takes them on to the next stage. That is because of the dreaded words - made to order. Virtually every piece of furniture can be specified in many different configurations, and then there are the 30 different fabrics in which an item can be ordered. The end result is one of the most complex manufacturing and stock management scenarios faced by manufacturing companies today.

One company has grasped this nettle and set out to provide a comprehensive, sophisticated, tried and tested solution for UK furniture manufacturers. That company is Chairman Software Limited, and its product is called Chairman.

Chairman is the only integrated computer system on the market that has been developed specifically for the furniture industry. Chairman provides end-to-end integrated management of the process of taking orders, manufacturing and supplying furniture. Most company systems will require that there is an individual Bill of Materials (BOM) for every possible combination or configuration of each item.

By contrast, Chairman requires only one Bill of Materials for a settee, not 150. Everything is based upon user definitions. A louvre blind manufacturer, for example, operates a single Bill of Materials for all widths, depths, colours and styles of the blinds it manufactures.

While Chairman has many powerful features, it has also been written in such a way that it is simple to use. What's more, the company has recognised that in the same way that all furniture customers want variations on a theme, so do furniture manufacturers. Chairman can be tailored to meet an individual company's needs. Also, in recognition of the fact that its customers will often use well-known accounting software, Chairman Software is aiming to ensure that Chairman will operate with these packages, and part of the service, in the future, will be to manage the integration of the two systems.

Because the software integrates production, accounts and administration functions, Chairman can be used throughout the company to run all key operations, such as sales and order processing, product pricing and costing, materials requirement and production planning, works order processing, stock control, bar code tracking, accounts, payroll and management reporting. This not only reduces the "learning curve" for computer users in a business, but also ensures all elements of the business use the same software and data, making it easier to run an integrated and streamlined business. Coming back to the Bill of Materials issue, Chairman Software feels that an accurate Bill of Materials gives an accurate stock control and product costing, at a price that the customer can afford.

So, for furniture manufacturers there is an alternative to wrestling with off the peg software solutions. Chairman's made to measure suite allows furniture companies to do what they are good at - making furniture.