Cloud ERP eases furniture customization process

Source Outdoor, a manufacturer of contemporary wicker and aluminum furniture, has implemented a cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution to help with its special orders. With deployment of Manufacturing Cloud ERP from Rootstock Software, Source Outdoor can more quickly and efficiently manufacture all of its own upholstery in-house, offering a huge assortment of fabrics and weaves.

Adrian Lopez, Source Outdoor IT director, says, “Since we were already using customer relationship management (CRM) on the force.com platform, it only made sense that we should use an ERP that is integrated. Talking to Rootstock, we learned that we could be a beta site for its new Configurator that was being developed on the force.com platform, not off-platform as are other Salesforce-based ERPs, and we decided to take advantage of this latest innovation. With it and the rest of the Manufacturing Cloud ERP software, only Rootstock could provide all that we need.”

With the Configurator, Source Outdoor can derive a set of components based on choices made by its customers, who can then obtain accurate, immediate estimates for various product designs. Rootstock reports that the Configurator simplifies processes by automatically generating the sales and work orders that are necessary to fulfill product requests once they are submitted. Meanwhile, it eliminates the need for Source Outdoor to carry specific bills of materials and routings for every conceivable configuration it might build.

Lopez adds, “With the Configurator, we are able to build a customized pallet. Because of the depth of the Rootstock ERP, we were able to create a base of selections and options to tailor it exactly to our needs.”

(Image courtesy of ShutterStock.com)