Product category:
Builders Merchants
News Release from: Builders Merchants Federation [BMF] | Subject: BMF e trading conferenc
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 17 May 2007
BMF conference boosts e trading
confidence
Over 150 delegates attended the BMF's one-day e trading conference and exhibition which explained the real business benefits for both merchants and manufacturers.
E-asy does it BMF conference boosts e trading confidence
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 30 Jun 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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Over 150 delegates attended the BMF's one-day e trading conference and exhibition, at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham.
The packed day of presentations exploded the myths of e trading and explained the real business benefits for both merchants and manufacturers.
BMF managing director Chris Pateman said: "There are few things in business where you can guarantee payback, but e trading is one of them.
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It is now both affordable and available to merchants of any size.
It is clear that increasing numbers of our members are keen to switch to e trading but fear the potential cost and upheaval to their business.
This was a great way to highlight the benefits and explain how easy it is to accomplish.
"The day was a sell-out, and feedback from exhibitors and delegates has been very positive, so we hope to run a similar event again later this year," added Chris.
Mark Gosney, operations director at Rawle Gammon and Baker Holdings thought the conference was well worth attending.
He said: "The BMF has come up with an informative event that provided a good opportunity to get views from both inside and outside the industry.
The traditions of many older companies in the merchant industry often makes it slow to change, but e trading is inevitable, so it's important to make sure we don't get left behind".
Our industry lags behind many others, and Chris Emment, e-procurement manager at Compass Group, explained how e trading has delivered benefits to the food services industry.
Now, as Howard Grant, MD of UNIMER warned, the pressure is building for all sectors of the building supply industry to adopt e trading and offer cleaner trading relationships, with growing demand from major contractors, housebuilders, government bodies and utility companies as well as suppliers.
Some are already responding to this demand and two BMF members, Robin Somerville of independent builders merchants Long and Somerville, and Laurence Barratt, of VELUX Company , explained how e trading had benefited their respective businesses.
During the day, two major providers of electronic trading systems and software, Atlas Products International and Freeway Commerce offered advice on the requirements, systems and costs involved in getting started.
Others explained some of the key advantages of the e trading process.
Mike Shippin, director at Exact, explained the importance of universal product codes to the success of e trading, while Bill Pugsley, non executive director of GS1 UK, the organisation responsible for supply chain data standards, told delegates not be afraid of e trading technology and highlighted the importance of adopting industry wide global standards to improve efficiencies in the supply chain.
The BMF also used the conference to officially launch two new services.
The first, BMF's new e trading guide is a simple 'how-to guide' that includes a quick reference jargon buster plus comprehensive lists of EDI solution providers and potential e trading partners.
The second, BMF's Product Data Synchronisation, is a new bespoke service to help with product file data cleansing, which several speakers highlighted as one of the most important aspects of e trading.
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