The Floor Covering Business-to-Business E-commerce (fcB2B) Standards is:
- An industry-wide initiative to bring the benefits of machine-to-machine E-commerce to all segments of the Flooring Business
- A common language for electronic transactions between companies with different software and computer systems.
- A set of industry-specific formats for common transactions, instead of requiring custom “data maps” for each trading partner
- Based on ASC X12 Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) standards, which have been in use for over 30 years
- Designed to use the Internet for data transmission, eliminates the need for the expensive, private “Value-Added Networks” (VANS) that were traditionally used for EDI
The fcB2B enables flooring dealers to use their retail management software to perform the following transactions with OVF:
- Receive Item & Price Catalogs (832) from suppliers, including nightly updates
- Send Purchase Orders (850) to suppliers
- Receive PO Acknowledgments (855)
- Receive Advanced Shipping Notices (856)
- Receive Invoices (810)
(Note: the numbers in parentheses are the ASC X12 EDI designations for these transactions)
By performing these common transactions electronically, all parties save time and money on data entry, while reducing errors and allowing employees to focus on more valuable and complex tasks.
OVF is actively exchanging B2B documents with customers using the following retail software programs: (links open in a new window)
OVF Customers interested in more information about B2B may contact:
Eric Appleby, Electronic Sales & Marketing Director
Ohio Valley Flooring
(800) 955-7724 x2190
eric.appleby@ovf.com
Additional information, including contacts for all these software companies, is available at the official website of the Flooring Covering Industry B2B Association: www.fcb2b.com
fcB2B Standard implementation varies between software companies; not all programs support all transactions, and the manner in which they process EDI documents is specific to each system. Some companies require an additional fee for B2B software and support.
