The Buzz
The Buzz
Architectural and interior design company Cleve and Levin President Dian Cleve is in Las Vegas rolling a very different form of dice. Interior designer
pitches new softwareShe's pitching software developed for her company to Purchase Pro, hoping to license it to the business-to-business online application service provider. The program has saved her company hundreds of man-hours in data entry time, virtually eliminated transcription errors, and as a result has saved countless dollars for the company and its clients.
"In a hotel renovation there are literally thousands of items that have to be specified, purchased and delivered to its destination," she said.
The program offers a single data entry screen.
"We enter the information attached to the item only once, the manufacturer's number, the cost, the date we were quoted the price -- all the information around that piece of furniture, drapery chair, mirror, artwork, all the information is entered one time," she said. "From that single entry screen we produce budgets, specification manuals, purchase orders -- all our distribution reports."
Cleve said the program has enhanced quality control, and allows designers to focus on what they do best. She sees practical applications for any company doing repeated standardized purchasing, especially if any customization is involved. Cleve said, for instance, her company might purchase a sofa from one vendor and fabric from another, "Those things must get together before the sofa gets here."
Currently nameless, it is referred to as "The Program," Cleve said. Her company won a "Pono Tech" award last year for usage of the technology in the conduct of its business.
Cleve's Vegas trip is not a big gamble. She said if her pitch to Purchase Pro doesn't come up a winner, a California software company she's in talks with may get the program to market.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4757, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com