OCTOBER 2004 UPDATE
Here's what's happening at AFMA Supplier companies.
Capital Factors, a $4 billion national factor headquartered in Boca Raton, Fla., has become part of one of the country’s largest bank holding companies with $80 billion in assets following the merger of its parent company, Union Planters Corp., and Regions Financial Corp. The merger makes Regions Financial Corp. the nation’s 12th largest financial services provider and gives Capital Factors the working capital position to structure a wider range of finance programs to complement its factoring and asset-based lending financial services. www.capitalfactors.com
Weyerhauser officials tour the new Franklin Furniture Center.
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Continuing its long-time partnership with Mississippi State University’s forest resources educators, the Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation has donated $25,000 to Mississippi State’s Franklin Center for Furniture Manufacturing and Management. Officially opened in January, the Franklin Center – named for Mississippi furniture manufacturer Hassell Franklin – houses the multi-disciplinary Institute for Furniture Manufacturing and Management, a furniture research program. The $25,000 grant is being used to provide distance-learning equipment and technologies for use by industry and in collaboration with other universities. The Franklin Center was built with state funds and private donations and highlights the beauty and strength of wood in its design. Weyerhaeuser operates more than a dozen facilities in Mississippi and employs more than 1,700 men and women in the state. www.weyerhaeuser.com
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Aktrin-Dossenbach Associates announces it has opened three new offices to expand its global consulting services to the furniture industry. An office has been established in Neuss, Germany, to serve the European market. In addition, offices have been opened in Shanghai, China, and in Bento Concalves, Brazil, to serve clients in the U.S., China and South America. www.dossenbach.com
TOP Supplies Inc. announces its partnership with Tiger Sales Inc. and INCA Corp. Tiger Sales, based in Sharon, Pa., manufactures foamed seat boards and backs to customer specifications. INCA Corp. of Gardena, Calif., manufactures television, ceiling and projector lifts. TOP Supplies was recently named INCA’s exclusive distributor for North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. www.topsupplies.com.
MicroD announces that Slumberland Inc. of Little Canada, Minn., has selected PreVue as the recommended digital catalog software for its 90 company-owned and franchisee stores. MicroD develops and provides Internet and desktop-based software products and services ranging from electronic catalogs and room-planning software to Internet-based EDI communications software and services for companies in the furniture, trucking and other industries. www.microdinc.com.
Morganton, N.C.-based Four Truckers Inc. announces a new distribution center. The $1.5 million cross-dock facility with 64 doors allows the company to combine several previous warehouse locations under one roof. The company also has expanded its marketing and service coverage with a new service center in the Seattle, Wash., area, which is also serving British Columbia. www.fourtruckers.com
From left, Eberhard Reyer, Michael Pfeifer & Sepp Gmeiner
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Charlotte, N.C.-based Schuler Associates Inc. announces a management buyout by Eberhard Reyer, president of Schuler Associates Inc., in partnership with Sepp Gmeiner of Toronto, Ontario, and Michael Pfeifer, Calgary, Alberta, both project managers with the company. The firm now has no ownership links to its former parent, Schuler Business Solutions AG and Homag AG, and will change its name to Lignum Consulting Inc. The consulting and engineering company will continue providing services to the North American panel processing, woodworking and furniture industries, including business management consulting; factory planning, material flow, production and automation technology; order process, purchasing, production planning, scheduling, inventory control, shipping and logistics; product value analysis, re-engineering and product development; and human capital development, training and recruitment. www.lignum-consulting.com
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Fifty-nine companies and individuals served as sponsors for the CT Group’s second annual Forrest E. Pope Memorial Benefit Golf Tournament held in September at Rock Barn Golf in Claremont, N.C. Funds raised by this year’s tournament will be used to help fund construction of a new inpatient and residential facility for the Palliative Care Center & Hospice of Catawba Valley.
Alan White has partnered with FurnishNet to provide automated transaction exchange between the manufacturer and its Top 100 retail client base, as well as its growing population of mid-sized and independent retailers. Documents processed electronically over the Internet include purchase orders, acknowledgements, shipping notices and invoices. www.furnishnet.com
Global Licensing & Trademarks, Myrtle Beach, S.C., has been appointed the exclusive licensing agency for Bringier McConnell’s European Country Collection, including casegoods, upholstery, outdoor furniture, lighting, accessories, rugs and soft home products. www.global-licensing.com
TOP Supplies announces an updated website at www.topsupplies.com. The new site has more user-friendly information and direct links to all business vendors and partners, as well as to the TOP Supplies staff.
Cargo Transporters, Claremont, N.C., received a platinum safety award from Great West Casualty Co. as part of the 2003 National Fleet Safety Awards Program. Cargo Transporters operates more than 400 trucks in the United States and Canada. The Fleet Safety Program recognizes fleets based on year-end preventable accident results. “We are so proud to have achieved this award for the fifth year in a row,” said Cargo Transporters CEO John Pope. “Our team of professional drivers, matched with our investment in advanced safety technologies on our trucks, has helped us achieve this award year after year.”
Morganton, N.C.-based Four Truckers Inc. announces a new distribution center. The $1.5 million cross-dock facility with 64 doors allows the company to combine several previous warehouse locations under one roof. The company also has expanded its marketing and service coverage with a new service center in the Seattle, Wash., area, which is also serving British Columbia. www.fourtruckers.com
Donnelly
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The Media Matters announces two new personnel. Lisa Donnelly, a former account
Newby
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executive with Raleigh, N.C.-based advertising agency McKinney & Silver, is named marketing coordinator. She has recently served as a freelance media event coordinator for The Media Matters. Also, Leslie Newby, a former editor with HFN and InFurniture magazines, is now contracted to work in public relations for The Media Matters. www.themediamatters.com
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MicroD announces it has received AS2 certification for its Internet-based business-to-business communications software from the Drummond Group. Copyrighted under the brand name Exim Commerce Direct, this AS2 certified software will further add to the B2B communications capabilities already offered by MicroD. AS2 is one of the newest and fastest growing industry standard protocols for EDI communications. MicroD’s AS2 software was placed in the same testing pool as AS2 software from companies such as IBM, Hewlett Packard, Web Methods and Cyclone Commerce and has been certified to interoperate with them. Exim Commerce Direct features a minimal, one-time connection cost and no ongoing transmission fees. MicroD introduced its Exim Commerce EDI solution integrated with the STORIS Retail Management System at the STORIS users conference in September. MicroD also announces that its Exim Technologies personnel previously located in Greenville, S.C., have relocated to MicroD’s new corporate office in Charlotte, N.C., at 8000 Corporate Center Drive, Suite 212, Charlotte, 28226. www.microdinc.com
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MGM Transport Corp. announces the opening of a new terminal facility in Ridgefield, N.J. The 60,000-square-foot facility will provide the complete array of MGM services, including container devanning, warehousing and distribution (short term and long term), local distribution and home delivery prepping. The Ridgefield facility replaces a terminal in Kearny, N.J, which the company has outgrown. Located just three miles from the George Washington Bridge, the new terminal provides close proximity to the New York metropolitan area, as well as access to the primary corridors leading to all states in the Northeast. “We’re also close to the ports, which is very important for the import business,” states Louis Massood, executive vice president. www.mgmtransport.com
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Nester introduces Nester 6.0, the latest version of the company’s marker-making and nesting solution for upholstery fabrics. The latest version includes advancements in nesting efficiency and processing time, as well as advanced automation for tubular goods and sectional markers.
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