Microsoft Corp. announced that Clothworks Textiles, a Seattle-based manufacturer of quilting fabric, has selected Microsoft Dynamics NAV to serve as the technology foundation for its business. Clothworks Textiles and Microsoft Gold Certified Partner MicroAccounting Systems, Inc. of Bellevue, Wash., integrated the Pebblestone Fashion software into Microsoft Dynamics NAV, enabling Clothworks to gain exceptional business intelligence and analysis of sales for each fabric design, brand, color and season.

    A designer and distributor of fabric to independent stores around the world, including 3,000 shops in the United States, Clothworks chose Microsoft Dynamics NAV 5.0 over an upgrade of its previous software because the Microsoft product best fit its fashion-oriented business needs. Microsoft Dynamics NAV is an enterprise resource planning solution that allows small and midsize businesses to automate, integrate and better manage finances, e-commerce, manufacturing, supply chains, accounting, field service, customer relationships and human resources.

    In its second phase of implementation, the technology will allow Clothworks for the first time to sell fabric directly to its wholesale customers through e-commerce. Previously Clothworks was using outdated DOS-based software from Sage Software that provided no easy access to information and no analysis ability. SouthWare is the provider of an integrated family of financial and management information software for all size organizations and a wide variety of industries. The SouthWare Excellence Series focuses on placing power in the user's hands to tailor a system that meets their unique requirements.

    "With our old DOS-based software, all our internal processes were managed with paper," stated Clothworks Textiles President and CEO Ted Hoffman. "Now we will eliminate all the paper and run our business on the software. Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Pebblestone Fashion will enable us to keep everyone in sync as to where we are for every piece of the process, from design conception to customer service."

    Microsoft Dynamics NAV is a business management solution for small and mid-sized organizations that helps you simplify and streamline your highly specialized business processes, rapidly adapting to the unique way you do business. Through the rapid adaptability, simplified customization, and ease of use offered by Microsoft Dynamics NAV, you can easily add functionality, custom applications, and online business capabilities. Microsoft Dynamics NAV enables your people be effective and your business to be competitive.

    According to Michael Park, corporate vice president for the U.S. Dynamics business at Microsoft, "Microsoft Dynamics NAV is helping companies fashion new ways to look at their businesses, new online channels of revenue and new levels of customer satisfaction. With Microsoft Dynamics NAV, small and midsize companies are gaining the kinds of competitive insights and scope that once were available only to the largest companies."  

The Microsoft Dynamics NAV-Pebblestone Fashion integration allows Clothworks to:  
    - Integration with industry-specific software. Beyond integrating with   Pebblestone Fashion software, Clothworks Textiles' Microsoft   Dynamics NAV is integrated with Tableau Software's application that   provides advanced visual modeling of business data. Also integrated   into the system are Lanham Associates' E-Ship, which permits UPS   shipping of fabric directly with Microsoft Dynamics NAV, and a   solution created by Artifex Partners Inc. to manage credit card   transactions.
    - E-commerce capabilities. In phase two of the Microsoft Dynamics NAV   rollout, Clothworks will add DVP.Nav-to-Net Web store software to   Microsoft Dynamics NAV to gain an e-commerce channel that will   expand revenue, speed the ordering process and give customers   visibility into the status of their own accounts.
    - Improved reporting and business intelligence. Hoffman anticipates   that, compared with his previous system, five times as much   information will be available through Microsoft Dynamics NAV, and   that it will be easier to view with the Tableau software. "We can   slice and dice information like we were never able to do before and   be better in touch with what's selling, providing more of the most   popular products to customers," Hoffman said.
    - Forecasting. Clothworks pre-sells its fabrics to stores and then   produces it to meet that demand. "We may have five different   patterns in eight different colors," Hoffman said. "Pebblestone   Fashion and Microsoft Dynamics NAV enable us to work from a matrix   instead of from paper."
    - Improved accuracy and flexibility. Clothworks will be able to create   a P&L statement for each of its fashion collections by designer to   see which designs are selling best, with all the associated costs.   For the first time it will have very accurate numbers at a detailed   level.
    - Better tracking. Clothworks employs some 90 steps in its design   process, and its new technology will track each phase. In addition,   Microsoft Dynamics NAV will enable the company to better track and   manage the printing and shipping of fabrics from its suppliers in   Asia, improving its promised-delivery dates.
    - Support for company growth. Microsoft Dynamics NAV offers the   ability for Clothworks to manage its internal processes and to grow   without the need to hire large numbers of additional staff.   Previously growth demanded more people to handle the company's   paper-based system.
    - Time savings. The company will be able to accomplish more in less   time and be much more efficient, without being slowed down by   shuffling paper all over its facility.