General Questions

Questions about the overall FIDX initiative. Including background, historical, and information of use to those wanting to become more familiar with the effort.

Q. What is FIDX all about?

A. FIDX is a collaborative effort of businesses and individuals involved in the home and office Furnishings Industry. Its mandate is to aid in the  development of open standards. The objective will be to have those standards adopted and published by international governing bodies for wide spread use by the global Furnishings community.

Q. Which companies are currently involved in the development of the FIDX Standards?

A. The following companies have committed people and resources to jumpstart the development of the open XML-based standards:

Associations

• AFMA

• BHFC

• HFIA

• IOPFDA

• NHFA

Manufacturers

• American Leather

• Ashley

• Bassett

• Bernhardt

• Broyhill

• Century

• Culp

• Flexsteel

• Henredon

• Herman Miller

• HOM furniture

• Hooker

• Jasper Cabinet

• Kimball

• Klaussner

• Lane

• LaZBoy

• Leggett & Platt

• LSFI

• Mastercraft Fabrics

• McCreary Modern

• Palliser

• Rowe

• Schnadig

• Shermag

• Sherrill

• Stanley

• Steelcase

• Thomasville

Retailers

• A & H Wayside

• Alperts

• Art Van

• Badcock

• BeHome

• Benchmark

• Bernie's Furniture

• Breuners Home Furnishings

• Calico Corners

• Carls Furniture

• Drexel

• Duresta Upholstery

• Ethan Allen

• Federated Department Stores

• Furnitureland South

• Gabberts

• Havertys

• Haviland Home

• Helig Meyers

• Home Portfolio

• Kittles

• Levin

• Online Interiors

• Raymour & Flanigan

• Rose Furniture

• WS Badcock

Consultants, Technology and Service Providers,

• Bolger Group

• Business One Communications

• CDS

• CMD Systems

• Design On Line

• Digital Snaps

• DM Associates

• Easy Chair

• Easy Furnish

• EBusiness Media

• Efurn.com

• FROG

• Furndex

• FurnishNet

• FurnitureFan

• FurnitureFind

• Furnserve

• FurnXML

• Genesis Software

• GERS

• HauteDecor

• hfXchange

• Scott Huber

• i2

• Impact Ideal

• Intellitek

• iWork Software

• JG Sullivan

• Lyndrup & Assoc

• Media One

• Micro*D

• Modern Woodworking

• MSoft

• Myriad Software

• NerveWire

• Pegasus

• Prevue

• Prevue UK

• Profit Systems

• Rare Medium

• Retail Metro

• Sophics

• Storis

• Symetri

• TIBCO

• UCC

• Videotron

• Whereoware

• Workplace Alliance

• XML Global
  

If you have a question about this list, please contact Dwight Ball directly.

Q. What are the benefits of standardizing the flow of information between companies in the Furnishings Industry?

A. Without a standard approach to on-line transactions, multiple solutions will be created resulting in inefficiencies for both suppliers and customers. FIDX provides standardization for company-to-company, company-to-marketplace, and marketplace-to-marketplace electronic commerce activities. The standards endorsed by FIDX and global bodies allow Furnishings Industry affiliates to reduce transactional costs, realize the efficiencies and effectiveness of the new eMarketplace, increase the flow of critical information, and take advantage of potential eBusiness gains.

Q. How would you describe the FIDX Standards?

A. FIDX Standards are:

• A single set of global XML-based data exchange standards for all Furnishings Industry affiliates.

• Designed to reduce cost and improve productivity and responsiveness

• Intended for company-to-company, company-to-marketplace, marketplace-to-marketplace interactions

• Open and non-proprietary

• Free of charge — no license fees for use

• Platform independent

• In conformity with the work of such global conventions such as the UCC, EDIFACT, ebXML, and OASIS
  

Q. Why are XML standards important?

A. XML itself is tremendously important for data exchange. It offers a human-readable way of representing data that has allowed an explosive growth of vendors, products, and services all fueled by the emergence of eBusiness on the Internet.

While XML provides the means of exchanging data, it does not define what data to exchange. Nothing can happen until both parties agree on what information to exchange, and what that information means.

Standards that specify what data will be exchanged in specific transactions are needed. Definition of these specifications is perhaps harder than the task of defining XML itself. While XML only needed to satisfy a set of technical needs, data specifications need to meet business needs, which vary from company to company and Industry to Industry.

Q. Is this an IT effort or a business effort? Who is spearheading?

A. This is an IT driven effort; however, the gains are in the business. Representatives from both IT and the business are working closely to enable the realization of business benefits. The facilitators running each committee  defining the transactions and the data exchanged in those transactions are all familiar with the business processes that they are representing. These facilitators are in frequent communications with business partners and others within their companies as they perform this work.

Q. Why should we believe the involved companies are developing these standards for the benefit of the Industry and not just setting them up for their advantage?

A. The involved companies are creating the FIDX Standards for both their own benefit and the benefit of the Furnishings Industry in general, since the full value of the standard cannot be realized without the involvement of all Furnishings Industry organizations. All companies will benefit in the same way by only having to develop one interface for all eBusiness data interchanges. That is why this standard is open, non-proprietary, free of charge to obtain, and platform independent.


Q. Why have a separate Industry standard? Why not simply endorse other standards or work with other industries to create a global standard?

A. Numerous emerging standards were evaluated before creating anything new. It was hoped that something would exist that could be simply adopted, rather than adapted. Unfortunately, nothing currently exists that meets the needs of the home furnishings Industry. The problems with these various initiatives include:

• Vendor neutrality — There are a number of efforts that are sponsored or provided by vendors directly in support of particular products. The FIDX Standards must not require or favor the use of any specific product(s).

• Failure to meet Furnishings Industry needs — While there are many initiatives for XML data exchange, none include all the data required for Furnishings Industry transactions; particularly for the handling of complex special order requirements.

• Time to market — Waiting for cross-industry standards to emerge is not an option. A solution is needed for Marketplaces being created today. It will take years before cross-industry standards emerge (if ever). FIDX will participate in any such cross-industry standardization efforts.

Q. When will the FIDX Standards™ be ready?

A. This work is an ongoing process which will continue to change in the next decade. However, there are several schemas available such as the Purchase Order. The best way to know the progress in each committee is to check their individual home page.

General | Explanation | Technical | Application