“I believe this primarily depends on adoption and what it is used for. If small businesses adopt AI and use it well, not just for rewriting emails, they have a chance to level the playing field. However, if they don’t, it will likely widen the gap.”
—Elise Lefebvre
ProSource Wholesale of Arizona
Tempe, Ariz.
“AI itself will not level the playing field. I believe every company—whether big or small—will need to leverage technology via AI just to stay on the field. The gap will be determined by which companies will be able to grow strategically and support the opportunities that AI will produce.”
—Roy Tokuhama
Abbey Carpet & Floor of Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii
“Yes, it will level the playing field. Those who embrace it are going to win. These users can be the first to be recommended by AI apps—as we are. Many early adopters took advantage when Google Search started up years ago; they can now be first in their market with AI. If you’re still thinking about it, get off the mark and run toward what may be one of the biggest opportunities of our lives.”
—Don Lovato
CarpetSource USA
Albuquerque, N.M.
“Growing a company requires grit, judgment and a little bit of luck. AI is just a tool, and if used wisely can make you more efficient. But it doesn’t replace the grit it takes to build something real.”
—Alex Roberts
Roberts Carpet & Fine Floors
Houston
“Unfortunately, I think it will widen the gap. Many smaller companies don’t even have the resources to start AI use. AI is so helpful, especially for marketing, but many smaller store owners may not have the knowledge or staff with knowledge on how.”
Busy season has a way of stress-testing a flooring business. When a retail or contractor operation is running smoothly, quotes go out on time, purchase orders are clear, materials are accounted for, installers know where to be and invoices go out when the work is done. But when systems are disconnected, the pressure shows quickly. Quotes sit too long. Purchase orders get missed. Inventory status becomes unclear. Installers wait on updates. Accounting falls behind. Reports take longer than they should.
During slower periods, disconnected systems can be easier to tolerate. But when volume picks up, every extra step matters. If a quote has to be re-entered, that takes time. If a sales order and purchase order are not connected, someone has to double-check the details. If inventory is not clear, someone has to verify. If installation schedules live outside the main system, the office and field can get out of sync. Across dozens of jobs, those gaps become real operational drag. The goal is not to add technology for the sake of technology; the objective is to reduce friction in the day-to-day work.
For over four decades, Comp-U-Floor has helped flooring businesses work smarter, stay organized and manage growth with better control. Today, Comp-U-Floor ERP stands as a cloud-based management solution designed specifically for the flooring industry, built by people who understand the challenges installers, retailers and owners face daily.
“We’ve made your business, our business, for over 40 years,” said Edgar Aya, president of Aya Associates, developer of the Comp-U-Floor program. Comp-U-Floor ERP brings tight margins, scheduling demands, inventory control, billing requirements and customer expectations into one cohesive system, giving companies better visibility, fewer disconnects, stronger communication, reduced friction and more control from lead to payment.
Comp-U-Floor ERP systems
Built for the flooring industry, not adapted to it: Flooring is not generic retail. A flooring sale can involve estimating, quoting, supplier coordination, purchase orders, inventory allocation, receiving, delivery, installation scheduling, job costing, billing and payment collection. Commercial work adds bids, revisions, change orders, AIA-style billing, retainage, project tracking and multiple stakeholders.
That is why generic software usually falls short. By comparison, Comp-U-Floor ERP was created to serve flooring professionals. From estimating and inventory to scheduling and financial reporting, every feature is designed around the way flooring businesses actually operate. The platform brings critical functions into one connected workflow, reducing separate tools, duplicate entry and scattered information.
From lead to payment—all in one system: At the heart of the ERP is a built-in CRM system that helps businesses track leads, qualify prospects, create estimates, generate quotes and move opportunities forward whether they are in the showroom, office or a customer’s home.
Once a sale is made, the system supports inventory tracking, purchase orders linked to sales activity, installer scheduling, mobile job updates, field payment collection, invoicing and reporting without pulling information from multiple places.
Built-in accounting: For commercial flooring companies, integrated accounting is a control point for the entire business. Every quote, change order, purchase order, cost, invoice and payment affects job profitability. When accounting lives outside the operational system, teams re-enter information, chase updates and wait too long to know where a job stands financially. Built-in accounting helps streamline the operation, reduce duplicate administrative work, lower unnecessary overhead and give owners a clear view of cash flow, receivables, job performance and true profitability while work is still happening.
Mobility: Flooring businesses are not managed from one desk anymore. Salespeople may be in the showroom, at a customer’s home or on a jobsite. Warehouse teams are moving materials. Installers are in the field. Managers need answers while work is moving. Comp-U-Floor’s cloud-based platform allows users to access the business from anywhere, on any device. Installers can receive mobile job updates, including directions, documentation and status updates. Managers can see the operation and make decisions with better information.
Comp-U-Floor is also placing renewed focus on commercial flooring features.
AI-driven innovation: Looking ahead, Artificial Intelligence is being incorporated into the Comp-U-Floor ERP with a cautionary but highly advanced vision, for release later in the year. The new design incorporates AI agents to assist with complex ERP tasks, including purchasing supply management and installation schedules.
Andy Michel is marketing and sales executive at Comp-U-Flor. Backed by Aya Associates, Comp-U-Floor reflects decades of flooring industry experience.
York, Pa.—Intertek, a leading Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide, has expanded its independent flooring and floor covering testing services via the recent acquisition of Professional Testing Laboratory (PTL). Located in Dalton, PTL—which has long enjoyed a partnership with Intertek—brings decades of specialized experience to the table.
“We’ve had an ongoing relationship with PTL,” Brian Buckle, marketing director, Building & Construction, Intertek, told FCNews. “We do a lot of the acoustic testing work for the flooring industry, and we had already been working with PTL on a sub-contract basis for 25 years, actually.”
For the industry, the acquisition bolsters Intertek’s support for manufacturers, suppliers and specifiers serving the floor covering industry. Specifically, it provides Intertek’s newfound PTL customers with expanded support that includes accredited laboratory testing and on-site inspections to help assess products, support compliance efforts and address regulatory requirements. “We’ve been in building and construction in the U.S. for a long time, but now we’re just adding other ‘strings to our bow,’ so to speak,” Buckle stated.
For Intertek Group plc, the acquisition of PTL complements Intertek’s North American operations and will greatly expand PTL’s services to Intertek’s existing clients, including major retailers. Furthermore, the acquisition provides an opportunity to expand PTL’s testing services internationally, broadening beyond the USA by leveraging Intertek’s scale and global footprint in other key flooring markets around the world.
While Intertek already operates laboratories here in the U.S., the partnership enhances its ability to test all manner of building products for domestic manufacturers and the retailers/distributors that sell them. “That’s anything from acoustic to fire testing, material testing, product development, hurricane testing, doors and windows,” Buckle explained. “Whatever goes into a building, we can test that, too.”
Broadly, Intertek’s expertise covers four major categories: Assurance, Testing, Inspection and Certification (or “ATIC”).
Meanwhile, PTL’s flooring and interior finish materials services focus on three areas that affect how products perform over time and in the spaces where they are used.
Wellness: Flooring can affect indoor environmental quality in the spaces where people work, learn, heal and live. Testing helps assess product characteristics tied to healthier interior environments.
Installation: Onsite conditions can directly affect flooring performance in the field. Assessment services help identify factors that can influence installation results and long-term in-service performance.
Perfect timing
The timing of Intertek’s expansion strategy is key, given the rapid pace of new product introductions in the U.S., particularly on the hard surface side. We’re seeing, for example, an influx of SPC, WPC, laminates, engineered hardwood and even some hybrid materials. All this means additional products to vet—particularly when it comes to heightened consumer expectations—as well as heavy promotion of waterproof products at the retail level.
“We’re seeing big box retailers that are working with different product manufacturers in the development of private-label products,” Buckle stated. “However, a lot of those brands don’t have a major strategy around product certification. That becomes an issue when you’re dealing with consumers who are buying flooring or for their homes, but the subfloors might not be level, for instance. The retailers are facing some challenges in how to deal with that from a certification standpoint.”
This presents a valuable and timely opportunity for Intertek to apply its knowledge, expertise and relationships within the manufacturing community. According to Buckle, it goes back to the issue of proper product certification, which often dovetails with inspections at the factory level. “That’s definitely something that we’re going to be able to bring to the market—to help a lot of buyers make sure that factory inspections and things like that are done consistently,” he explained.
But it’s not just about ensuring the quality of products coming off the assembly line at the plant. Many product failures, Buckle noted, can be traced back to sub-par site conditions.
“With flooring, it all starts with a level surface,” he explained. “In many cases the products we’ve tested meet all the requisite certifications, but when someone’s not doing floor flatness tests before the floor is even put down, then you open Pandora’s box as to which product is really at fault or what caused the issue.”
(Look for more on Intertek in future editions of FCNews.)
The QFloors/Roomvo QFX software platform features e-signatures, a native add-on feature that allows proposals to be automatically populated and emailed to customers in seconds, speeding up the approval process while reducing manual entry and the risk of errors.
For an industry that historically struggled to embrace digital technology, the tides sure seem to be turning. In fact, software suppliers have upped their game in this industry to help meet the needs of flooring retailers today.
Dealers can now choose a software platform that best suits their particular business needs. That can include anything from advanced ERP systems to AI-supported measuring, payment, marketing—all of the above.
Following are some of the latest software technology advancements specifically designed for the independent flooring retail community:
Cyncly
Independent flooring dealers have always won on relationships. The challenge today is that relationships now start online, and most dealers are trying to manage their digital presence across a patchwork of disconnected tools.
Cyncly Websites aims to solves that by giving dealers a single, connected infrastructure that handles every stage of the digital sales journey, from the moment a shopper starts searching to the moment a job closes. Homebase, part of Cyncly Websites, is the management layer where dealers control their entire digital operation with one tool.
“For most c u s t ome r s , their relationship with a dealer now starts online,” said Steven McMullen, senior vice president of Cyncly Websites. “For independent dealers, managing everything that flows from a digital presence used to mean juggling many different tools. Homebase in Cyncly Websites changes that. Every inbound contact—whether it’s a web form, a sample order, a Fibi web chat conversation or a phone call—lands in one inbox, with rich context attached: the products a shopper browsed, the rooms they visualized, the samples they ordered. That means when a dealer’s team picks up the conversation, they have all the information they need to engage the customer effectively. That kind of connected experience enables floor covering dealers to turn more customer inquiries into completed projects.”
FlooringOS
Flooring OS software was designed from the ground up with input from flooring dealers themselves and incorporates best practices and real-world solutions to common pain points. “If there’s anything our customers tell us is special about our product is that we listen to feedback and make sure every component in the software is intuitive and easy to use,” said Justin Wirpel, CEO. “So often customers know what they want but they don’t have the language to express what they need. Many of our customers say that want to have ‘operational excellence.’ So we do everything we can to make that easy. Every flooring management system lets you sell, but not all of them help you sell.”
Flooring OS provides integrated measuring, visualization, CRM, communications management (coming soon), forecasting, marketing and project management solutions. It also includes advanced accounting features. All mobile. All online. All the time.
“All of these features make it easier and faster to manage your business,” Wirpel said.
Floorzap
Floorzap offers a bevy of useful tools, including integrated consumer financing, powered through Floorzap’s partnership with Wisetack, which helps flooring retailers make larger purchases more accessible to homeowners while improving close rates and cash flow.
Floorzap’s financing tools are built directly into the platform’s end-to-end flooring business management system, allowing retailers to seamlessly offer financing during the sales process alongside estimating, invoicing, scheduling and payment collection.
“Consumer financing has become an important growth lever for independent flooring retailers because it gives homeowners more flexibility while helping stores increase close rates and average project values,” said Matthew Buckley, general manager. “We’re helping retailers streamline the entire customer journey—from quote to payment— without relying on disconnected systems or manual processes. For independent dealers competing against larger retailers, delivering a modern, convenient buying experience is critical.”
Roomvo/QFloors
The QFX platform continues to advance. E-signatures, for example, is a native add-on feature that brings electronic signatures directly into the flooring dealer workflow, eliminating the need for third-party tools. Fully integrated into the QFX ecosystem, proposals can be automatically populated and emailed to customers in seconds, speeding up the approval process while reducing manual entry and the risk of errors.
By streamlining the entire “quote-to-cash” process, E-signatures helps dealers move faster and operate more efficiently. “We built E-signatures because our customers asked for it,” said Chad Ogden, founder, QFloors. “This new feature can be used for legally binding documents and allows our customers to look professional with full PDF signature capabilities. It’s a complete end-to-end solution, starting with an email to the customer and ending with a signed PDF automatically stored in your QFX system.”
Comp-U-Floor
Comp-U-Floor’s focus today is on harnessing the power of artificial intelligence. The company has already made several AI integrations that are designed to help streamline a user’s business.
“We are making a very substantial investment,” said Edgar Aya, CEO. “AI technology is revolutionizing the entire information technology landscape. And the impact on ERP is going to be very significant.”
There are two major areas in which AI will be integrated into the company’s platform. The first—an advanced dashboard with an open chat box capable of answering questions and delivering things like sales reports.
The second area—AI agents that are going to assist with complex ERP tasks. Those tasks include purchasing, inventory management, supply management, installation schedules.
The company will also include some additional functionality to its scheduling app that is designed to allow installers to be much more efficient and proactive in the field.
“It’s going to be able to enhance operations—be more efficient, make less mistakes, and obviously impact ROI,” Aya stressed. “In the long term, the investment that is being made in AI—which for our company is a very substantial investment— will produce returns not only for us but also for our clients. We are very confident in that.”
Gartman
DMS Connect: AI Enablement is Gartman’s new AI integration platform designed specifically for the flooring distribution industry. The platform enables distributors to securely connect modern AI technologies directly to their ERP, CRM, inventory, pricing and operational data in real time.
At its core, DMS Connect combines conversational AI, secure ERP connectivity, REST APIs and CRM integration to create a modern AI-enabled operating environment for flooring distributors. Rather than replacing existing systems, the platform enhances the value of the distributor’s current ERP infrastructure by making business data more accessible, actionable and intelligent.
“Ultimately, DMS Connect AI Enablement is about helping distributors modernize how they interact with their data and systems,” said Chris Gartman, vice president. “Instead of navigating traditional ERP workflows alone, users gain access to intelligent, conversational tools that improve responsiveness, increase operational visibility and create better customer experiences.”
DMS Connect AI Enablement will be generally available beginning June 1.
Measure Square
Measure Square has integrated AI capabilities across its flooring software. Some of that has been focused on estimating and takeoff efficiency. One of its most powerful tools is the AI Auto Takeoff, which can automatically draw room layouts for estimates. The technology aims to improve speed and accuracy as well as interpret a wide variety of formats.
The company also has a Scope Analyzer, which is integrated into its CRM. It can read a PDF set of plans, provide insights on the project, extract materials from the finish schedule and build them for the user—saving estimators a significant amount of time.
Another major tool is the AI Agent within the CRM. This tool reads project data and allows users to ask questions, such as identifying which projects are at risk and why, providing detailed reasoning for each answer.
Karndean LooseLay combines the custom layout options of glue-down luxury vinyl with the fast installation of a floating floor. The format does not require a full adhesive spread to the subfloor. While more loose lay products continue to enter the market, construction can vary by manufacturer.
“Retailers can sell Karndean LooseLay with confidence,” said Jenne Ross, director of product at Karndean. “We’ve been in the market with our loose lay format for 15 years and that makes a significant difference in the quality of the product. Style, reliable installation, durability, performance, all of it.”
Ross said the launch focused in part on expanding the collection’s stone visuals. Karndean LooseLay now includes more than 10 stone-inspired designs, including new visuals inspired by travertine, terrazzo and marble.
“There’s increased demand for stone visuals based on a lot of factors, including the costs and installation challenges associated with natural stone flooring,” Ross said. “So meeting that demand in a loose lay format, which is also experiencing more demand, is a win for retailers.”
The collection also allows homeowners to create custom layouts. Planks and tiles can be cut and pieced together to create patterns, add borders or define zones around permanent fixtures such as kitchen islands.
Karndean LooseLay also offers proven performance. The 4.5-millimeter floor features Karndean’s K-Wave friction-grip backing. The backing helps eliminate the need for a full adhesive spread. It also adds comfort underfoot and helps reduce noise between floors in multilevel homes.
Karndean LooseLay also includes SureFit technology in its stability layer. The company said the technology gives planks and tiles enhanced dimensional stability. It also eliminates the need for expansion gaps and transition strips in large spaces.
Like all Karndean luxury vinyl, the LooseLay collection carries a lifetime residential warranty.
“Karndean LooseLay provides a lot of benefits on both the consumer and retailer side,” Ross said. “With the new stone and wood visuals, a collection that’s been performing well for our retailers now has even more to offer.”
Dalton—The Floor Covering Education Foundation (FCEF) appointed Bryan Taylor of Real Floors to its board of directors. FCEF said Taylor brings leadership experience, industry insight and a strong commitment to workforce development.
Real Floors, founded in 1982, provides flooring solutions for the multifamily industry. The Georgia-based company serves customers across multiple states and focuses on operational excellence, customer service and workforce investment.
“Sustained growth in our industry is rooted in how we support and develop emerging talent,” Taylor said. “I joined the FCEF board because they are a true champion for change, proactively working to address some of our industry’s most pressing challenges. My passion has always been centered on investing in people and helping build the next generation of leaders, and I see FCEF’s mission as a direct reflection of those values. I am proud to support their efforts to provide accessible training and clear career pathways.”
Leadership highlights workforce mission
FCEF leaders said Taylor’s appointment will strengthen the foundation’s workforce development efforts. “Bryan brings a tremendous level of passion, leadership and industry perspective to the FCEF board,” said David Chambers, chairman of the FCEF board of directors. “His commitment to workforce development and investing in people aligns perfectly with FCEF’s mission.”
FCEF addresses the skilled labor shortage in the flooring industry through awareness, recruitment and training initiatives across the United States.
“Bryan understands the importance of building strong career pathways and creating opportunities for the next generation entering our industry,” said Kaye Whitener, executive director of FCEF. “His experience, leadership and dedication to people development will be a tremendous asset to FCEF.”
Dalton—The World Floor Covering Association (WFCA) released a new “Tuesday Tips” this week. In the series, WFCA experts present short video tips for improving customer service and optimizing staff performance. In the end, it’s all about understanding the importance of doing 100 things just 1% better than your competition.
In this week’s Tuesday Tips, Tom Jennings explains why dealers should put more emphasis on installation quality and use it as a key selling point with customers.
Every two weeks, FCNews seeks out flooring retailers across the country to offer their advice on hot topics of the day. This week, we asked: Will AI level the playing field between small/large companies?
“AI itself will not level the playing field. I believe every company—whether big or small—will need to leverage technology via AI just to stay on the field. The gap will be determined by which companies will be able to grow strategically and support the opportunities that AI will produce.”
“Yes, it will level the playing field. Those who embrace it are going to win. These users can be the first to be recommended by AI apps—as we are. Many early adopters took advantage when Google Search started up years ago; they can now be first in their market with AI. If you’re still thinking about it, get off the mark and run toward what may be one of the biggest opportunities of our lives.”
“Unfortunately, I think it will widen the gap. Many smaller companies don’t even have the resources to start AI use. AI is so helpful, especially for marketing, but many smaller store owners may not have the knowledge or staff with knowledge on how.”
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Export, Pa.—Karndean Designflooring has 
Dalton—The Floor Covering Education Foundation (FCEF) appointed Bryan Taylor of Real Floors to its board of directors. FCEF said Taylor brings leadership experience, industry insight and a strong commitment to workforce development.