About Us

American Business Software, Inc. has been serving businesses of all sizes for over four decades by delivering custom in-house ERP solutions to our customers. Our goal is to provide a solution which is customized to meet our customers’ needs. We offer personalized service, honest straight talk, and easy to understand answers. We balance practicality, functionality, and performance, all at a fair and reasonable price.

American Business Software (ABS) Company History

Our company was formed because we (ABS) saw companies in the flooring industry struggling with their inventory needs. There were few solutions for this marketplace. Standard inventory control software doesn’t properly handle industry-specific needs such as dye lots, run numbers, and different packaging, along with conversion between various units of measure such as pieces, cartons, square feet, and square meters.

In the early 1970s, most distributors had systems to handle accounting, such as Accounts Receivable, but inventory control was virtually always done manually on cardboard stock record cards stored on a “Lazy Susan” in the middle of the order entry / customer service area.

There were two notable exceptions that wanted to change this – J.J. Haines in Baltimore, MD and Empire Carpet in Teterboro, NJ. These companies wanted to computerize more aspects of their business, including inventory control, and move to a larger computer system capable of handling more online users. At that time, this was considered “leading edge” since there were very few ways to do this, short of purchasing a “mainframe” computer costing millions of dollars to buy, and many more hundreds of thousands of dollars to maintain each year.

In 1976, we created software to solve the specific needs of this industry. This software was developed for the flooring and ceramic tile industries. We used a “minicomputer” which allowed us to produce robust, full function, online software, yet still making it cost-effective so that the typical distributor could afford it. From a technical standpoint, the trick was to develop very efficient software, since we were working with considerably less (computer) power and resources. J.J. Haines went “live” with this new software in January 1977 and Empire Carpet went “live” later that year.

The successes of these installations led to installing this new software at Carson, Pirie, Scott in Minneapolis, MN. Headquartered in Chicago, IL, Carson, Pirie, Scott (or CPS) was the second largest distributor of floor covering in the United States, behind L.D. Brinkman in Dallas, TX. The accounting software for CPS ran on a mainframe in their Chicago headquarters. However, inventory control for the floor covering business was not computerized. CPS was a multi-state distributor, serving a broad territory including North Dakota, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Southern Florida.

Multi-state distributors such as CPS added new software demands, including the ability to check stock in different branch locations, on different computer systems, regardless of where they were located. Since at that time there was no Internet access, we pioneered unique and innovative ways to accomplish these communications. Our software was enhanced to use new multiplexing techniques using shared long-distance phone circuits. This technique dramatically reduced communications costs because point-to-point telephone circuits were not needed between each branch.

By the early 1980s, we installed systems at other leading companies, who could see the value of computerizing their business. Among them were Butler-Johnson Corporation in San Jose, CA, B.R. Funsten (San Francisco, CA), Buckwold-Western (Saskatoon, SASK), and Melmart (Toronto, ONT). By the middle 1980’s, about one third of all the floor covering sold in the United States was sold through one of the systems we installed.

In 1992, we developed a new version of our software which we called FloorPro®. This new version was a “client-server” based product. It yielded better performance and more efficiency than ever before. The PC-based workstations interacted with the user while accessing the server for database information. This new software was installed at FlorStar Sales in Chicago, IL in April 1992. This software was so robust that it ran on a new low-cost microcomputer, an Intel 486 (at the time, a 486 was “state of the art”). This server, with only 32 MB of memory, drove 192 devices, with over 100 active workstations and 20 printers.

In 2004, we introduced FloorPro® III ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). It offers an improved Graphical User Interface (GUI) with enhanced features, icons, and tool tips. It features enhanced software support for stone, ceramic tile and blind lots. With this release, reports can be exported to Microsoft Excel and enhanced Windows “List View” features were added for easier “on screen” viewing. Networking support has also been enhanced, so the software could now be accessed via the Internet from anywhere in the world. FloorPro® III remains our Flagship product today. We continue to add upgrades and enhancements to the software today.

ABS also developed several other products, all which are fully integrated with our FloorPro® software. By 1990, again before the Internet was widely used, we developed a product called Customer On-Line Access (“COLA”). This software allows your customers to check stock, check pricing, place orders, print confirmation documents, retrieve product information, display the status of existing orders and much more. Unlike EDI (Electronic Data Interchange), in which most functions operate in “batch” mode at some predetermined time of day, our COLA system operates in “real time” updating inventory as orders are created. In 2000, a new Internet-based e-commerce version of our COLA software was developed to take advantage of web-based technology. Since then, COLA has been updated numerous times, adding new features to support both desktop applications as well as mobile devices such as phones and tablets.

In 2006, we announced the launch of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) support. RFID automatically identifies products in the warehouse or retail location and tracks their location and movement with no manual intervention required. RFID even works when items are stacked and would be otherwise out of reach for a conventional bar-coded system. It seamlessly integrates with our FloorPro® III ERP software. Coupled with other options such as GPS (Global Positioning Systems), it can be used to fully automate inventory control from the manufacturer to the retailer on a global scale.

In 2011, we announced the launch of our Smart Warehouse application suite. We’ve integrated our smart phone app with our FloorPro® ERP software to check things such as pricing and availability. Based on the specific person that is using the app and the needs of our clients, additional information such as sales, pricing, costing and gross margin can be displayed. In addition, inventory information such as on-hand quantities, dye lots, back orders, purchasing and reorder information may also be checked. All these checks are done in real time, thus ensuring that it’s the latest up-to-the-minute information.

Our Smart Warehouse fully supports “QR” bar codes. These bar codes are the ubiquitous square images which are seen in so many places. They can be scanned with a smart phone. Our Smart Warehouse software not only reads “QR” bar codes, but it provides the ability to print “QR” labels on an ordinary laser printer using standard labels. This greatly reduces the cost of labeling products in the showroom since the cost of one label is less than one tenth of one cent (3,000 labels for about $29).

Our Smart Warehouse software has given our customers a 21st Century Showroom. Using a smart phone, our customers can scan products in their showroom, check pricing and availability, and even produce a quote for their customers. The information can be printed locally on a network printer or emailed directly to their customer.

In 2021, we added credit card payment integration. Our FloorPro® software “talks” directly with the credit card terminal. For “card present” transactions, payment amounts and authorization information are passed between FloorPro® and the terminal automatically without the need to manually key any information. All the customer needs to do is tap their card or insert it into the reader. In the event of a refund, a credit can be issued back to the original credit card without entering the card number or any of the original information.

Signature capture is included as part of this credit card integration. The name and signature can be captured regardless if the credit card company requires it. This is especially useful for non-credit card transactions such as “on account” charges. It can even be used for transactions when there is no payment of any kind. For example, “terms and conditions” can be displayed, and the signature is captured upon the customer’s acceptance.

Note that the signature capture is done through the credit card terminal, thus no additional signature capture hardware is required. If a signature is captured, the person’s name is also captured and retained for future display and print purposes. In addition, both the name and the signature are printed on the confirmation / invoice.

In 2024, we announced a new “pay-by-link” feature as an add-on to the integrated credit card processing. When the customer receives an email copy of the confirmation or invoice, it can include a link to pay it. When the customer clicks the link, a mobile-friendly web page is displayed where they can pay using a credit card. The link contains certain “coded” information including the invoice number and customer key. The customer enters their credit card information. A credit card service fee (example, 3%) can be automatically added. An eCheck option allows the customer to pay directly from their bank account, thus eliminating the merchant credit card fee. The deposit is applied directly to the order. This saves labor for your staff since the payment is posted directly by your customer rather than your staff.

We are currently working on a more generic pay-by-link option where your customers could log on, see their open invoices and pay their bill similar to the way they can pay their credit card bill or electric bill. Especially when the eCheck feature is enabled, this pay-by-link option makes it more convenient for your customers to pay their bill.

In 2022, we added FedEx shipping integration. FloorPro® automatically interfaces with FedEx software to create shipping documents and retain tracking numbers for future display and printing. We have recently announced our expansion of this shipping integration to include UPS shipping integration.

Support

If you talk with any of our customers, support is where we shine. We offer personalized service and industry-specific knowledge. The people you talk with at our company – all U.S. based – are not simply support people that help with basic questions like “is it plugged in?”, “is it turned on?”. Our people understand your business and can help you make business decisions about how to effectively use the software. This, in and of itself, is in many cases the difference between success and failure of a project. Our goal is to provide a solution which is customized to meet our customers’ needs.

The term “support” greatly understates what it really is. In many ways, we become your IT staff. Software support also includes software updates and enhancements along with problem resolution and software fixes. We don’t limit the number of phone calls or emails for support. We are constantly updating the software. These enhancements are included free of charge as part of support. We determine which software enhancements to make by listening to our customers’ needs.

We do custom programming! We want to emphasize that we are one of a very limited number of companies that is willing to make any custom programming changes – period.

Summary

We continue to enhance our FloorPro® ERP software suite while also creating new fully integrated add-on software packages, each one focusing on the needs of the flooring, tile, and stone industries. Today, our software is used in three different countries. Our customers include numerous types of retail and warehouse companies in various industries. We have always kept to our core belief of building custom ERP software that meets industry specific needs.

These tools, in conjunction with our other leading-edge solutions, are enabling the floor covering industry to improve operations, customer service and the bottom line by harnessing the efficiencies offered by modern technology. We have built our reputation on customizing and tailoring solutions for our customers’ specialized needs. And we have been providing these innovative and leading-edge solutions to the flooring, ceramic tile, and stone industries for over 40 years.

Robust, comprehensive user-friendly software, along with excellent customer service and our staff’s industry-specific knowledge, are just some of the reasons companies have chosen us. We offer personalized service. We do custom programming. We know the flooring business and we get the job done. That’s why once we gain a customer, they stick with us.