About Valid Data Inc.

Valid Data Inc. was created to develop a comprehensive business solution for the Home Furnishings Industry. This business solution had to provide an automated "look ahead " formula for determining when to order stock or when to sell off a poor performer. In addition the solution had to solve the complex problem for ordering and tracking "Special Orders" including describing the items properly (with unlimited lines of description) and properly tracking the customers promised delivery date. The business solution also had to provide the proper merchandising information to increase sales, decrease inventory, and maximizes gross profit. This solution also had to provide administrative efficiency, savings in valuable executive time, and accuracy especially with regard to the complex inventory control. The solution had to include "antitheft" controls that were fully integrated into all areas of the software. We firmly believe that we have developed the "premier business solution" for the Home Furnishing Retailer. We also believe that we have developed the finest business solution for the complex processing of "Special Order" merchandise.
If you are considering a "business solution" for your Home Furnishings Business, please consider Valid Data Inc.

Reprinted from Newsday Business & Technology Section Pg C7

Smoothing the Wrinkles In Furniture Retail

Danny Lanzetta

October 22, 2001

Innovation looks at one emerging company each Monday. Most are closely held and have devised a unique technology, a new level of service or an unusual way of doing business.

A designer, developer and supplier of software packages for the retail furniture industry, specializing in bar-coded systems and electronic data interface (EDI) systems. The company is a start-over company that was established in 1970 and bought by MAI Basic Four Computer Systems, a developer of an interactive multi-user computer system.

In 1988, during the companies' collaboration, more powerful personal computers were being manufactured, rendering MAI Basic Four's multi-user computers useless. In effect, MAI Basic Four began to downsize and, in turn, Valid Data was downsized despite the success of its retail furniture computer software.

After the original owner, Frank J. Kavanagh, pictured, reacquired Valid Data, the company began to focus on the development of bar-coding and EDI systems for the retail furniture industry. The bar-coding system, mainly seen in use at supermarkets and retail stores, has the ability to scan products at a point-of-sale (POS) workstation within a store in order to print out an invoice for a customer and store the information in a computer. In addition, the company has developed a POS system that works in conjunction with the bar-coding system for the retail furniture industry. The company's EDI system, which has been outsourced to companies such as Bassett Furniture Inc., sends a purchase order directly to the manufacturer's computer after it is scanned. The EDI sends the information electronically and alleviates the need for a second person to enter the order information into the system. Manufacturers would acknowledge most service orders with the old system, but with the EDI system they acknowledge all orders because the manufacturer's computer can send an electronic acknowledgment to the client who ordered the item.

When the acknowledgment is received by the client's computer, Valid Data's programs evaluate the promised delivery to the customer against the estimated time of arrival in order to ensure that a customer's purchase is received on time. In addition, Valid Data's software can validate whether items are acknowledged at the regular price or the sales price, and notify the client that the manufacturer is charging more than they should for the item being delivered.

Top Guns:    Kavanagh is president and Bob Villency is vice president. In addition to being a partner in Valid Data Inc., Villency is president of Maurice Villency Furniture. The two collaborated to design the software by combining Kavanagh's experience in the computer software industry with Villency's expertise in the retail furniture industry.

Key Quotes:     "We are one of the only suppliers of retail furniture equipment that handles special orders for its customers," said Kavanagh. "For instance, if you want some of the particulars changed on a purchase, our system makes the process less complicated so that the furniture you purchased can arrive to you on time."

The Next Step:     Kavanagh plans to focus his company in the area of expansion in the next few months. Prior to its acquisition by MAI Basic Four, the company had 20 employees, as compared to the four current employees. Valid Data is seeking financing from other companies to help expand it beyond what it was before MAI Basic Four acquired it.

Copyright © 2001, Newsday, Inc.