SUCCESS STORY Century-Old Manufacturer Stays Agile and Responsive with 8x8 Barnhardt Manufacturing Company—Cotton Industry Powerhouse In 1914 Barnhardt Manufacturing revolutionized the furniture industry with its invention of processing cotton for use in the creation of rayon fibers. Headquartered on the original site where it was founded in 1900, the business remains privately held by fourth-generation Barnhardt family members. The company currently operates eight manufacturing facilities across the United States, producing bleached cotton fiber products for industries spanning from Customer: Barnhardt medical and beauty to home care and consumer products. Manufacturing Company A constant factor in Barnhardt’s storied, century-plus history has been the continual Industry: Manufacturing utilization of the latest technologies and techniques to keep the company ahead of its competition and at the leading-edge of its industry. Seeking yet another innovative Location: Charlotte, NC transformation in its workplace, Barnhardt Manufacturing began the search for a 8x8 Products: 8x8 Virtual Office unified communications platform with the capabilities and security to impact the performance of employees across all of its operations. Favorite 8x8 Features: Breadth of functionality, analytics, ability to Pulling Everyone Together utilize phone, smartphone, tablet, Kevin O’Rourke, CIO for Barnhardt Manufacturing, described his motivations, “Having or desktop from any location a reliable communications system that could bring our team together in a more Primary Reason for Choosing 8x8: cohesive manner became an imperative for us. We have employees in offices, in our Completeness of solution manufacturing facilities, and many needing mobile options in locations with very little cell service.” Number of Lines: 775 Ted Palmer, Barnhardt’s manager of IT infrastructure, concurred, “We have some Previous Phone System: Mitel employees positioned in very rural areas—really off the beaten path—and we needed Website: www.barnhardt.net a solution that was simple and capable of being fully functional in a wide range of operating environments.” With over 300 telephone extensions, and facilities open 24 /7, coordination and communication across the company are vital to its success. “Our locations on the East Coast have to be in sync with our West Coast operations, which in turn, have to be able to communicate with our sales people in every time zone,” said O’Rourke. 1