Over the course of her career, Seattle-based designer Anne Corgan would often find herself hitting a familiar snag while working on projects: She’d make her material and product selections, the clients would approve, she’d have the cash in hand … and then during the purchasing process, everything would grind to a halt. Each product seemed to introduce a new challenge—she couldn’t track down the proper point of contact, or the preferred payment method, or the correct pricing.

“You’ve gotten to the point where you’re like, ‘I want to give you my money, but I don’t know how to give it to you,’” says Corgan.

With the launch of a new platform called Annuaire, she aims to clear up some of the confusion surrounding procurement and make the process as smooth as possible. The site—which officially debuted this month—provides a vendor directory of textile brands, lighting makers and furniture manufacturers, with information on their pricing, payment methods, sales reps and current product lines. Some of the brands already represented on the platform include Lake August, Marc Phillips Rugs, Ferrick Mason and Barneby Gates.

The idea was born out of conversations between Corgan and co-founder Laura Nuyen, a digital design consultant and design enthusiast, about the numerous inefficiencies that arise while acquiring hundreds of items from as many vendors during a project. “These are things that I’ve been dealing with and managing for so long, I had kind of gotten used to it—trying to manage these cumbersome spreadsheets with all my sources, and how difficult it can be to obtain pricing and find out who my rep is,” says Corgan. “The more I started to have these conversations with someone who’s not in the industry, [the more Laura] was floored that that’s how the day-to-day went.”

The pair decided to create a centralized database accessible to designers, vendors and sales reps. Following the launch of a self-funded beta version last spring, they spent some time working out the kinks before this month’s official rollout.

Annuaire looks to streamline the procurement process by collecting scattered data in one place. Designers can use the platform to look up a vendor, and then find information on pricing and sales reps organized by region. Other sections detail the company’s payment information, such as whether they take credit cards or require a transaction fee, and if they can be paid directly or through a showroom. (Annuaire does not host transactions.)

Each manufacturer’s profile page also includes a gallery of product imagery and inspiration photos, along with additional info on their brand and offerings—whether an item is made out of recycled materials, for example, or if the manufacturer is a certified B Corp—as well as details like typical lead times, order minimums and cut fees. For designers like Corgan, it could be a major time-saver—and addresses common administration obstacles on the vendor side as well.

“We did a lot of information gathering last year and asked trusted manufacturers and reps: ‘If you could automate three parts of your workflow, what would that be?’” she says. “Every single person said, ‘Getting people information on pricing, how they can pay us, and minimum order quantity.’”

Corgan hopes that by giving designers transparent pricing information on a variety of vendors more readily, the platform can also illuminate a broader scope of buying options. She uses Loro Piana as an example: For years, she wouldn’t go near the Italian textile brand, assuming it was astronomically expensive. When she realized that its cost was comparable to many other wools and linens in her library, she was shocked.

“For a lot of designers that I’ve spoken to, there’s this anxiety even asking the rep, because you’re like, ‘Well I don’t want to ask them and [realize,] ‘Oh my God, I can’t afford that— shouldn’t have even bothered,’” says Corgan.

The site is free for designers, who must apply and submit their resale certificate (another feature alerts designers if their certification is nearing expiration) to set up their accounts. For their part, manufacturers, showrooms and sales reps are required to pay a yearly subscription—$109 a month billed annually at $1308 for manufacturers, and $89 a month billed annually at $1068 for showrooms and independent sales reps, plus registration fees. Corgan and Nuyen are also exploring tiered pricing for designers, which would include access to features like city guides and a resource library. At launch, the platform is home to a vetted group of 20 designers and 20 manufacturers, and working to add more each week.

The immediate goal for Annuaire is to mitigate the frustration designers experience when purchasing product, while also saving vendors and sales reps from time-consuming administrative work. Ultimately, with the weight lifted on both sides, Corgan envisions a streamlined buying process—and above all, stronger industry ties.

“We couldn’t find a directory that was trying to connect actual designers and manufacturers. That’s what I think makes us so different,” says Corgan. “That relationship is so important, and as designers, we can’t do our job without those amazing reps and manufacturers, and vice versa. It’s about allowing for that community and those relationships to keep building out.”