|  | Supply chain visibility on demand
Sterling Commerce delivers SaaS solution transforming extended supply chain data into real-time actionable information
Sterling Commerce, an AT&T Inc. subsidiary, has announced the availability of Sterling Supply Chain Visibility On Demand, a new Software as a Service that provides partner connectivity, process integration and real-time visibility throughout a company’s extended supply chain. Sterling Supply Chain Visibility On Demand instantly displays and summarises actionable supply chain information from all electronic trading partners and communities through a secure, reliable hosted infrastructure.
By combining business-to-business integration expertise with its global supply chain community, Sterling Commerce is delivering an innovative solution that enables manufacturers, retailers, and distribution companies to maximise the number of supply chain partners with whom they do business. By extending the partner community, Sterling Commerce transforms extended supply chain data into real-time actionable data, resulting in improved operational efficiencies, lower inventories and inventory carrying costs, and greater responsiveness to supply chain disruptions.
Achieving real-time, extended supply chain visibility has been a challenge. A September 2007 Aberdeen report states: “Many companies still do not have timely visibility into the critical processes involved in global supply chain management, despite the heightened attention to this area in recent years. This often prevents companies from accessing information quickly enough to be able to use it for decision making."
Josh Hardy, global product line manager, Sterling Commerce: “Achieving real-time extended supply chain visibility is a constant challenge in SCM. A report in 2007 from the Aberdeen Group found that despite the heightened attention to this area in recent years, many companies still don’t have a clear and accurate view of their supply chain ecosystem. Lack of timely information prevents companies from making decisions that could save money and increase efficiencies – without real-time insight into supply chain processes, companies face a long term loss in business agility and competitiveness.
“By displaying and summarising actionable supply chain information from all electronic trading partners and communities through a hosted infrastructure, Sterling Supply Chain Visibility On Demand allows companies to proactively respond to supply chain disruptions and improve market responsiveness.
“Many enterprises are forced to use inventory in place of information to buffer against supply chain disruption, whether it’s caused by uncertain customer demand or poor supplier performance. Instead of maintaining excessive inventory, companies need actionable knowledge. Accurate product availability and a clear and accurate picture of stock across all partners means that companies can be smarter about inventory-allocation, sense supply disruptions earlier in the process and respond more cost-effectively. Getting early notice of any impact to customer orders also means companies can keep their customers more informed and better protect their relationships.”
“Sterling Commerce understands the power of community, and has spent more than 30 years harnessing that power to deliver innovative solutions. Sterling Supply Chain Visibility On Demand leverages the company’s rich heritage in community management with its business process applications to enable companies to reach a new level in how they collaborate with their supply chain ecosystem,” said Josh Hardy, global product line manager, Sterling Collaboration Network, for Sterling Commerce. “Through the industry’s most robust partner connectivity and real-time visibility, Sterling Commerce enables companies to proactively respond to supply disruptions and improve market responsiveness while lowering inventory carrying costs and improving operational efficiencies.”
The Software as a Service model is ideally suited to deliver immediate returns for customers. Sterling Supply Chain Visibility On Demand offers customers an on-demand, real-time visibility solution that instantly connects supply chain partners and their critical supply chain processes to allow visibility via a single dashboard view. By providing simplified partner on-boarding via a hosted network solution, partner implementation time and costs required for setting up the community are greatly reduced. |
| |
|
