Laing O'Rourke has extended its ability to trade electronically with nine key suppliers using Asite's e-trading solutions.

V J Technology, Firwood, J&P Building Systems, Edmundsons Electrical, Sir William Burnett, Eugene Harrington Marketing, Supplies Team, Support Site and Halfen will be joined by further suppliers by the end of 2003, reflecting Laing O'Rourke's ongoing commitment and investment in e-business solutions.

The drive is aimed at achieving further efficiency gains through reduced administration, reduced order errors and improved order management information.  "Trading electronically with our suppliers makes it easier for our team to place orders and reduces the amount of administration involved," says John Lohan, Head of Procurement, Laing O'Rourke. "Based on initial pilot studies that we ran, we expect to achieve efficiency savings of as much as 25% per transaction."

Asite's e-trading solutions enable Laing O'Rourke to use their existing Coins purchasing system to both place and receive orders without the need for intervening administration.  Some of the nine suppliers have chosen to integrate their existing supply order system using Asite's technology so that they can trade directly with Laing O'Rourke.  Others have chosen to be set-up so they can log onto Asite Supply, a web-based application to receive orders or send invoices.

Commenting on their adoption of Asite's trading solutions, Tim Horrell, Director, VJ Technology, said: "Trading with Laing O'Rourke using Asite's technology means that we can be more responsive to orders placed and provide better customer service through access to more accurate order information. Whilst it doesn't take long to start using Asite Supply, it also shows mutual commitment to the trading relationship between our company and Laing O'Rourke."

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