Provide collaborative inventory management, interoperability for automotive industry
Detroit — September 3, 2004 — Accelerating its movement in the automotive industry, Global eXchange Services (GXS) this week announced it has partnered with TradeBeam Inc., a provider of global trade management software and services. As part of the agreement, GXS will offer automotive customers and suppliers TradeBeam's Inventory Management solution (i-Supply) via GXS' business process network. i-Supply will now be available to all major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and over 14,000 suppliers, via GXS' network of global automotive customers.
The companies said the partnership is designed to drive costs out of automotive industry customers' operations by reducing inventory levels throughout the Demand Driven Supply Network (DDSN). TradeBeam's i-Supply solution is a collaborative inventory management application that currently is operating at thousands of automotive suppliers worldwide.
"Vehicle Brand Owners (VBOs) must drive DDSN-based transformation into the supply chain in order to create better demand visibility to survive in today's hyper-competitive marketplace. Otherwise, incentives and inventory costs will devour already slim profit margins," according to the AMR Research report "Applying DDSN Correctly Can Shift Companies From Laggard to Braggart," July 22, 2004. AMR further expanded, "Carmakers that drive the DDSN model into their supply chain, thereby improving their demand forecasting, will minimize finished auto inventories, improving profits and freeing capital for other uses, such as [research and development]."
The ability to react to immediate requirement changes can increase inventory ROI up to 30 percent, improve asset and capacity utilization, and reduce the cost of premium freight and administration, according to GXS. TradeBeam said its inventory management solution will provide OEMs and suppliers with real-time visibility into consumption and replenishment patterns across the supply chain, lessening reliance on forecasts. Suppliers can monitor current inventory levels and decide when, and how much, to ship. OEMs can then monitor supplier performance to service level requirements.
"As today's global automotive marketplace expands, companies are looking for new ways to integrate with their trading partners and drive significant cost out of operations," said Bobby Patrick, GXS senior vice president of marketing. "Our partnership with TradeBeam will enable our customers to collectively reduce inventory levels, smooth production and lower premium freight charges."
The TradeBeam relationship is part of the GXS Partnership Program, an industry-focused initiative that is designed to bring technology solutions to a global customer base.
