TradeStone Tackles Global Sourcing

Provider aims to facilitate international trade through collaborative e-sourcing

Provider aims to facilitate international trade through collaborative e-sourcing

Gloucester, MA — January 20, 2004 — TradeStone Software, a provider of collaborative e-sourcing software for international trade, today announced the completion of its executive management team, and a large customer win at Ocean State Job Lot.

Company chief Sue Welch founded TradeStone in 2003. Her previous companies — IMC Systems Group and RockPort Trade Systems — delivered early PC-based import software in 1984 and Windows-based sourcing software in 1994.

Now Welch and her new company are taking on collaborative e-sourcing solutions targeted at Global 2000 companies. TradeStone offers a solution designed to manage essential operations with global sourcing partners, from pre-buy requests for quote to ongoing order management. The solution also handles sourcing logistics, from financing to government-related processes, and provides event management and alerting capabilities.

The solution was built as a composite application designed to leverage an organization's IT infrastructure and operate on either a stand-alone basis or layered into an application mix to fill "global gaps."

"Companies today are still struggling to find and implement a platform that supports their strategies to build a truly world-class global sourcing organization," said Welch. "As our economy globalizes, a competitive advantage in global trading and rapid collaboration can be the difference between market success and failure."

TradeStone has already been awarded a contract to implement its new global e-sourcing solution at off price retailer Ocean State Job Lot.

Ocean State sells electronics, housewares and other goods at 69 stores throughout New England. A typical Ocean State store stocks more than 4,000 items, many of them imported from an array of offshore suppliers. Because Ocean State provides "opportunistic" merchandise — which changes frequently based on availability — the retailer was looking for a global e-sourcing system that would enable it to move quickly while dealing with a variety of small suppliers.

"In evaluating e-sourcing software, we quickly found that most existing solutions were complex, inflexible and required extensive training," said Hisham Aharon, chief technology officer at Ocean State. "TradeStone's software suite stood apart from the pack, helping us to leverage our existing IT infrastructure and business processes while enabling quick, easy and seamless collaboration with our international suppliers."

Welch heads TradeStone Software's executive management team as president and CEO. The company is based in Gloucester, Mass.

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