Hosted software beefs up capabilities intended to help companies accelerate collaboration with suppliers, reduce risk of supply disruptions
San Jose, CA May 30, 2006 Solution provider Apexon has released version 2.0 of its flagship Supply Performance Management (SPM) suite, offering tools to link performance metrics with the ability to initiate and track activities between supply managers and their leading suppliers.
As Apexon sees it, in order to stay competitive in a dynamic, global market, manufacturers need a strategic way to increase visibility into supplier performance and help drive continuous improvements in areas that include operational performance, profitability and reduced supply risk. The provider asserts that Apexon SPM 2.0 facilitates all these needs by taking business intelligence to a new level.
Thinking beyond First Costs
With ongoing pressures to reduce costs, many companies have focused their operational efforts in areas such as the negotiated price of materials and subsequent purchasing contracts. However, these strategies may only address a percentage of total costs. Apexon believes it is the first company to enable manufacturers to strategically address total costs by increasing their supply visibility to include areas such as quality and delivery, and by providing a means for them to work closely with their suppliers to achieve performance and quality goals.
"Many manufacturers recognize the importance of working strategically with their suppliers to improve performance, but have lacked the tools necessary to put any sort of consistent program in place," said Emily Liggett, president and CEO of Apexon. "Apexon SPM 2.0 was created to maximize visibility and provide the type of actionable information necessary to strengthen supplier relationships and performance, as well as anticipate potential problems before they occur."
New Modules
Version 2.0 of SPM includes SPM Develop, a module for automating and standardizing supplier development programs. SPM Develop automates the business processes for supplier development. It enables companies to work closely with their suppliers on areas such as improving on-time delivery, reducing costs or inventory, enhancing operational capabilities or addressing specific performance areas.
With the new solution, actions with automatic notification and due dates can be assigned to any user, whether internal to the manufacturer or externally at the supplier. In this way, Apexon said, SPM Develop makes it possible for companies to use fewer resources to collaborate with more of their key suppliers.
Other modules include SPM Monitor, an interactive scorecard that provides a consolidated view of suppliers' performance that can be aggregated or drilled-down to any level of detail needed, and SPM Analyze, a supply-focused business intelligence platform to identify trends, risks and opportunities.
SPM Analyze is intended to enable sourcing and supply management professionals to rapidly identify the best supplier substitution, consolidation and development opportunities to continuously reduce costs and improve performance. These modules may be used as stand-alone components, or together as an integrated suite.
Additional modules include SPM Survey, which allows executives to systematically survey internal users or suppliers and integrate results for ongoing performance, quality and cost monitoring; Supplier Profile, which offers a central repository that contains information about suppliers collected from a wide range of sources (internally and across the globe); and Supplier Portal, which provides suppliers with access to their own performance data and development project status.
Like its predecessor, Apexon SPM 2.0 is a hosted solution.
Additional Articles of Interest
For the latest facts, figures and benchmarking data from the supply chain industry, read the "Running the Numbers column in the April/May 2006 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
For a quick-read update on supply chain enablement projects and solutions for the busy executive, read the "Supply Chain Executive Briefing" in the April/May 2006 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
San Jose, CA May 30, 2006 Solution provider Apexon has released version 2.0 of its flagship Supply Performance Management (SPM) suite, offering tools to link performance metrics with the ability to initiate and track activities between supply managers and their leading suppliers.
As Apexon sees it, in order to stay competitive in a dynamic, global market, manufacturers need a strategic way to increase visibility into supplier performance and help drive continuous improvements in areas that include operational performance, profitability and reduced supply risk. The provider asserts that Apexon SPM 2.0 facilitates all these needs by taking business intelligence to a new level.
Thinking beyond First Costs
With ongoing pressures to reduce costs, many companies have focused their operational efforts in areas such as the negotiated price of materials and subsequent purchasing contracts. However, these strategies may only address a percentage of total costs. Apexon believes it is the first company to enable manufacturers to strategically address total costs by increasing their supply visibility to include areas such as quality and delivery, and by providing a means for them to work closely with their suppliers to achieve performance and quality goals.
"Many manufacturers recognize the importance of working strategically with their suppliers to improve performance, but have lacked the tools necessary to put any sort of consistent program in place," said Emily Liggett, president and CEO of Apexon. "Apexon SPM 2.0 was created to maximize visibility and provide the type of actionable information necessary to strengthen supplier relationships and performance, as well as anticipate potential problems before they occur."
New Modules
Version 2.0 of SPM includes SPM Develop, a module for automating and standardizing supplier development programs. SPM Develop automates the business processes for supplier development. It enables companies to work closely with their suppliers on areas such as improving on-time delivery, reducing costs or inventory, enhancing operational capabilities or addressing specific performance areas.
With the new solution, actions with automatic notification and due dates can be assigned to any user, whether internal to the manufacturer or externally at the supplier. In this way, Apexon said, SPM Develop makes it possible for companies to use fewer resources to collaborate with more of their key suppliers.
Other modules include SPM Monitor, an interactive scorecard that provides a consolidated view of suppliers' performance that can be aggregated or drilled-down to any level of detail needed, and SPM Analyze, a supply-focused business intelligence platform to identify trends, risks and opportunities.
SPM Analyze is intended to enable sourcing and supply management professionals to rapidly identify the best supplier substitution, consolidation and development opportunities to continuously reduce costs and improve performance. These modules may be used as stand-alone components, or together as an integrated suite.
Additional modules include SPM Survey, which allows executives to systematically survey internal users or suppliers and integrate results for ongoing performance, quality and cost monitoring; Supplier Profile, which offers a central repository that contains information about suppliers collected from a wide range of sources (internally and across the globe); and Supplier Portal, which provides suppliers with access to their own performance data and development project status.
Like its predecessor, Apexon SPM 2.0 is a hosted solution.
Additional Articles of Interest
For the latest facts, figures and benchmarking data from the supply chain industry, read the "Running the Numbers column in the April/May 2006 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
For a quick-read update on supply chain enablement projects and solutions for the busy executive, read the "Supply Chain Executive Briefing" in the April/May 2006 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
