Vendor Information Portal to streamline supply chain by giving suppliers connection flexibility
Austin, TX and Atlanta — January 6, 2006 — Golfsmith International Inc. and nuBridges LLC said this week they will build a new gateway for e-business collaboration between Golfsmith and its suppliers.
Golfsmith's Vendor Information Portal (VIP) is expected to provide connectivity for hundreds of suppliers and allow the retailer to use a central hub to monitor its entire supply chain.
Austin-based Golfsmith is a multi-channel retailer of golf and tennis equipment, merchandise and training curriculum for consumers and golf club manufacturers. With the collaboration platform, the retailer will offer suppliers multiple connectivity choices ranging from electronic data interchange (EDI) to a browser-based portal, ensuring ease of adoption and use. Adding to the appeal for suppliers, Golfsmith's VIP requires no software download and no charge for access.
Our guests [customers] trust that we can deliver the newest and most popular items promptly and our suppliers make that possible, said Jim Thompson, president and CEO of Golfsmith. This gateway will give our suppliers the flexibility to connect with us easily, streamlining the entire process from order to shipment to invoice to payment and improving sales cycles for both Golfsmith and our suppliers. Most importantly, the new gateway will allow us to be more responsive to our guests.
Golfsmith is rolling out the VIP to 50 key suppliers in early 2006, with the goal of having all of its suppliers using the portal by the summer of 2006.
Built on nuBridges' truExchange eBusiness Platform, the collaboration platform includes real-time event and exception management. Direct ship activities as well as batch orders can be monitored and managed through VIP's dashboard. Partners are alerted to new purchase orders, shipping delays and other activities. Additionally, Golfsmith can set up specific workflows and business rules to resolve supplier and fulfillment issues proactively.
This is what nuBridges' truExchange platform was designed to accomplish, said Wain Kellum, president and CEO of nuBridges. We can quickly build a solution for Golfsmith and provide them with a complete supplier enablement program that results in an industry leading efficient supply chain. Our software-as-a-service model allows Golfsmith to optimize inventory through supply chain efficiency gains using a usage-based program that matches the expense of the project with the realization of the benefits.
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