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GE Goes Live with Supply Information Management in Largest Software-as-a-service Deployment
Company taps Aravo SIM solution to automate and streamline supplier information-related business processes globally across business units; 500,000 suppliers, six languages, 10 countries
San Francisco, CA — October 31, 2008 — GE is working to transform its global supplier information management (SIM) process by deploying what is quite possibly one of the largest software-as-a-service deployments to date, using the Web-based SIM solution from Aravo to automate and streamline supplier information-related business processes across all of its business units worldwide.
The Aravo SIM solution, which forms the basis of GE's Global Supplier Library, offers the company's suppliers a self-service interface to author and maintain information required to do business with GE at both the corporate and business-unit levels, helping both GE and its suppliers increase efficiencies, improve supplier data quality, drive compliance and reduce costs.
Most Complex Supply Chain
GE manages what is arguably one of the world's most complex supply chains, conducting business with over 500,000 suppliers across thousands of entities in more than 100 countries. The Global Procurement Group manages GE's Global Supplier Library, a centralized repository at the corporate level for the management of supplier information feeding the firm's multiple downstream business units.
The GSL was implemented in the 1990s to improve cross-enterprise coordination of supplier definitions, supplier reference numbers, supplier content and supporting data/documentation. The company needed to make process improvements to reduce a proliferation of vendors, improve visibility into the company-wide spend, aggregate supplier information and create a better understanding of what was being purchased from whom.
GE also wanted to more accurately track compliance, certifications, white papers and contracts. An overriding requirement was to make all of this data easy to find from within a universally accessible central repository on a global basis and in a consistent way. Supplier data quality also was an issue, as the legacy process did not provide a consistent means to validate and enrich the data as they came into the company during supplier onboarding and thereafter.
Controlling Complexity
GE sought to control this all this complexity with a Web-based software solution that was highly configurable and easily adopted by users. After considering internal alternatives and reviewing external options, GE determined that Aravo SIM was the best fit for its global needs.
The implementation of Aravo SIM began in March 2008 and is now live globally. The initial implementation phase supports GE's corporate supplier management organization and will be rolled out to all GE business units by year end. Additional phases are planned for 2009. The Aravo platform at GE ties back into the company's 15 instances of Oracle's procurement solution.
The Aravo SIM solution, which forms the basis of GE's Global Supplier Library, offers the company's suppliers a self-service interface to author and maintain information required to do business with GE at both the corporate and business-unit levels, helping both GE and its suppliers increase efficiencies, improve supplier data quality, drive compliance and reduce costs.
Most Complex Supply Chain
GE manages what is arguably one of the world's most complex supply chains, conducting business with over 500,000 suppliers across thousands of entities in more than 100 countries. The Global Procurement Group manages GE's Global Supplier Library, a centralized repository at the corporate level for the management of supplier information feeding the firm's multiple downstream business units.
The GSL was implemented in the 1990s to improve cross-enterprise coordination of supplier definitions, supplier reference numbers, supplier content and supporting data/documentation. The company needed to make process improvements to reduce a proliferation of vendors, improve visibility into the company-wide spend, aggregate supplier information and create a better understanding of what was being purchased from whom.
GE also wanted to more accurately track compliance, certifications, white papers and contracts. An overriding requirement was to make all of this data easy to find from within a universally accessible central repository on a global basis and in a consistent way. Supplier data quality also was an issue, as the legacy process did not provide a consistent means to validate and enrich the data as they came into the company during supplier onboarding and thereafter.
Controlling Complexity
GE sought to control this all this complexity with a Web-based software solution that was highly configurable and easily adopted by users. After considering internal alternatives and reviewing external options, GE determined that Aravo SIM was the best fit for its global needs.
The implementation of Aravo SIM began in March 2008 and is now live globally. The initial implementation phase supports GE's corporate supplier management organization and will be rolled out to all GE business units by year end. Additional phases are planned for 2009. The Aravo platform at GE ties back into the company's 15 instances of Oracle's procurement solution.
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