Chicago — May 8, 2003 — The WorldWide Retail Exchange (WWRE), a B2B e-marketplace for the retail industry, has tapped Syncra Systems to provide supply chain collaboration solutions to its members and their trading partners.
Retailers and their suppliers are increasingly using collaborative planning to streamline their supply chains, driving improvements in service levels, reductions in inventory and increases in sales. One key area of collaboration in the retail industry is around promotional events, whereby suppliers get increased visibility into expected demand surges, thus enabling them to meet demand while reducing costs and inventory levels.
"Many of our members are now ramping up their collaborative initiatives," said Sally Herbert of WWRE, who added that the purpose of the new partnership is to support the exchange members' efforts.
According to Syncra, the structure of its partnership with the WWRE gives retailers and manufacturers the freedom and flexibility to choose how they collaborate. Companies can collaborate either directly via the WWRE using Syncra's software in an ASP (application service provider) model, or they can integrate their existing internal Syncra hubs with the WWRE.
This offering would include the implementation support and services required to bridge the internal and external collaboration efforts and systems, Syncra said.
"This partnership is what the industry has been waiting for — a single platform and a common approach to collaboration," said Jeffrey Stamen, CEO of Syncra. "Retailers and manufacturers can now leverage collaboration to drive real cost savings in their supply chains and real profitability in their promotional events."
