xpedx Tries Trigo

Implements new solution to manage product information across enterprise

Brisbane, CA  February 25, 2002  International Paper company xpedx is using a new product information management system from Trigo Technologies to deliver content on its more than 200,000 products to internal and external end users, according to an announcement today from Trigo.


Based in Covington, Ky., xpedx is a $6.5 billion distributor of paper, packaging supplies and equipment, facility supplies and graphic imaging prepress equipment and supplies. The company operates 105 wholesale distribution centers and 175 stores serving retail customers and small printers.


Since December the company has been managing its product information using Trigo Enterprise 3.0, which was officially launched just today. "With Trigo Enterprise 3.0, we can fully leverage our vital product information assets by seamlessly delivering product content across our enterprise and beyond, to any person or entity that needs it  divisions, customers, partners, e-commerce sites, and more," said David Wallace, director of e-business at xpedx. "By distributing our product information to all of these touch points, we accelerate our time to market significantly."


xpedx is using Enterprise 3.0 to aggregate, centralize and manage catalog content for its 200,000-plus products. The distributor uses product information from a central repository to create multiple unique versions of regional catalogs that are published for xpedx customers. Additionally, xpedx is using Trigo to publish customized product information to a range of customers using a variety of e-procurement solutions.


When the solution is fully deployed, xpedx will use the solution to deliver product information across its enterprise, integrating with internal business systems, the xpedx.com sell-side Web site and CD-based catalogs.


The 3.0 version of Enterprise represents a departure for Trigo, with prior versions of the solution focused more on providing elements of a sell-side platform to address multiple distribution and business channels through a unified "cockpit" or "dashboard."


The new version adds the ability to create a unified storehouse of product information that can be managed centrally and made available to merchandising, sales and customer-facing systems, as well as, ultimately, different end users within and outside the enterprise.


The rollout of the new solution reflects a broader trend toward treating product information  along with customers' information  as a strategic asset that companies want to leverage to improve their sales, according to Russ Henry, a senior vice president at Trigo. "The new strategic asset in enterprise software is product information designed for the distribution mission of the enterprise," Henry said.


Henry added that while providers of enterprise resource planning systems have helped companies organize their product information in the past, the enterprise resource planning suppliers have been focused on the manufacturing or accounting aspects of product information rather than the sell-side. "It's not the data model for sales, for really driving a transaction," Henry asserted.


Trigo intends its new system to fix the problem of multiple, redundant systems managing product information across the enterprise in the form of structured and unstructured content. Enterprise 3.0, the solution provider said, centralizes the information and allows people around the enterprise to work together on the information.

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