Columbus, Ohio November 12, 2001 - SBC Communications Inc., through its subsidiary Sterling Commerce, today announced the launch of HardlinesCentral, a supply chain-focused e-marketplace for the hardware and home improvement industry. The new marketplace will allow all participants in the supply chain - buy- and sell-side, large and small businesses alike - to exchange information and conduct business electronically in lieu of using slower, more costly paper-based methods.
Sterling Commerce, which has more than 3,700 hardlines customers, recognized a strong need within the industry for a comprehensive, unified e-marketplace and has applied its industry experience to create a dynamic, Web-enabled community that allows hardlines businesses to tap into tremendous operational savings well beyond those available from traditional EDI.
"The goal of HardlinesCentral is to solve real business problems in the entire supply chain and enable all participants to gain value," said Rick Villars, vice president of Internet and e-commerce strategies, IDC. "The adoption of EDI in the hardlines industry more than 20 years ago significantly improved the speed and efficiency of doing business with first-tier members of the supply chain, saving select industry participants millions of dollars. With the emergence solutions such as HardlinesCentral that are based on Internet technologies, second-, third-, and fourth-tier partners will be able to take advantage of these same operational efficiencies."
