Better Connectivity, Better Management

Detroit  October 25, 2001  General Motors Corp. announced that it has initiated a pilot program at GM assembly plants in North America that will utilize Covisint Fulfillment to provide simultaneous, real-time connectivity with multiple tiers of supply chains. The pilot is aimed at supporting the achievement of GM's Order-to-Delivery initiative.

Covisint Fulfillment is meant to give GM more visibility with its suppliers by facilitating supply chain responsiveness, efficiency and synchronization. Once integrated into the plants, the technology will enable improvements in communication of information, management of inventory and linking of information technology systems between GM and its suppliers. During the pilot, Covisint will provide subscriptions to Covisint Fulfillment based on SupplySolution's i-Supply application to the GM facilities.

Covisint Fulfillment will serve as a building block for our Order-to-Delivery process, said Brad Ross, global executive-in-charge, GM Order-to-Delivery. In addition, we believe it will enable our suppliers to better manage their operations, improve their ability to control inventory and production costs and, ultimately, help strengthen their bottom line.

Key attributes of Covisint Fulfillment include real-time monitoring of inventory levels, part usage history and patterns, forecast, in-transit inventories, receipts and other relevant information between manufacturers and suppliers.

Once Covisint Fulfillment is integrated into these plants, it will provide the foundation to integrate the supply chain, enabling sense and respond' capability. GM will then be able to respond more rapidly to market requirements and at the same time, enable the supply chain to improve overall efficiency and effectiveness, Ross said.