Geiger Counters and B2B

Ariba, AMS help in the cleanup of an EPA Superfund site

Fairfax, VA April 12, 2001  (Imagined statement by whoever's in charge of cleaning up Rocky Flats, the former nuclear weapons production facility and present EPA Superfund site.) Sure, e-procurement systems can save some pesos on paperclips, but if you really want to impress me, help get rid of those pesky neutrons and protons lying around this place. Do something that would have made Oppenheimer proud.


Thankfully, there are methods of post-nuke assembly mop-up using online tools. American Management Systems, Ariba, Kaiser-Hill Company, LLC, an environmental remediation company joint venture between CH2M-Hill and Kaiser Group International, recently announced the successful implementation of the Ariba B2B Commerce Platform at Rocky Flats, located approximately 16 miles northwest of Denver, Colo. Kaiser Hill, the company responsible for cleaning up and decommissioning the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, chose the Ariba Buyer Solution to streamline e-procurement processes and automate workflows for Kaiser Hill's complex, highly regulated, procurement procedures.


AMS and Kaiser-Hill deployed the Ariba Buyer solution in 60 days to some 300 users with 14 suppliers' catalogs. Rocky Flats is using the solution to purchase traditional MRO items such as office supplies as well as products that are strategically important to the site's mission such as air filtration equipment and nuclear material storage containers. Rocky Flats intends to increase the number of participating suppliers by 15 per month during 2001, eventually utilizing the Ariba system to connect to all its suppliers. Last year, Rocky Flats purchased $35 million worth of commodities and $350 million worth of services related to the decommissioning effort.


"In a complicated and challenging environment, getting this solution up and running in 60 days was no small feat, said Len Martinez, CFO and executive sponsor of the e-procurement initiative at Kaiser-Hill. It is a testament to the focus and dedication of the Kaiser -Hill, AMS and Ariba team. This is the first step of many in bringing B2B to the nuclear remediation industry.


The initial implementation at Rocky Flats also included configuring the Ariba Buyer solution to support the Department of Energy's (DOE's) safety and quality-control procurement rules, as well as integration with an existing ERP system. Our primary objective is to ensure that the procurement system fully supports the safe cleanup and closure of the site, commented John Oshinski, Kaiser-Hill's program manager. The savings and efficiency gains are gravy in comparison. (Marking possibly the first time that the words gravy and nuclear remediation were used in the same story.)


"Many of the same business-to-business principles that help businesses increase efficiency and cut costs are directly applicable to the federal government, said Jerry Connell, director of Ariba Public Sector. DOE's Rocky Flats Site joins a growing list of public sector organizations that are embracing B2B solutions, and Ariba is proud to provide the market-leading solution that powers their initiative.


Zip Brown, vice president of the eGovernment Solutions Group at AMS adds, "We are extremely excited to have provided the Ariba B2B Commerce Platform to the DOE site at Rocky Flats. Our partnership with Ariba and other market leaders will continue to allow AMS to supply federal agencies with the necessary technologies and services to adopt commercial best practices."

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