Supply Train Management

GE Global eXchange Services announces new e-marketplace for rail industry

GAITHERSBURG, Md.  Nov. 15, 2000  GE Global eXchange Services today announced the launch of Global Rail Exchange, an e-marketplace for the worldwide railroad industry.

GXS said companies using Global Rail Exchange can expect to reduce sourcing costs, transaction costs and purchasing cycle times while simultaneously expanding their trading community on a national or global scale.

Global Rail Exchange is available to buyers and sellers serving all aspects of the worldwide railroad industry, including companies now part of GE Global eXchange Services' supply chain network. The network currently serves 100,000 trading partners and processes over 1 billion B2B transactions per year, which accounts for approximately $1 trillion dollars in goods and services.

Global Rail Exchange offers such standard e-marketplace services as excess inventory and asset disposition (through a component called "Transhopnet.com"), electronic request for quotation and reverse auctions (called "Selection"), materials forecast and purchase order status tracking ("Requirements"), and purchase order routing and settlement ("Settlement"). The exchange also offers access to rail community expertise ("Experts On-Line").

The exchange plans to introduce additional service components and functions on an ongoing basis. Buyers and sellers can join Global Rail Exchange at no cost. The exchange charges subscription fees or per transaction fees for its services.

The Transhopnet.com component of the Global Rail Exchange now serves a community of more than 700 companies, with over 8,000 items of excess rail inventory listed for sale, valued at more than $50 million. Used by four Class-1 railroads (Amtrak, Canadian Pacific, CSX and Norfolk Southern), Transhopnet.com has sold more than $3 million in equipment including 80 rail cars and nearly 100 locomotives.

Pentacon Inc., a supply chain manager of components used in the transportation and aerospace industries, is now using the Selection component of Global Rail Exchange and has been evaluating the Requirements and Settlement components of the exchange as well. "The Global Rail Exchange's Selection software has helped us become more cost competitive without a significant up-front investment," said Pentacon's Lynn Brumagin.

"Our launch of the Global Rail Exchange gives companies, regardless of size, a cost effective means to bring liquidity and transparency to their supply chain processes," said Otto Kumbar, GXS vice president of Interchange Solutions. "In addition, both buyers and suppliers will now have the opportunity to expand their range of potential trading relationships from regional to national to global."

Global Rail Exchange supports standards-based transaction services and integration with ERP, CRM and legacy enterprise systems.

GE Global eXchange Services is a part of GE Information Services Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the General Electric Co., U.S.A., and it is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md.

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