CHICAGO /PRNewswire/ -- E3 Corp. will launch E3Marketplace, a Web-based independent collaborative community. The announcement came at this week's National Hardware Show in Chicago. E3 plans to launch E3Marketplace first in the hardware industry and then bring additional industries online as customers increase their supplier collaboration initiatives. Hardware giants Ace Hardware and True Value, both of which already use E3 inventory management applications, are the first to deploy the new collaborative application.
Unlike some dot-com exchanges that simply match buyers and sellers of surplus products, E3Marketplace sets an industry benchmark because it brings together buyers and sellers with established relationships to transact business within their supply chain. The Internet applications, built upon CPFR(R) (Collaborative Planning Forecasting and Replenishment) standards, enable manufacturers, distributors and retailers to work from a single, shared demand forecast. By synchronizing processes and sharing information, trading partners in a supply chain can tighten production cycles, lower safety stock requirements and reduce potential lost sales.
"E3Marketplace is an extremely effective tool for establishing and strengthening supply chain relationships because it gives both buyers and sellers visibility of demand up and down the supply chain," said Dennis Hogue, president of E3 Corp. "It is much more powerful than typical auction portals because it actually allows business partners to execute their business transactions online. E3Marketplace is highly interactive and provides an advantage for parties on both ends of the transaction. We believe it will redefine the concept and utilization of trading communities in the future."
E3Markeplace anchors, Ace Hardware and True Value, have been using E3 inventory management systems for a number of years and have realized tremendous results. Both hardware industry Co-ops achieved a 20 percent reduction in inventory, an over 3 percent increase in service levels and significantly improved buyer productivity. The E3Marketplace collaborative effort generates even greater value by allowing the companies to work more closely with their E3Marketplace vendors, which include Black & Decker, Masterlock, Manco, Hy-ko, L.R. Nelson and Plumbpak.
