Transportation, Logistics Supply Community Set for August Launch

e4score.com to offer information management and sharing, business process solutions designed to overcome persistent distribution problems

e4score.com to offer information management and sharing, business process solutions designed to overcome persistent distribution problems

Guilford, CT — June 21, 2004 — iGit enterprises, a solution provider in the many-to-many supply community collaboration space, has debuted the first phase of its online supply community for the transportation and logistics space, the www.e4score.com Web site, set to go live in August.

e4score will offer information management/sharing and business process solutions designed to enable supply community partners to work together to overcome persistent distribution problems, such as identifying the highest-value carriers for a company's distribution network, carrier network balancing (including CPU for private fleets), pick-up and delivery appointment management, and shipment document distribution and archiving.

The solutions will be accessible over the Internet and are designed to be entirely neutral as a way of benefiting all supply chain participants, including vendors, manufacturers, customers and logistics providers, according to iGit.

Four capabilities will be launched in August 2004 as the first phase:

  • Carrier Search and Discovery (Real-time e-RFI): Member truckload carriers (for-hire and private fleets) can submit, maintain and continuously update an "e-request for information" profile, comprised of essential carrier data including capabilities, capacity, and network imbalances. The carrier can also attach a PowerPoint presentation. Any e4score Member registered as a "shipper" (including shippers and freight brokers) can search the RFI-database anytime to discover carriers that can meet their networks' tactical and strategic needs. The initial RFI-phase of a transportation bid event could then be completed in a day, reducing project cycle time and resource requirements for all parties, iGit said.

  • Document Management: Member Carriers can post proof-of-delivery documents and customs brokers can post import entry summary documents on e4score. The Member Shipper can access their documents (but only their own documents) anytime, anywhere, according to the solution provider.

  • Community Forum: Guests and members can participate in group discussions, sharing ideas and solutions on the challenges in distribution management. For example, carriers serving a difficult ship location could share ideas on how to reduce wait times. The forum is a free service.

  • EZ Links: Guest and members can use this Web portal of logistics Web sites, including media, government, associations, manufacturers, retailers and logistics providers, to find the information they need. EZ Links is a free service.

"These capabilities were selected for phase one because they are easy to use and will require little, if any, business process change by the e4score member company," said Charles Irwin, president of iGit enterprises and former transportation director for consumer goods giant Unilever. "We are confident that this approach will enable e4score to quickly achieve sustainable critical mass."

iGit Vice President Karen Irwin explained that "the only up-front charge is the $100 annual membership fee. All other fees are transaction-based and charged to the party that benefits from the transaction, so that all companies, large and small, can benefit from e4score. There will be no hidden costs or surprises."

Additional capabilities to follow phase one include pick-up and delivery appointment management, customer pick-up/backhaul program management, performance reporting and improvement, and gainshare incentive programs.

"Supply community partners will be able to collaborate on distribution management, driving productivity and efficiency gains that will accelerate revenue and profit growth for member companies," said Charles Irwin. "The CPU Module is especially exciting. It delivers on all the recommendations presented in the Manufacturer & Distributor Pick-Up/Backhaul Fairness Statement issued jointly by the GMA and FMI in October 2003."

e4score already appears to be generating some interest in the trade. Bob Harron, president of GHC Services, said, "e4score introduces new concepts and practices that will generate efficiencies and effectively release transportation and warehouse capacity at a critical time in the North American market."

e4score currently is operating an informational Web site at www.e4score.com.

iGit was founded in December, 2003 by Charles Irwin and his wife Karen with the goal of driving out waste in the transportation marketplace through cross-enterprise collaboration.

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