Atlanta January 27, 2003 When supply chain technology analyst Tim Minahan surveyed the e-sourcing market in 2002, he pegged solution provider Procuri as "one of the best-kept secrets" in the space.
Now, considering Procuri's platform enhancements and customer base growth over the past year, "it appears the secret is out," said Minahan, who is vice president and managing director of supply chain research at tech consultancy Aberdeen Group.
Indeed, for all of 2002, privately held Procuri said it signed 30 new companies to annual or multiyear subscription agreements for the provider's e-sourcing solutions, including 12 in the fourth quarter. Additions to Procuri's customer list include Halliburton Energy Services, ITT Industries, Newell Rubbermaid, PolyOne, Panasonic and Sealy Corp. Two states, Georgia and Massachusetts, also signed up.
Gary Como, director of sourcing at PolyOne, said the plastics company has been satisfied with the Procuri solution and the provider's ability to meet its customer expectations and requests. "We look forward to a great year ahead with Procuri as we continue to share best sourcing practices throughout our organization," Como said.
Analyst Minahan also pointed to Procuri's renewal rates with its existing clients, such as Procter & Gamble, which initially enlisted Procuri in 2001 and recently extended the relationship for another year. "Long-term relationships with brand-name customers like P&G indicate that Procuri has arrived," Minahan said.
In fact, Procuri said that all of its customers whose subscriptions were due to expire in 2002 renewed them, with several opting for multiyear extensions, including U.S. Steel and Wabtec. The provider points to the hard cost savings that its customers have achieved, reportedly approaching 25 percent for various direct and indirect spend categories, as well as the process efficiencies and sourcing cycle time reductions, as key factors in its staying power with customers.
In all, more than 3,500 buyers and 23,000 suppliers in 88 countries participated in nearly 3,000 online events with Procuri's customers over the past year, representing transactions totaling in excess of $5 billion, according to the provider.
Procuri said it more than doubled its revenue in 2002 and generated cash operating profits for the year. The provider believes that the current level of prospective customer interest and pilot conversion rates will support similar revenue and earnings growth for 2003.
Looking ahead, Procuri said it would build on the latest release of its flagship solution, version 4.0 of which debuted in October, with plans to add contract management, supplier performance management and demand aggregation functionality in 2003, as well as a planned migration to Microsoft's .NET architecture.
