Walnut Creek, CA May 3, 2001 BD (Becton, Dickinson and Co.), a manufacturer of medical devices, supplies and systems, plans to use online auctions to source direct and indirect materials, according to an announcement today from eBreviate, which will provide the e-sourcing tools for the auctions.
Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based BD is a $3.6 billion medical technology company that manufactures and sells a range of devices, supplies and systems for use by healthcare professionals, medical research institutions, industry and the general public. BD signed the one-year agreement with eBreviate following a series of pilot auctions.
"Online auctions bring many benefits to our category management program," said David Malpiedi, vice president of company operations for BD's procurement team. "Because our pilot online auctions from eBreviate were so successful, we decided to award eBreviate a one-year contract so that we can offer this tool to a large number of category managers," he said.
The categories under the new contract are expected to include a variety of materials, for both direct and indirect materials, and production and capital commodities, and be run in coordination with company category managers and purchasing executives from locations such as Franklin Lakes, N.J.; Plymouth, England; and Madrid, Spain.
"eSourcing tools like auctions allow European businesses to embrace technology and the spirit of competitiveness in new and successful ways," said Chris Shanahan, director of the company's European purchasing team. "We are embracing the opportunity to use the auction tool in 2001 so that we are ahead of the curve."
Among the auctions expected are pan-European auctions for direct- and indirect-spend materials.
The addition of BD as a client marks an extension of eBreviate's customer base, according to Sarah Pfaff, executive vice-president of sales, marketing and strategy for eBreviate, which is a division of EDS.
Pfaff, interviewed at the Ariba LIVE users conference in Las Vegas this week, said that early adopters of e-sourcing technologies came primarily from the automotive and consumer products manufacturing worlds, where slim margins make online auctions and negotiations an attractive tool for cutting costs. Recently, however, eBreviate has been signing up customers in the retail sector, such as Home Depot, as well as the utilities and financial services sectors.
