New Case Study by Stanford University Graduate School of Business Details Successful ClearOrbit Supply Chain Collaboration
Share:
- Company's Partnership with World Wide Technology Connects More Than 1,200 Suppliers for Major Automotive OEM's Automated Materials Replenishment -
Austin, Texas - Feb. 28, 2007 - ClearOrbit ( www.clearorbit.com ), the leading provider of real-time supply chain execution and reverse logistics solutions, today unveiled a new report by Stanford University Graduate School of Business that details the successful supply chain collaboration case study produced by ClearOrbit and World Wide Technology Inc. (WWT), a leading systems integrator and supply chain solutions/logistics provider. The report, sponsored by ClearOrbit, details the companies' success in automating vendor relationships by connecting more than 1,200 suppliers for automated materials replenishment for a major automotive original equipment manufacturer (OEM). The report also discloses how the two companies reduced the automaker's spending on maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) material across U.S. and Canadian assembly plants.
The summary version of the report is available for download at clearorbit.com/whitepapers . The full copy of the report can be obtained by qualified individuals by contacting info@clearorbit.com . Additionally, ClearOrbit will host a free Web Seminar on Wed., March 7, 2007 at 2:00 p.m. EST in which Stanford University graduate student and co-author Luis Blancas will explore the key issues that enabled this successful supply chain collaboration. To register, visit clearorbit.com/web_seminar .
"This is a valuable study because it examines how manufacturers can improve visibility and process automation with suppliers, a major factor in slashing supply chain costs," said Warren Sumner, ClearOrbit vice president of Marketing and Strategy." This project delivered exemplary results in such a short timeframe, in part because of the tight linkage between ClearOrbit and the OEM's existing ERP system. This process demonstrates an important emerging trend in the software industry - adding application functionality using Web-based technologies that leverage the enterprise system of record, without the need for redundant systems."
Study Highlights:
Within ten months, more than 1,200 suppliers were live and transacting all orders on the system. As a result, fewer employees were required to maintain purchasing transactions, which provided to customers value added services and information at a deeper level than what the automaker had achieved before.
The OEM's overhead to manage vendor transactions and address order inquiries was significantly lowered. Each time WWT's enterprise resource planning (ERP) system received an order from the OEM, it took only 15 to 20 minutes - versus days before - for the corresponding purchase order to be accessed by the corresponding supplier.
With more collaborative working relationships, nonconformances (due to wrong quantities, incorrect purchase orders, and lines missing on shipments, etc.) were reduced by 10-20 percent.
The OEM benefited from early visibility on the timing and contents of the different shipments in a way that was both scalable and subject to performance evaluation.
For many suppliers, the system provided visibility over the accounts payable process, ensuring faster cash transfers with fewer time-consuming reconciliation transactions.
According to Bhavani Amirthalingam, VP of Information Technology at World Wide Technology, "We're pleased to have worked with ClearOrbit to develop an innovative collaborative process that produced tremendous cost savings and solved critical business issues, enabling our customer to more effectively compete in the marketplace. We're excited to continue our work with ClearOrbit and extend this successful collaborative formula to the high tech and telecom industries."
About WWT
World Wide Technology, Inc. is a systems integrator that provides innovative technology and supply chain solutions to the commercial, government and telecom sectors. The company brings to market a powerful blend of knowledge, infrastructure and technology to help its customers manage the planning, procurement and deployment of IT products and solutions. Based in St. Louis, the company works closely with industry leaders including Boeing (NYSE: BA); Dell (NASDAQ: DELL); Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO); Computer Sciences Corp. (NYSE: CSC); AT&T Inc., formerly SBC Communications Inc (NYSE: US:T); Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and the U.S. Air Force. WWT employs over 1200 people and operates more than 1.6 million square-feet of warehousing, distribution and integration space in 20 facilities throughout the world. For more information on World Wide Technology, visit www.wwt.com .
About ClearOrbit
ClearOrbit's real-time supply chain execution and reverse logistics solutions improve the speed, visibility, and control of extended manufacturing and distribution supply chains. Since 1994, Austin, TX-based ClearOrbit has assisted more than 275 clients in automating and controlling process execution within their extended supply networks. ClearOrbit delivers on the promise of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems such as Oracle and SAP with fully integrated supply chain execution, collaboration and reverse logistics solutions that address "last mile functionality" issues while complementing the existing infrastructure. ClearOrbit customers include market leaders such as Alcoa, Canon, Cisco, GE and Motorola. For more information, visit www.clearorbit.com .
Amanda Taylor
DPR Group, Inc.
200 Cascade Pointe Lane, Suite 104
Cary, NC 27513
P: 919-678-9200
F: 919-678-9255
Email: ataylor@dprgroup.com
www.dprgroup.com
