Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies - March 2008 - (Page 51)

ment tracking and point-of-sale. These new networks share a few attributes, says AMR. They offer a single transaction backbone. They feature common instances of software for multiple users. They provide scalable communications platforms, utilizing standard message formats. Their members share customers, suppliers and service providers. They allow for common applications to be added to the platform. Most importantly, they create a business network that includes retailers, manufacturers, logistics providers, suppliers, contract manufacturers and other channel partners. As a result, AMR says, buyer-supplier portals are finally beginning to yield the promised benefits of a decade ago: more disciplined spend, shorter lead times for orders, less wasted inventory of raw materi- als and finished product, and more efficient document flow. Portals can help to reduces prices and improve supplier quality, Barrett says, but it’s no longer a one-way street. Suppliers who fall short on key metrics might be offered guidance on how to implement quality measures. Enlightened buyers “actually help suppliers to get things on track, rather than beat them up or go to someone else,” she says. Automakers Try Covisint Covisint was one of the most ambitious attempts to create a platform that would involve multiple suppliers and buyers within a particular industry. It was launched in 1999 by six of the world’s biggest automakers: General Motors, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Nissan, Renault and Peugeot. They were seeking a central place for dealing with their armies of parts and component suppliers, representing billions of dollars' worth of spend. The effort didn’t pan out as expected. Many suppliers, especially those beyond the major Tier 1 players, declined to participate. The entity’s auction services were eventually spun off to FreeMarkets, which later became part of Ariba Inc., a vendor of spend-management software. The remaining technology went to Detroit, Mich.-based Compuware Corp., which has turned Covisint into a collaboration hub that can be applied to multiple industries. On the automotive side, Compuware Covisint serves major players such as Ford Motor Co., GM, the newly split Chrysler LLC and Daimler AG, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. GLOBAL LOGISTICS & SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES 51

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies - March 2008

Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies - March 2008 Editorial GL & SCS Exclusive FastForward Up Front The Green in Green Think Inside the Box Have a Second Look Can't Happen Here Opinion: Stay in the Black as Your Workforce Fades to Gray Opinion: Four Critical Steps to Managing Change in the Supply Chain Industry Voices

Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies - March 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.