Online Platform Delivers Slick, User-Friendly Interface for Efficient EDI Communications
Preston, UK (7th July 2008) - Freeway Commerce Ltd, an Inovis company and specialists in EDI and e-commerce integration, today announced that the National Buying Group (NBG), the UK's largest independent group of privately owned builders merchants, has selected Spectrum Trade, an electronic trading solution designed for the building sector, to manage supply chain communications for all 68 of its members organisations across 218 locations throughout the UK.
The implementation of Spectrum Trade will bring a significant reduction in the amount of paperwork generated by NBG during the purchase order and invoicing process, as all communications will be conducted on a unified online portal. NBG's previous paper-based method created uncertainty around the integrity of data and also increased employee workload. With the rollout of Spectrum Trade, NBG's members can expect to improve productivity as well as accuracy of orders.
"As builders merchants strive to improve the level of service that they provide customers, the need for solutions that streamline and increase the efficiency of the supply chain process are vitally important," said Allan Durning, Executive Chairman, NBG. "We believe that e-based solutions will replace paper as the industry standard for supply chain communications, so we want to take advantage of a future-proof platform to ensure NBG members receive and deliver the best possible service to their customers. Spectrum Trade is the best fit to help us achieve our three-year vision to make the end-to-end supply chain process paperless, as the solution is best-of-breed and very cost-effective."
Spectrum Trade will allow NBG members to send and receive invoices and purchase orders through a user-friendly web portal simply using a standard desktop PC and Internet connection. By integrating customer orders into back-office applications, orders will no longer have to be re-keyed manually, saving time and avoiding data error.
Additionally, Spectrum Trade will provide NBG's members with the capability to automatically produce rebate analysis reports, eliminating complex manual calculations. This will ensure that members are accurately rewarded for purchasing building supplies from NBG, ultimately developing better working relationships with its customers.
"Builders merchants within the construction industry face real challenges due to the increased need for order accuracy and efficiency across the supply chain", said John Redfern, Managing Director, Inovis. "Organisations like NBG are facing these challenges head-on by implementing cost-effective EDI solutions which move away from traditional paper-based systems to simplify order processing. This allows builders merchants to increase levels of customer service and forge excellent working relationships with customers and suppliers by getting complex orders right first time."
About Freeway Commerce, an Inovis company
Founded in 1998, Freeway Commerce Ltd is based in Preston, England and specialises in EDI and e-commerce integration and enabling applications. Inovis acquired 100 percent of the share capital of Freeway Commerce, Ltd in August 2007. Together, the companies are continuing to deliver EDI and e-commerce enabling solutions as part of the Inovis Business Community Management suite to organisations across Europe.
About Inovis
Inovis is a leading provider of on-demand Business Community Management solutions that empower companies to transact, collaborate and optimize communications with their entire trading community. By standardizing and automating mission-critical business interactions, companies can dramatically reduce the complexity and cost of supply chain communication. This foundation of high-quality, reliable and secure connectivity provides real-time visibility across the order-to-payment lifecycle. The resulting actionable intelligence enables users to proactively address supply chain issues before they impact profitability, shortening cycle times, improving productivity and increasing customer satisfaction.
With more than 20 years of expertise, Inovis delivers its products and services to more than 20,000 companies over a wide range of industries and markets across the globe. For more information, visit http://www.inovis.co.uk.
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