COLUMBUS, Ohio--Aug. 1, 2005--Sterling Commerce, the multi-enterprise collaboration company, today announced the immediate availability of Sterling Customer Order Management and Sterling nWMS-Distribution solutions, the industry`s first packaged composite applications (PCAs) designed to accelerate revenue growth for enterprises along the retail value chain.
Facilitating rapid implementation and time-to-value, the process-centric PCAs deliver pre-configured capabilities to optimize the complex processes associated with multi-channel order management and multi-facility distribution environments, yet ensure flexibility to adapt to varied customer-specific business rules.
"We are facilitating Multi-Enterprise Collaboration by enabling participants across the retail value chain to effectively synchronize processes, information and systems across multiple facilities, channels, fulfillment and service partners," said Sam Starr, CEO of Sterling Commerce. "Our announcement of these applications demonstrates Sterling`s rapid progress in leveraging and integrating the combined Sterling and Yantra strengths and technology offerings as they exist today, moving toward a unified platform for multi-enterprise computing in the future."
Sterling`s first version of its Customer Order Management PCA allows enterprises to capture, manage and coordinate the fulfillment of customer orders across a multi-channel (Web, call center, store, etc.), multi-enterprise supply chain environment. It provides a single point of visibility, and a single solution to enable an "order from anywhere, fulfill from anywhere" strategy for multi-channel customer management. Sterling`s nWMS--Distribution PCA helps manufacturers, distributors and other enterprises intelligently and efficiently sell and distribute finished goods to the retail market by improving inventory management, compliance and process coordination across multiple facilities.
"The PCAs are unique in that they leverage both component-based application services and a service-oriented business-process platform to deliver readily deployable solutions for revenue-accelerating initiatives that retailers are pursuing," said Scott Pulsipher, vice president of product management, applications for Sterling Commerce. "They provide an "off-the-shelf" solution to ensure rapid time-to-value for the customer, while not sacrificing the desired configurability and flexibility for seizing future growth opportunities." Pulsipher was formerly vice president of product management for Yantra Corporation.
"Sterling`s strategy is well founded, setting the bar for future needs of managing dynamic trading communities by combining infrastructure and applications (a.k.a. applistructure) to improve the traditional forms of intercompany collaboration," said Eric Austvold and Jeff Hojlo in the May 2005 AMR Research report, "Applistructure for the Trading Community--Sterling Commerce`s MESA Strategy."
Accelerating Retail Growth Initiatives
The Sterling Customer Order Management PCA is targeted at major retailers or distributors that are selling direct to consumers utilizing channels such as call centers, the Web or kiosks. It offers such enterprises a pre-configured solution for managing the various fulfillment processes associated with revenue-generating strategies, such as bundled products and services, in-store pick-up, vendor drop-ship and multi-stage fulfillment. The solution enables greater customer satisfaction with on-time, accurate fulfillment, while improving operational efficiency, increasing order accuracy and on-time performance, and allowing more effective inventory sourcing and management. As the first pre-configured packaged composite application, it is simple to use and set up, requiring less time to "go live." As a result, it reduces the investment required to implement and integrate with legacy applications reducing cost and providing more immediate value to customers.
Pioneering Next-Gen Network-centric Warehouse Management Approach
Sterling`s first version of its nWMS-Distribution PCA is geared toward manufacturers and distributors that sell finished goods to the retail market. With its unique network-centric warehouse management approach, the nWMS-Distribution PCA offers these enterprises a highly configurable and flexible solution to improve inventory management and distribution operations across multiple, varying facilities in demand-driven supply chain initiatives.
Based on a business-user context instead of a technology context, networked facilities allow distributors to introduce new functionality and technology to its business ecosystem faster and more cost effectively. Organizations with large-scale distribution centers can use the Sterling nWMS-Distribution PCA as a single solution to configure all of their facilities into a single environment but have the flexibility to only use the capabilities and components necessary for the specific operation of each facility. This differs from most warehouse management solutions that require significant implementation each time a new warehouse is added making changes costly and time intensive.
About Sterling Commerce
Sterling Commerce acquired Yantra Corporation, a leading provider solutions for supply chain fulfillment, in December 2004. The year 2005 marks 30 years of Sterling Commerce leadership and expertise in extending processes beyond the edge of the enterprise to enable visible business with suppliers, customers, partners and employees. A wholly owned subsidiary of SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC), the company is one of the world`s largest providers of multi-enterprise collaboration solutions. With more than 29,000 customers worldwide, Sterling Commerce builds collaborative, multi-enterprise communities for customers in the retail, consumer packaged goods, manufacturing, financial services, healthcare and telecommunications industries. For detailed, up-to-date information about Sterling Commerce and its solutions, visit www.sterlingcommerce.com.
CONTACTS:
Sterling Commerce
Bill Hankes, 614-791-6437
Lois Paul & Partners
Mike Antonellis, 781-782-5832
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