`Source-to-Sale` Solution Offers Integrated, Automated Supply Chain, Warehouse and Order Management Capabilities
CHICAGO, May 24, RETAIL SYSTEMS CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION -- Sterling Commerce, one of the world`s largest providers of multi-enterprise collaboration software and services, today unveiled the first end-to-end solution designed to holistically manage the entire retail fulfillment process -- from source to sale. Announced at the Retail Systems Conference & Exhibition, the Sterling Commerce retail solution is a combination of supply chain, warehouse and order management applications obtained through the acquisition of Yantra in December 2004, and Gentran Integration Suite, the Sterling Commerce B2B integration platform. The solution features integrated functionality that empowers retailers to enhance the customer experience, reduce labor and inventory costs, and create new revenue-generating opportunities through the use of a single platform.
"Leading retailers understand that the supply chain does not end until the product is in the customer`s hands, they are looking to take a more holistic approach to their operations to maximize customer satisfaction," said John Stelzer, director of industry development at Sterling Commerce. "Sterling Commerce is meeting the needs of these forward-thinking retailers by offering a full range of solutions that provides an unsurpassed combination of supply chain, warehouse and order management functionality. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, these agile solutions provide retailers with means for continually innovating and adding new capabilities that will allow them to create sustainable competitive advantage."
The Sterling Commerce retail solution combines the company`s acclaimed B2B platform with Yantra`s innovative retail applications to create an integrated solution designed specifically to foster multi-enterprise collaboration and address business challenges faced by retailers. Key functionality includes:
* Customer Order Management -- enabling in-store pick up of online sales, eturns management from cross-channel sales, cross-channel order visibility, and delivery and service scheduling
* Enterprise Selling -- offering store-level inventory management and global inventory visibility to prevent lost-sales due to stock-outs
* Networked Warehouse Management -- providing centralized management of a diverse network of fulfillment and distribution facilities
* Supply Chain Execution -- for managing purchase order life-cycles, supplier performance, invoice creation and fulfillment, in-transit iventory visibility, and global data synchronization.
Because the combined Sterling and Yantra products are designed to easily integrate with existing applications and infrastructures, retail customers are able to leverage their existing software investments, or alternatively, replace legacy applications in a modular fashion. In addition, the flexibility of Sterling Commerce`s service-oriented architecture allows retailers to select solutions that best address existing needs, while offering the capability to add additional modules as business requirements change. This flexibility presents a distinct advantage over typical packaged applications that force changes in business practices or are unable to adapt quickly to the changing needs of retail businesses.
"The real opportunity for retailers centers on deploying a flexible, demand intelligence platform that provides the granular insight into future consumer purchase behavior," said the AMR Research "Retail Industry Outlook: Better Demand Data and Store Execution Create a Superior Shopping Experience" by Scott Langdoc(1). "What will clearly set future retail leaders apart from the more passive, traditional retail laggards is the ability to transform this conceptual approach into reality -- a set of processes and systems that drives consistency in store execution, blending price and promotional actions into supply chain strategies and extending the planning horizon all the way from the supplier`s factory to each shelf in the store."
About Sterling Commerce
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 - News), 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 http://www.sterlingcommerce.com.
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