SPS COMMERCE ACQUIRES FOURTHCHANNEL
Contacts:
Amy Spychalla
SPS Commerce
(651) 603-4400
aspychalla@spscommerce.com
Derek Lyons
Sterling Hager
(617) 926-6665, ext. 265
dlyons@sterlinghager.com
-- Agreement Further Expands the Industry`s Leading Supply Chain
Services Suite to Include SMEs` Customers in the Electronic Supply
Chain--
St. Paul, Minn., October 29, 2002 - SPS Commerce, the leading Supply
Chain Integration Service provider, today announced the acquisition of
fourthchannel, a provider of product and order management services for
suppliers, manufacturers and distributors of small and mid-sized
enterprises (SME). SPS will utilize fourthchannel`s services to enable
SPS` current SME clientele with a mechanism to electronically integrate
their smaller customer`s orders into their back-end systems. The new
offering will extend the capabilities of SPSCommerce.net to include
every member of the small customer`s supply chain - from the largest EDI
capable customers to the smallest customer with only a PC.
Over the past few years, SPS` SME customers have migrated from being
reluctant participants in electronic commerce to avid supporters. SMEs
have witnessed first hand the benefits of e-commerce, escaping the time
and labor-intensive processes of mail, phone and fax through SPS` hosted
Internet solution. Now SMEs are looking to leverage their investment
and success with SPS to expand integration with their entire customer
base, further streamlining operations, increasing productivity and
improving cost savings.
"Early on, SMEs selected an electronic supply chain solution solely to
meet the EDI compliance requirements of a large customer," said Archie
Black, CEO of SPS Commerce. "These days, SMEs are selecting solutions
based on what provider can link their solution to multiple customers
with a suite of services that extends their investment beyond just EDI
compliance with their largest customers. The acquisition of
fourthchannel will allow SPS Commerce to provide an important
value-added service that our customers are now demanding."
Founded in 1997, Columbus, OH-based fourthchannel specializes in
electronically automating relationships between small and mid-sized
businesses. They provide a number of services designed to improve
communication and commerce between a small or mid-sized business and
their customers. These services allow complete management and real-time
status of various business functions, including customer account data,
product data, inventory and order status and payment status. This
offering will help SPS` customers extend their existing back-end
integration with 11 SME applications to now include electronic order
management with non-EDI capable customers.
"We have been extremely impressed with the improvements in our business
processes due to our investment in e-commerce services," said Randy
Carr, President of World Emblem International. "Moving forward, we want
to maximize our investment and continue to reap those benefits. This
offering from SPS Commerce will help us accomplish that goal while
improving our relationship with our customers."
About SPS Commerce
SPS Commerce is the leading provider of hosted Supply Chain Integration
Services. The Company specializes in managing trading partner enablement
and management programs to increase the depth and/or breadth of
integration with trading partners -- especially small and mid-sized
partners. Our solution has helped key enterprises, including over 70
large retailers, electronically enable and integrate over 40,000 small
and mid-sized trading partners into their e-supply chain. For more
information, visit the Company at www.spscommerce.com or call (651)
603-4400.
SPS Commerce is a registered trademark of SPS Commerce Inc.,
spscommerce.net and the SPS Commerce logo are the property of SPS
Commerce, Inc. All other names and trademarks are the property of their
respective holders.
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