Computerworld - Rodger Hurst knew his company didn't have time to develop and test a Web-based inventory management system for its supply chain. So he rented it. The information services manager at $4.1 billion Autoliv Inc. in Stockholm had been the product control manager at plants in Indianapolis and Madisonville, Ky., before moving into IT at the world's largest maker of auto safety restraint systems. That hands-on operations work gave him real insight into how the company's supply chain operation could improve.
One of his first moves late last year was to enhance communications between Autoliv and its hundreds of suppliers by adopting the hosted i-Supply Service from SupplySolution Inc. in Southfield, Mich. Because SupplySolution was a start-up, founded in 1999, Hurst also knew it was important to give the company a serious test.
"We linked up 12 of our vendors to i-Supply—our six best and six worst—to see if operations would improve," he recalls.
The net result? "We no longer had to send faxes or make phone calls. No more finger-pointing or claims that this person or that one did not have the information," Hurst says.
What’s the edge? Addresses supply chain execution in manufacturing supply chains to increase their efficiencies.
Since the successful dry run, Hurst estimates that i-Supply has helped cut premium freight costs for Autoliv's Midwest plants by an astounding 92%, and inventory levels have fallen by 32% because plant managers immediately know where parts are in the supply chain and how long it will take for them to arrive. The enhanced communications make it less likely that inventory managers will be caught flat-footed without necessary inventory on hand, so they won't have to rush parts to their stockrooms.
In addition to the benefits of SupplySolution's outsourced software, Hurst says, "another advantage of working with a small company is that they respond quickly to change requests."
The need for responsiveness is a recurring theme. Users working with start-ups focused on operations technology are seeking more than a top-notch help desk or service organization; they want to interact with company leaders personally.
What’s the edge? Enables companies and their trading partners to use a single platform to procure, execute, monitor and reconcile freight services.
Charley Eisele, vice president of strategic planning and administration at transportation giant Union Pacific Corp. in Omaha, says that before his company's executives embraced a supply chain logistics application from San Carlos, Calif.-based Arzoon Inc., they got to know the young company's leaders. Eisele says Union Pacific uses Arzoon's software to show shippers the options they have in delivering goods, including the economic benefits of using railroads.
"We naturally had a shared belief in the vision of the technology and the value that it would provide our customers," he says. "But we were also very impressed with the management team, in particular [Arzoon's] CEO."
Farid Dibachi has more than 20 years' experience working out logistics problems as co-founder and chief technology officer at Menlo Park, Calif.-based Diba Corp., a network appliances company bought by Sun Microsystems Inc., and as a former Hewlett-Packard Co. executive. His background, Eisele says, mitigated the company's youthfulness and helped encourage Union Pacific's adoption of LIFE, Arzoon's software.
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