New Sterling Commerce Product Helps Companies Optimise Their Supply Chains To Improve Productivity

Monday, 22 October 2007 05:04

Sterling Commerce, an AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) subsidiary, today announced the availability of Sterling Inventory Replenishment, a new product in the Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Suite.  The new product enables companies to create a truly collaborative replenishment process with their customers and suppliers, which is a critical component of lean-inventory strategies.  


Key inventory strategies, such as lean manufacturing, vendor-managed inventory (VMI) and Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR), are difficult to execute because there’s a lack of visibility of trading partner information and the development of joint plans and forecasts is labour-intensive. Sterling Inventory Replenishment plays a key role in reducing the complexity and effectively executing these strategies by creating a collaborative environment for inventory planning that:

• Analyses daily inventory and sales information.
• Automates the purchase order generation process.
• Delivers an optimal inventory plan with the capability to execute upon the plan.

Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Suite provides unlimited visibility and control across an organisation’s sales and fulfillment operations and enables companies to create a superior buying experience for their customers while shielding them from the complexities of the companies’ organisation, channels and supply chain.   

“Slow communication and a lack of visibility into supply and demand drive up costs and contribute to poor customer service.  It affects retailers and manufacturers alike and results in product stock-outs, high inventory levels and reduced capacity utilisation and order-fill rates,” said Michael Vulcan, managing director, Sterling Commerce Australia & New Zealand. “Sterling Inventory Replenishment leverages our expertise in supply-and-demand visibility and automated collaboration to solve a complex problem, and that makes it a valuable addition to the Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Suite.”

About Sterling Commerce
Sterling Commerce, a subsidiary of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), helps 80 percent of the FORTUNE® 500 thrive in a global economy by solving complex process integration challenges. The company's innovative software and services integrate customers' systems -- inside and outside the four walls of the enterprise -- so companies can conduct business without borders.  Sterling Commerce solutions help customers adopt best practices in e-sales, supply chain execution, payment processing and business-to-business integration. The solutions also give executives and front-line managers greater visibility inside and outside the enterprise in order to improve profitability, reduce costs and minimise risk.  Sterling Commerce enables businesses to innovate key processes in real time, while continuing to deploy ERP or transaction system infrastructures.  With more than 30,000 customers worldwide, Sterling Commerce has unparalleled experience in retail, consumer packaged goods, manufacturing, financial services, supply chain, logistics, and telecommunications. More information on Sterling Commerce can be found at www.sterlingcommerce.com.au.