Success Stories

Activant Trading Partner Connect Reduces Manufacturer's Transaction Costs

Rick Nowlin, industrial distribution and marketing manager for Norton Abrasives, a subsidiary of Saint-Gobain Abrasives, knows that in order to succeed, manufacturers must cooperate with their distributors. "Manufacturers and distributors must work together in the future in order to be successful, and Activant's Trading Partner Connect provides an efficient means to do just that," he says.

Activant Trading Partner Connect is an Internet trading network engineered to streamline the commerce process between distributors, their manufacturers/suppliers, and end-users, thereby increasing sales and improving customer service while reducing operating costs.

Saint-Gobain Abrasives is the world leader in abrasives featuring Norton, Carborundum, Winter, Merit, and many other brands. A $28 billion company based in Paris, it is ranked among the top 150 industrial companies in the world.

Nowlin says that Saint-Gobain Abrasives and Norton first became aware of Trading Partner Connect when several of their distributors and manufacturer members of Trading Partner Connect recommended that they join. "They knew we were looking for ways to reduce transaction costs and streamline processes," says Nowlin, who is also a member of the Industrial Supply Manufacturers Association's e-commerce committee. "Trading Partner Connect enables us to have a direct connection with our distributors, giving them the ability to order directly from our ERP system. At the same time, Trading Partner Connect allows us to integrate with the distributor's system, allowing us to share information that will enable us to operate more effectively."

As a manufacturer, Saint-Gobain Abrasives will be able to offer distributor members several of Trading Partner Connects' capabilities, including Real-Time Availability Lookup, which reduces time-consuming price and availability calls; and Supply Chain Collaboration, which will allow members to view distributor data to gain important sales and manufacturing information.

Nowlin says that Trading Partner Connect provides something that has been missing from the supply chain: "This will reduce transactional costs and save both of us - manufacturers and distributors - money and time. And, in the long run, this is what will drive market share."

For more information on Activant's enterprise software solutions, please fill out our Web Contact Form.

Back to Top