News

Special for: Just in Time, May/June 2002

For years, distributors have concentrated on using technology to reduce operational costs, improve customer service, and grow sales. The focus had been on how to do this within the walls of their own businesses. Distributors lacked the ability to impact the commerce processes between them and their suppliers, their customers, and even with other distributors.

Then, about two years ago several IDA members got together with Prophet 21 to figure out a way to harness the power of the Internet to streamline commerce processes for distributors.

This was the birth of Trading Partner Connect, an Internet trading network. Trading Partner Connect helps streamline the commerce process between distributors, manufacturers, and end users. It has since been helping all trading partners increase sales and improve customer service while reducing operating costs.

One of the biggest benefits distributors have discovered about Trading Partner Connect is how it enables them to reduce their dead stock. "For years, distributors have been unable to properly deal with the issue of dead stock," says Lee Eagan, Jr., chairman and CEO of Oliver Van Horn Inc., LLC, based in New Orleans, LA. "With the advent of Trading Partner Connect, we are able to have identified for us items that are 'dead' at our company, but are actively moving at other distributors in the country. With an estimated 20 to 25 percent of many distributors' inventory dead, or not moving, this is a tremendous resource that will, in part, re-capitalize and reenergize the industry. Having already sold dead inventory utilizing Trading Partner Connect, I am excited about this opportunity."

In addition to dead stock reduction, distributors benefit from lower EDI/VAN costs, and access to millions of items, enabling them to compete on a larger scale and improve customer service. With Trading Partner Connect, distributors can source items from their distribution partners right from their enterprise solution's Order Entry screen in seconds while the customer is on the line, rather than put them on hold or call them back minutes, or even hours, later.

"Trading Partner Connect allows your order desk people to access inventory of other distributors while they are talking to their customer," says Bill Derville, president of General Tool and Supply in Portland, OR. "In less than a minute, inventory can be located all over the country for the exact item you are looking for, and you will know the price each distributor would charge you. You can order it on line without ever calling or faxing the other distributor. For them it is an EDI order that takes minimum handling."

Distributors may also deploy a B2B Seller Web site offering on-line customer service as well as ordering capabilities, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. End users can view their account history and research products at their convenience.

Not only do distributors' relationships with their customers benefit, but their relationships with manufacturers do as well. Manufacturer members of Trading Partner Connect can provide improved customer service to their distribution partners. "Trading Partner Connect enables our distributors to view our inventory. We don't have to re-key orders into our solution, and we can provide more timely invoicing without using faxing or standard mail. By utilizing technology, we've added consistency to our list of differentiators from our competition," explains Tony Stayman, vice president of sales and marketing for Arc Abrasives.

Membership in Trading Partner Connect currently includes more than 125 distributors and 15 manufacturers, and continues to grow every month. "Trading Partner Connect provides a unique opportunity for distributors to reduce excess inventories while at the same time providing customers with a broader selection of goods. No one has ever had that capability before," concludes Derville. "Customer, distributor, and manufacturer all win."

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