News

Prophet 21 Internet Trading Network Becoming Industry Standard

Source: Industrial Distribution, August 23, 2002

Trading Partner Connect, an Internet trading network that streamlines the commerce process between distributors, their manufacturers/suppliers, and end-users, has processed more than $46 million in transactions since its introduction in April 2001.

"The success of Trading Partner Connect has surpassed our expectations," said Chuck Boyle, Prophet 21 president and CEO. "With more than 150 distributor members and 12 manufacturer members, it is rapidly becoming the e-commerce standard in the distribution industry."

In addition to trading inventory between their distribution partners, distributors are taking advantage of Trading Partner Connects' ability to reduce their dead stock. Currently more than 24,600 distinct items at a value of more than $2.5 million are posted on Trading Partner Connect.

"We have posted and sold some of our dead stock through Trading Partner Connect," says Roxanne Mueller, controller of Herlache Industrial. "We look forward to more distributors joining the network and establishing trading relationships with them."

"One area that we have seen significant and immediate improvement since joining Trading Partner Connect is with our relationships with our manufacturers who are also members," continues Mueller. "We electronically send purchase orders and electronically receive invoices, saving us time and money."

Among the Herlache's manufacturer partners is 3M, one of several manufacturer members of Trading Partner Connect. According to Jim Hunt, industrial markets business development manager at 3M, the company currently has 35 distribution partners with whom they conduct electronic data interchange (EDI).

An additional 20 distributors have the ability to look up price and availability information through Trading Partner Connect.

"Trading Partner Connect has had a positive impact on our relationships with our distributors," says Hunt.

With manufacturers starting to require distributors to submit orders electronically or lose discounts, Trading Partner Connect has proven to be of outstanding value. To date, more than $45.6 million in 42,500 invoices have been processed over Trading Partner Connect.

For more information or to become a member of Trading Partner Connect contact info@p21.com or 1-800-776-7438, ext. 3120.

About Trading Partner Connect

Trading Partner Connect streamlines the commerce process between distributors, their manufacturers/suppliers, and end-users, thereby increasing sales and improving customer service while reducing operating costs.

Distributors benefit from dead stock reduction, lower EDI VAN costs, and access to a rationalized catalog of millions of items, enabling them to compete on a larger scale and improve customer service. In addition, distributors may connect with other purchasing platforms and trading communities through Trading Partner Connect.

Distributors may also develop Web sites to give their customers on-line customer service and ordering capabilities 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Manufacturers/suppliers benefit as well, by improving their ability to interact with distributors and more accurately predict consumer usage of their products.

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