GAITHERSBURG, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 8, 2002--
Reverse auctions over the Internet have enabled GXS's global customers
to reduce the price of goods and services procured by 7% to 39%
GE Global eXchange Services (NYSE: GE), a leader in business-to-business Internet commerce, today announced that customers using its reverse auction tools have collectively saved more than $200 million though price deflation on goods and services procured during the first quarter of 2002.
Reverse auctions hosted by GE Global eXchange Services (GXS) have enabled customers based in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. to achieve cost reductions between 7 and 39 percent, compared with traditional procurement methods.
IMC Global, a manufacturer of agricultural fertilizers and animal feed ingredients, has used GXS's reverse auction tools for the procurement of materials and services used in its mining and processing operations across several U.S. states and Canada. "We have found GXS to be an effective, low cost tool to supplement our strategic sourcing activities," said Paul McCann, IMC Global's director of purchasing. "GXS has helped us to streamline the request for proposal portion of our vendor selection process and the auction events hosted by GXS have had impressive results."
A majority of General Electric businesses use GXS-hosted reverse auctions through the GE Global Supplier Network (GSN). "Using online auctions we see cost savings between 7 and 9 percent," said Lee Garbowitz, manager with GE's Corporate Initiatives Group. "Our experience has been that these auctions turn every user into the world's best negotiator."
GXS's hosted reverse auction tools - available commercially as part of the company's Source-to-Pay Services portfolio - support additional capabilities such as electronic requests for proposal (RFP), and electronic requests for quotation (RFQ). The Source-to-Pay portfolio is designed to help buyers and suppliers reduce costs and improve efficiencies throughout the supply chain.
Buyers and suppliers can access GXS's portfolio of applications though a Web browser and then conduct reverse auctions online for the procurement of a variety of products and services.
Britvic, a manufacturer of soft drinks in the U.K., achieved 38 percent savings using the GXS reverse auction tools. "We work very hard to drive cost efficiencies in our supply chain. GXS helped us to drive these efficiencies even further. We are saving hundreds of thousands of dollars by using these tools," said Richard Trayler, e-procurement development director at Britvic.
British Standards Institution (BSI) achieved rapid return on investment and significant cost savings using GXS-hosted reverse auctions. "We were up and running within 6 weeks and we made our investment back in the very first auction," said Mark Slater, group purchasing manager of BSI. "Using traditional sourcing techniques we may have expected to see in the region of 10 percent reduction on communications services and 6 per cent on capital equipment purchases. In the e-auctions we actually achieved over 17 percent and 13 percent respectively."
In addition to supporting reverse auctions, RFPs and RFQs, GXS's Source-to-Pay Services capabilities include materials planning between buyers and suppliers, automatically turning purchase orders into invoices, and payment tracking. GXS also provides transaction, integration and community enablement services for businesses of all sizes.
Additional information about GXS's Source-to-Pay Services can be found at: http://www.gxs.com/gxs/solutions/solution/sourcetopayservices
About GE Global eXchange Services
GE Global eXchange Services (GXS) operates one of the largest B2B e-commerce networks in the world, with more than 100,000 trading partners. The network's 1 billion annual transactions account for $1 trillion in goods and services.
With a presence in 58 countries, GXS applies Six Sigma quality processes to provide e-commerce solutions that help businesses around the globe remove costs from their supply chains. GE Global eXchange Services is a part of the General Electric Company, U.S.A., and is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md. Call (800) 560-4347 or visit our Web site at www.gxs.com.
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CONTACT:
GE Global eXchange Services, Gaithersburg
Jim Fowler, 301/340-5875