PLANO, Texas – EDS and CROSSMARK announced an alliance to launch the industry’s first complete solution addressing the growing costs associated with managing and delivering information between consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers and their trading partners.
Through this new arrangement, EDS brings clients new functionality and integration through its Trade Optimization Services offering, including the areas of data cleansing and normalization, data warehousing, data synchronization, electronic cataloging, order processing, deduction management and the digital collaborative supply chain.
“The foundation of electronic collaboration is synchronized data. And when all players work from the same playbook, the entire industry will score big,” said Chris Sellers, global leader, Consumer Industries & Retail, EDS. “UCCnet, along with the support of retailers like Wal-Mart, Wegmans and Shaw’s, is writing that playbook and defining the path to true collaboration. EDS and CROSSMARK help clients take that first step toward collaborative commerce by becoming UCCnet compliant.”
This solution will allow CPG manufacturers, regardless of size, to immediately extract value from the digital supply chain. Specifically, EDS’ E.business Exchange (EBX) will incorporate the retailer-based, transactional rules engine owned by CROSSMARK’s eXchangeBridge, a web-based order management and data-mining portal, to help clients process orders and track promotional compliance more efficiently, while minimizing costly deductions.
Manufacturers can expect to realize a 1 to 3 percent reduction in supply chain costs by focusing on synchronizing compliant data.
The new relationship bridges EDS’ global business consulting services and application integration capabilities with CROSSMARK’s channel expertise and order management services.
“The alliance combines world-class sales and customer service with world-class IT outsourcing to address a timely industry challenge,” said Joe Crafton CROSSMARK’s senior vice president of strategic alliances. “At the lowest cost, companies must seek affordable solutions that enable them to quickly and effectively transform product data into electronic form and exchange accurate item information and transactions.”
EDS Trade Optimization Services provides an affordable platform for enterprises to meet the global IT standards associated with EDI, XML, AS2, Web services, J2EE, Microsoft .NET and security. EDS, leveraging its globally redundant and reliable infrastructure, will host this platform and provide companies with a quality solution that was formerly cost prohibitive.
As a leading IT Services provider in the consumer and retail industry, EDS focuses on a variety of market segments including retail outlets covering mass/department, grocery, drug, convenience, online/catalog and specialty retailers, consumer products manufacturers including apparel/footwear, food/beverage and restaurants.
With the signing of this alliance, EDS expands its global leadership in deploying technology for consumer industries and retail industries. Of the top 25 global retailers, 18 are EDS clients. More than 4,000 EDS employees provide solutions for consumer industries and retail clients worldwide.
CROSSMARK is a professional business services company providing members of the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry with integrated solutions in the areas of sales, marketing, merchandising, technology and supply chain optimization. Additional information is available at http://www.crossmark.com
EDS, the premier global outsourcing services company, delivers superior returns to clients through its cost-effective, high-value services model. Learn more at http://www.eds.com.
