Measurable benefits and highly usable products win supply chain application vendors exclusive agreements, especially in the auto industry. Those seem to be the lessons learned in today’s deal between Covisint and SupplySolution.
The software firm SupplySolution, Inc. today said it signed an exclusive provider agreement with Covisint, the e-business exchange for the automotive industry.
Under the agreement’s terms, SupplySolution’s infrastructure and applications will be “made available to all current and future Covisint customers worldwide.” The agreement also states that the two companies will co-develop future supply chain logistics.
“SupplySolution’s service offerings are quick to deploy and easy to use. Measurable benefits in inventory reduction and associated costs are visible within 90 days,” said Chris Steele, Supply Chain Lead, Covisint.
According the the company, SupplySolution’s supply chain execution applications provided three benefits Covisint really liked: real-time direct material fulfillment, a 2-week implementation time, secure data flow to any system, and real-time messaging and transaction management.
How did this software firm get an exclusive contract in this no-bid, no-competition deal?
It literally had its “foot in the door” since the company’s “i-Supply” application is used by 750 automotive supplier companies for direct material fulfillment. But a source close to the deal says that alone did not win them the contract.
Since the auto suppliers who use the applications found them highly usable (translation #1: little or no learning curve, hence, no training costs) and “they worked” (translation #2: no vaporware), they recommended it to Covisint, who quickly adopted it.
SupplySolution appears quite happy with the new business. Said SupplySolution President and CEO Chris Moritz, “This is our
company’s most significant agreement to date. We see exceptional market
potential in extending these offerings to Covisint’s customers.”
SupplySolution’s offerings will be available immediately to all Covisint
customers on a subscription basis. Terms are not available.
Covisint, LLC is a global, independent e-business exchange developed
by DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, Nissan, Renault, Commerce One and
Oracle.
