EDS, CROSSMARK Alliance make collaborative commerce affordable

EDS and CROSSMARK today 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 Optimisation Services offering, including the areas of data cleansing and normalisation, data warehousing, data synchronisation, electronic cataloguing, order processing, deduction management and the digital collaborative supply chain.

"The foundation of electronic collaboration is synchronised data. And when all players work from the same playbook, the entire industry will score big," said Chris Sellers, global leader, Consumer Industries and 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`s 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 minimising costly deductions. Manufacturers can expect to realise a 1% to 3% reduction in supply chain costs by focusing on synchronising compliant data.

The new relationship bridges EDS`s global business consulting services and application integration capabilities with CROSSMARK`s channel expertise and order management services.

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"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 Optimisation 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/catalogue 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.