jhv1blz5 wrote: The article validated SOA as an IT architecture paradigm that can be leveraged in many ways. Taking data storage, scalability and application performance to a nifty level using SOA Application Grid infrastructure will no doubt enhance data and application performance on Oracle architecture platforms, it also has the promise of a cost effective and efficient IT delivery model. The very benefits of SOA.
ALAMEDA, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 03/21/07 -- GT Nexus announced today the release of GT
Nexus Trade, an integrated set of trade and financial services delivered
"on-demand" over the company's industry-backed global trade and logistics
portal. Based on a proven foundation of global supply chain integrations
and data that is already supporting thousands of customers and their
logistics providers, GT Nexus Trade gives companies, their trading partners
and their banks a single, industry-neutral platform to automate the global
"procure-to-pay" process. The new capabilities support a range of advanced
supply chain finance strategies to lower costs and improve working capital
efficiency across the supply chain.
Companies have long been forced to operate in two separate but equally
vital supply chain worlds -- the physical and the financial. But the
documents and data required to inform and automate the financial supply
chain are exactly those that are produced and exchanged by trade and
logistics partners all along the physical supply chain. This has resulted
in redundant practices, miscommunication, and working capital tied up in
centuries-old processes. GT Nexus today manages the digital flow of
documents and data that are vital to logistics and which also play a
crucial role in global payment and financing processes.
Banks especially stand to benefit from new levels of operational efficiency
by tapping GT Nexus for standardized data and documents.
"It takes a technology platform and an integrated partner network to
deliver the trade documents and data needed for broader financial control
and automation," said Paul Johnson, Senior Vice President, Bank of America
(NYSE: BAC) Global Treasury Services.
"With its proven track record in trade logistics and its integrated partner
network, GT Nexus is uniquely positioned to give sourcing, financial and
treasury services personnel a whole new level of visibility and control
over their financial operations," said Dan Riley, the former president of
Bank of America's Global Treasury Services and a current GT Nexus board
member. "That level of control can serve as the foundation for broader
automation and more innovative financing strategies to improve cash flow
for trading partners."
"We use GT Nexus to track the flow and status of purchase orders,
inventory, and shipments globally," said James Orr, Director of
International Logistics at Cost Plus World Markets (NASDAQ: CPWM), a
specialty retailer with over 290 stores in 34 states. "The data and
documents stored in the system are incredibly useful not just to logistics
but to our finance teams as well. With GT Nexus the teams get a single
version of supply chain truth, accessible immediately, over the Web."
"According to our research, the average $1 billion company can free up $10
to $40 million in cash through global trade process improvement and
automation," said Beth Enslow, Senior Vice President of Enterprise Research
for Aberdeen Group. "GT Nexus has already done the hard work of connecting
the key physical supply chain players and standardizing associated data and
documents -- so this expansion makes a lot of sense."
Importers, exporters and their banks not only speed document exchange and
presentment over GT Nexus. They can also enable a range of supply chain
financing programs that further reduce cost of goods sold (COGS),
strengthen strategic partnerships and deliver better cash flow, including:
-- Pre-shipment Financing -- or vendor financing, made possible through
clear vendor performance data and real-time visibility to purchase orders,
resulting in better access to cash for the vendor and lower COGS to the
buyer
-- Inventory Financing -- or buyer financing, made possible by better
visibility to in-transit inventory to support asset-based lending programs
-- Post-shipment Financing -- factoring or early payment discount
programs that enable better cash flow to vendors and in-exchange discounts
or extended terms to the buyer
"We spent the better part of a decade creating the industry-backed network
platform to give leading companies and their partners control over their
physical supply chains -- the flow of goods and shipments," said Aaron
Sasson, CEO of GT Nexus. "We're leveraging that same infrastructure and
many of the same services to quickly give companies visibility to and
control over their financial supply chains as well."
GT Nexus Trade services are delivered alongside the company's proven
logistics services; the services share a common partner integration and
data platform so that crucial and hard-to-get documents and supply chain
information can be shared across the many teams and functions within a
company, including sourcing, logistics and finance.
GT Nexus Trade services are in production and available today over the GT
Nexus global trade and logistics portal at www.gtnexus.com.
About GT Nexus
GT Nexus runs the world's only industry-backed, on-demand global trade &
logistics portal. Today, more than 40,000 registered users, from over
15,000 organizations use a range of capabilities on the portal to optimize
the global flow of goods and trade information from order point to final
payment. GT Nexus connects the physical and financial supply chains. This
allows buyers, sellers, banks and logistics providers to work over a common
platform with a core set of information that supports multiple trade and
logistics functions. Customers include Xerox, American Eagle Outfitters,
Procter & Gamble, Weyerhaeuser and The Home Depot. For information, visit
www.gtnexus.com.