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IBM SoftwareIBM Sterling OrderManagement drop shipcapabilitiesExpand product assortment without increasinginventory costsExecutive summaryOverviewIn this solution overview,you will learn: How to gain visibility into availableinventory and order status information How to effectively manage exceptionswith proactive alerts How to integrate business processes withall your trading partnersBenefits Increases revenue by expanding productassortment without increasing inventorycosts Reduces operational costs and shortensorder fulfillment lead time by automatingthe order processes Improves customer satisfaction with ontime delivery by leveraging real-timevisibility into available inventoryDrop shipping is a best practice many companies want to adopt.As retailers seek ways to expand product assortment without addinginventory costs, they are looking for ways for manufacturers anddistributors to drop ship directly to their end customers, in support ofinitiatives like endless aisle. Manufacturers can also benefit from dropship as it helps them to shorten order lead times by having themerchandise shipped directly from contract manufacturing companies.National account customers ask for one point of customer service, butlook for local distribution and services that manufacturers typicallydon’t provide. In spite of all the benefits, managing a drop ship programcan be a challenge when companies attempt to integrate their businessprocesses with those of their trading partners and gain visibility intoavailable inventory and order status.IBM Sterling Order Management helps enable a drop ship order hubthat allows you to effectively implement and manage order fulfillmentdirectly from your trading partners, orchestrate and automate the ordercollaboration process, while managing a network of vendors throughoutthe order-to-cash process.Visibility in real-timeLack of visibility into your supply chain can create a performance gap,whether it be visibility into order status or inventory availabilityinformation needed to be able to meet customer delivery expectations.This results in poor customer service or high inventory levels. SterlingOrder Management drop ship capabilities help enable you to gainreal-time visibility into trading partner inventory availability foraccurate promise dates and on time delivery of the order. It alsoprovides complete visibility into any part of your order lifecycle frompoint-of-sale through delivery, so you can provide timely updatesregarding order status to your customers, thereby increasing customersatisfaction levels.
IBM SoftwareEnd-to-end order collaborationEffective execution with exceptionmanagementMany organizations rely on inefficient manual processes tocollaborate between trading partners and complete transactions.Handling orders manually increases the order processing time,creates errors, and results in high per-order fulfillment costs.Enhanced integration and efficient execution of order processesdelivers significant reduction in costs and time.Sterling Order Management drop ship capabilities offeradvanced exception management capabilities and theperformance reporting necessary to eliminate fulfillmenterrors. You can enforce specific business rules and establishautomated alerts so that you can proactively monitor theperformance of your trading partner community. And whenan order problem arises, the event notification and exceptionprocess within Sterling Order Management can immediatelyalert your customer service representatives so that they canrespond properly and take appropriate action to maintaincustomer commitments.Sterling Order Management drop ship capabilitiesconsolidates orders across multiple channels and automatesthe order collaboration process across all your tradingpartners, thereby streamlining every phase of your orderprocess, including fulfillment, customer service, payment,and returns.:Sterling Order Management drop ship capabilities automate the order process between retailer and trading partner community.2
IBM SoftwareSourcing at its bestEmpower your trading partner networkAs your trading partner network grows, you need an ordermanagement solution with a capable sourcing engine that willallow you to manage fulfillment outside the four walls as wellas orchestrate the fulfillment of each order line independently.Implementation and management of a drop ship programdirectly impacts your bottom line and the customerexperience. It is important when making decisions to stayfocused on the primary objectives: effective management ofthe trading partner network and providing high-qualityservice to your customers.By leveraging Sterling Order Management’s intelligent ordersourcing engine, you can determine the most efficient andcost effective location to fulfill an order, while still meetingthe customer’s delivery date on the order. The fulfillmentoptions can be based on configurable rules that you establish,such as customer type, geographic region of the ship-tolocation or ship-to node, and item classification.Sterling Order Management drop ship capabilities help youreduce the overall cost of managing your network of drop shipvendors, provides complete order visibility, and orchestrates apreviously difficult to manage order-to-cash process withtrading partners.Connect rapidly with trading partnersRealize the benefits of a drop ship hubnowEDI communications are key for improving efficiencies andfacilitating supply chain integration. You need a soundplatform of collaborative practices in order to streamline thesystems by which you interact with trading partners – big andsmall – in your extended network.Increase revenue and improve customer satisfaction withoutincreasing operating costs by enhancing collaboration withtrading partners and automating the drop ship order process.Sterling Order Management drop ship capabilities:IBM Sterling B2B Collaboration Network provides a single,comprehensive integration platform that supports any datatype, any format, or any communication protocol, assuringdelivery while moving, securing, and managing all criticaldata. It enables you to connect rapidly with all your tradingpartners through direct connectivity. Direct connectivitymeans you can exchange data with several tradingpartners directly, regardless of the protocols (e.g. FTP,secure FTP, AS2). The Sterling B2B Collaboration Network hub provides theability to outsource some or all of your trading partneronboarding services, ongoing connectivity, and communitymanagement, enabling you to better monitor and manageyour business.3Enables inventory visibility and ordering of drop ship itemsacross channelsOptimizes sourcing via a rules-based engineExecutes and manages the drop ship order fulfillment processProvides process visibility, monitoring and exceptionmanagement
IBM SoftwareSterling Order Management Drop ShipCollaborative order managementAggregates inventory information, sources drop ship orders, and sends purchase orders to tradingpartners for fulfillment.Order sourcing configurabilitySelects fulfillment options based on configurable rules and criteria (customer type, geographic region ofthe ship-to location or ship-to node, item classification, etc).Real-time order statusProvides visibility of order shipment status in real-time starting from placement to delivery.Available-to-promise inventoryvisibilityOffers an accurate view of available-to-promise inventory including on-order, on-hand, and in-transitinventory across all trading partners.Direct connectivityEnables trading partners that are compliant with EDI or XML to receive and send transactions directly fromthe seller through a single, secure connection.Non-EDI accessWhen a portion of the supplier base does not have the technical capability to receive electronic orders andcreate the appropriate parcel labels and packing slips, a 3rd party vendor-supplied portal can be used tobridge that technological gap.Exception managementProactively monitors the trading partner community for problem orders to take appropriate action andmaintain customer commitments.Performance reportingProvides complete visibility into the performance of the trading partner community with community-basedreporting capabilities.Brand continuityEnables trading partners to comply with seller-branded labels and ship through preferred parcel carriers.Did you know IBM B2B and Commerce solutions provide secureintegration, process automation, and cross-channelmanagement to more than 30,000 customers. Our secure connectivity, integration, and process automationsolutions are used by leading companies in the retail supplychain including more than: 1,200 retailers (including all 25 ofthe top 25 retailers), 2,800 distributors, 11,000 suppliers, and9,000 carriersOur hosted integration solutions connect more than 280,000trading partners and securely connect to the customer basesof more than 90 additional networks4The most innovative retailers in the world use our crosschannel selling and fulfillment applications to redefine thecustomer experience, create unique competitive advantages,and drive operational efficiencyOnly IBM offers end-to-end, cross-channel selling andfulfillment applications; secure connectivity, integration, andprocess automation solutions; and the power of communityto instantly access a global network of tens of thousands ofintegrated, automated companies
Copyright IBM Corporation 2011IBM CorporationSoftware GroupRoute 100Somers, NY 10589USAProduced in the United States of AmericaFebruary 2012IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com and Sterling Commerce are trademarks or registeredtrademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States,other countries, or both. If these and other IBM trademarked terms are marked ontheir first occurrence in this information with a trademark symbol ( or ), thesesymbols indicate U.S. registered or common law trademarks owned by IBM at thetime this information was published. Such trademarks may also be registered orcommon law trademarks in other countries. A current list of IBM trademarks isavailable on the web at “Copyright and trademark information” at www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml.The information contained in this publication is provided for informational purposesonly. While efforts were made to verify the completeness and accuracy of theinformation contained in this publication, it is provided AS IS without warranty ofany kind, express or implied. In addition, this information is based on IBM’s currentproduct plans and strategy, which are subject to change by IBM without notice.IBM shall not be responsible for any damages arising out of the use of, or otherwiserelated to, this publication or any other materials. Nothing contained in thispublication is intended to, nor shall have the effect of, creating any warranties orrepresentations from IBM or its suppliers or licensors, or altering the terms andconditions of the applicable license agreement governing the use of IBM software.References in this publication to IBM products, programs, or services do not implythat they will be available in all countries in which IBM operates. Product releasedates and/or capabilities referenced in this presentation may change at any time atIBM’s sole discretion based on market opportunities or other factors, and are notintended to be a commitment to future product or feature availability in any way.Nothing contained in these materials is intended to, nor shall have the effect of,stating or implying that any activities undertaken by you will result in any specificsales, revenue growth, savings or other results.Please RecycleZZS03070-USEN-00
available inventory and order status. IBM Sterling Order Management helps enable a drop ship order hub that allows you to effectively implement and manage order fulfillment directly from your trading partners, orchestrate and automate the order collaboration process, while managing a network of vendors throughout the order-to-cash process.
