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Verical purchasing tool cuts sourcing time
San Francisco, Calif. — Verical, Inc., an online outlet for electronic components, has launched DemandMatch, a bulk parts search tool that matches open requirements with available supply automatically. The new tool matches open requirements generated by planning systems with available supply at www.verical.com, then returns the matched lists via email to the buyers responsible for purchasing the components.
DemandMatch automates the workflow for sourcing time-critical components that can’t be obtained through the primary channel. Verical says it will dramatically reduce the time it takes buyers to procure parts “on demand,” cutting sourcing time from hours or days to minutes.
“Parts shortages are weekly, hair-on-fire problems for EMS companies,” said Chris Cookson, vice president of operations for Verical, in a statement. “When a production line goes down, it can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per day in lost revenue and market share. Worse still, if orders are perishable then each lost sale impacts the bottom line at the gross margin level.”
Cookson says EMS companies typically spend one to ten percent of their total material spend filling shortages by sourcing from the secondary market, while buyers typically spend over 40 percent of their time sourcing the 1 percent of the parts they purchase to cover shortages.
“If our automated tool can enable buyers to get parts in the air two days earlier than through a manual sourcing process, we’ve reduced their risk considerably. Their lines stay up, penalties are avoided, and they can deliver their finished products on time,” Cookson says.
The DemandMatch process begins when Verical receives an electronic requirements report from the planning systems of participating OEM and EMS companies. These lists may be submitted in any electronic format, including industry-standard protocols such as RosettaNet, web services, XML, cXML, xCBL or EDI. Buyers can also upload lists directly to the Verical website by registering and then clicking on the “Buyer’s Workbench” tab.
After the requirements list is submitted to Verical, DemandMatch automatically generates match lists and segments them by buyer. The individualized match lists are subsequently emailed to each buyer. Each email includes hyperlinks that navigate users to matches in the Verical outlet. Buyers can review the matches against their open requirements, select the parts they wish to buy and check out.
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