By the numbers: Celestica reports big gains using SaaS-enabled SC platform
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider E2open is offering a complimentary copy of a new research report out of Boston-based Aberdeen Group , titled The Secret SaaS: On-Demand Supply Chain Management .In the report, electronic manufacturing services supplier Celestica shares the details of its E2open implementation.
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Aberdeen, which surveyed more than 130 supply chain management professionals for this study, says interest in SaaS-enabled supply chain solutions is accelerating particularly among top-performing, Best-in-Class companies that are implementing SaaS solutions successfully. Furthermore, 75 percent of respondents view their use or planned migration to SaaS as a long-term solution.Case-in-point is Celestica, which deals with approximately 5,000 suppliers globally. It is using E2open’s multi-enterprise, SaaS-based platform to synchronize supply and procurement processes across its demand and supply network—and ultimately “transform” its global value network.The platform, branded LiveShare by Celestica, delivers real-time information on customer demand, and visibility into inventory data.Says Celestica Executive VP John Boucher, “[We] offer innovative and flexible solutions to our customers. Working with E2open enables us to better fulfill short supplier lead times, reduce inventory levels, and dramatically improve inventory turns—all while lowering the total cost of ownership to our customers.”Since its initial March 2007 go-live of E2open, Celestica reports these benefits:• 20-percent gain in buyer productivity and efficiency;• 50-percent improvement in reduced data latency between suppliers and Celestica;• 33-percent improvement in supplier response times;• Better data integrity;• Reduced current and forward investment in EDI;• Shortened lead times; and• Realization of industry-leading inventory turns.E2Open has since been deployed globally across all of Celestica’s mega-sites.“Now more than ever, our customers require flexibility and responsiveness,” says Celestica Supply Chain Director Jerry LaGrange. “E2open’s SaaS platform enhances our real-time collaboration with more than 1,000 suppliers, which represent 80 percent of our activity levels for purchase orders and changes, expedites, cancels, and forecasts.”According to Nari Viswanathan, principal analyst for Aberdeen and co-author of the report, “What is important about this report’s findings is that companies are now considering SaaS implementations as viable long-term solutions. Cases like Celestica’s implementation provide compelling evidence,” he concludes.
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