IBM announced it has signed a five-year agreement with Sainsbury's, to transform the retailer's supply chain network. IBM will help Sainsbury's further enhance its customer experience by implementing new systems which aim to heighten stock availability for customers.
The new IBM solution, which is based on the Wesupply network and visibility application, aims to provide an effective platform to help Sainsbury's and its approximately 4,000 suppliers find smarter ways of managing overall supply chain performance to support the continued growth of the business.
With large stores offering around 30,000 products, the IBM solution will allow Sainsbury's to monitor the status of orders across its entire network and manage the availability of products. The Wesupply service will allow information flows to be streamlined and greater visibility of real-time supply chain performance will be provided to heighten stock control.
"To support our continued growth, we were looking to enhance our collaboration with suppliers without a significant increase in cost, while continuing to introduce greater intelligence into our supply chain," explained Tim Goalen, of Sainsbury's. "With a thorough understanding of the solution and services required, and after a detailed review of the market, we chose the IBM and Wesupply solution."
IBM will provide business consulting services to manage the establishment, implementation and maintenance of the Wesupply services which are designed to meet the requirements of a large supplier network such as Sainsbury's. IBM will then manage the migration of suppliers onto the systems, providing Sainsbury's with enhanced communication across its network. As part of this migration, Sainsbury's will be transitioning its EDI VAN service to Inovis. With hundreds of Sainsbury's suppliers already using Inovisworks, the VAN service fits very well within the IBM solution.
"Visibility of stock and collaboration with suppliers are key aspects of Sainsbury's vision of success, making the transactional platform a critical element of their operation," said Justin Suter, Retail Supply Chain Leader, IBM Global Business Services. "Utilising its retail expertise IBM is committed to working with Sainsbury's to achieve this vision and develop smarter solutions that benefit the continued growth of its business."
"We're delighted to be part of the solution and providing Sainsbury's with the tools to enable increased visibility with suppliers," added Bob Godfrey, CEO, Wesupply.
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