CombineNet E-Sourcing Customers Increasingly Look at Supplier Capacity to Reduce Supply Chain Risk

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- CombineNet, Inc., the leading provider of best-in-class e-sourcing technology, today announced that in nearly every online sourcing event run through the CombineNet ASAP® product, customers were leveraging its unique supplier capacity capabilities to reduce supply chain risk. CombineNet ASAP's ability to collect and analyze a supplier's capacity up front to meet a buyer's demand across multiple items and delivery locations helps to reduce the risk of supply disruptions and improves supplier collaboration.

CombineNet ASAP is a SaaS solution used by organizations to conduct online sourcing events across all spend categories. A key differentiator of CombineNet ASAP is Expressive Bidding®, which enables buyers to collect and analyze an unlimited amount of price and non-price information from suppliers. The collection and analysis of supplier capacity enables suppliers to express capacity commitments and constraints on the volumes they can provide for buyers, whether across each item at each location or for all items simultaneously.

CombineNet ASAP goes beyond the approach of traditional e-sourcing technologies, which have little or no ability to analyze the impact of a supplier's capacity to deliver products or services on the buyer's award strategy. Without this ability, buyers may over-award business to suppliers that cannot meet the total demand, causing supply chain disruptions and delivery shortfalls. CombineNet ASAP can collect and evaluate a supplier's actual capacity on multiple levels, allowing the buyer to ensure adequate supply for each item and each location.

In a review of sourcing events conducted with CombineNet ASAP in the first ten months of 2011, CombineNet found 97 percent included the evaluation of supplier capacity before finalizing their sourcing decisions. The almost universal inclusion of supplier capacity indicates that CombineNet customers leverage the solution to mitigate supply risk by ensuring that suppliers have the ability to provide the materials and services needed at the right place and time.

"CombineNet introduced Expressive Bidding to the market, so that buyers can gather more comprehensive information from suppliers, including creative bids, that help inform better sourcing decisions. The ability to analyze capacity considerations across multiple factors provides a significant advantage in risk management and supply chain performance, " said Rich Wilson, CombineNet president and COO.  "The knowledge that our customers are using CombineNet ASAP to evaluate capacity across all the diverse areas of spend confirms that the right technology is a key enabler for taking enterprise-wide sourcing to the next level."

To learn more about capacity collection and Expressive Bidding in CombineNet ASAP, please visit: http://www.combinenet.com/our-product/expressivebidding.aspx.

About CombineNet

CombineNet, Inc. is the award-winning advanced sourcing technology company. CombineNet's ASAP product (Advanced Sourcing Application Platform) is a best-in-class Software as a Service (SaaS) e-sourcing solution that helps customers deliver the absolute best total cost of goods and services based on their unique business needs.  CombineNet ASAP is used to speed, simplify, optimize and centralize the sourcing of any and all spend categories from global suppliers: direct and indirect materials, all modes of transportation and services. In its 11 years in business, CombineNet has a proven track record of driving significant bottom-line and productivity savings for its clientele.  www.combinenet.com

SOURCE CombineNet, Inc.