New Global Pricing Tools Enrich APEX Analytix Purchasing Platform

GREENSBORO, N.C., Jan. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- APEX Analytix today announced the general availability of FirstStrike® Purchasing Release 10, a software platform used by global shared service centers and procurement organizations to halt overpayments, detect pricing errors, analyze spending and improve procure-to-pay processes.  Release 10 includes powerful new pricing tools designed to eliminate "leakage" and help companies maximize savings from their strategic sourcing initiatives.

A 2010 benchmark study by Aberdeen Group indicates that an enterprise conducting a strategic sourcing initiative will typically identify cost savings of more than 5 percent.  But nearly half of those savings are never realized – due to process and technology gaps and related issues.

"Savings 'leakage' is especially problematic for large global companies working across multiple markets and currencies," says Steve Yurko, CEO of APEX Analytix.  "In our experience, pricing errors can account for ten times or more the leakage uncovered by traditional recovery audits.  Most ERP platforms and legacy systems are unable to monitor purchases across multiple currencies and ensure a company realizes the savings it has negotiated with suppliers.  It can be a big-ticket problem that warrants correction."

Release 10 of FirstStrike® Purchasing enables companies to capture a higher percentage of savings and make a positive impact on their bottom line. They can easily and effectively monitor pricing trends and changes, missed discounts and price-related overpayments for goods, parts and materials purchased across suppliers, across multiple countries and currencies.  

In addition, the enhanced software includes new tools for analyzing spending by commodity, merchandise category, vendor and item group. The FirstStrike® desktop has been redesigned to highlight potential overpayments identified by the software and to display pricing trends and analytics in easy-to-read charts and graphs. 

Part of a Complete Software Suite

FirstStrike® Purchasing is part of a complete suite of software solutions designed by APEX Analytix for Global 1000 firms.  Client companies report more than $2 billion in documented savings to date – often realizing a total return on their investment within days or weeks of adding FirstStrike® to their operations.  

In addition to FirstStrike® Purchasing, platforms offered include:  FirstStrike® Accounts Payable for identification of overpayments and better management of the payment cycle; FirstStrike® Retail for the unique purchasing and recovery audit needs of the retail industry; and FirstStrike® Fraud Detect for identification of high-risk vendors, potential fraudulent transactions and possible employee collusion.  

Companies who choose to safeguard their operations with FirstStrike® have a number of options for doing so. They can schedule an APEX Analytix audit powered by FirstStrike®, license the software or use it over the Web as a managed service.  

About APEX Analytix

APEX Analytix helps companies unlock their potential by maximizing their profitability and safeguarding disbursements globally.  Our innovative people, processes and technology have transformed the audit recovery industry – led by FirstStrike®, our family of standards-based software.  For more than 15 years, FirstStrike® has been used by some the largest accounts payable teams on the planet to detect and prevent errors, halt fraud in its tracks and improve procure-to-pay performance.  APEX Analytix also is the world's leading provider of recovery audit and risk analysis services for the manufacturing, retail, government, services, healthcare and insurance sectors, where we help firms recapture lost profits and protect trillions of disbursements each year.  For more information, visit www.apexanalytix.com or call 800.284.4522.

SOURCE APEX Analytix