Flextronics Seeing Supply Chain Gains

Supply chain software firm SeeCommerce will announce today that it has signed on electronics manufacturing giant Flextronics as its latest customer.

Flextronics is using SeeCommerces software to sift through massive volumes of data related to its purchasing practices, to find instances when contract arrangements are not being met.

Dale Tate, finance director of Flextronics global procurement division, said that because of the size of the companys operations – it operates more than 100 plants in a dozen countries – it is difficult to ensure that all purchasing agreements are being adhered to by suppliers. “We literally have a blizzard of data to go through and maintain,” Tate said.

With the help of SeeCommerces software, the company is sifting through that data to find exceptions. For example, when a parts supplier does not supply the right quantity of materials, or doesnt charge the right price, the instance can be identified and acted upon.

“Were expecting a pretty high rate of return on our investment, somewhere in the order of millions of dollars.” Tate added. He would not say how much the company has spent on the installation.

The capabilities of the system are also being passed on to suppliers, which can use the software to make sure that their component suppliers are adhering to pricing agreements and keep adequate inventories. Flextronics users and authorized suppliers access a data warehouse in San Jose, Calif., and SeeCommerce query tools through a secure Web site.