E-sourcing application upgrades from FreeMarkets Inc. and Zeborg Inc. let companies more easily manage online procurement, according to officials from the two developers.
FreeMarkets today introduced QuickSource 4.0, which enables companies to expand their market reach through added capabilities for handling multiple languages, multiple currencies and customized time zones, according to officials in Pittsburgh.
The multi-language feature allows sourcing professionals to negotiate online in multiple languages, simultaneously. The three languages available now are English, French and German.
With the multi-currency feature, suppliers can submit bids in more than 175 currencies using QuickSource, and buyers can view online bides in the currency of their choice.
Likewise, participants in the same online market can view market information in any global time zone, regardless of their location, using the customizable time zone feature.
Separately, New York-based Zeborg also today announced ExpenseMap 3.0, which provides expense analytics capabilities. The upgraded software captures spend data from dozens of financial and purchasing systems, pin-pointing excess spend, according to officials.
Key features of ExpenseMap 3.0 include an analytics application that considers “rogue” spending and supplier compliance.
With Zeborgs classification technology, companies can get a comprehensive picture of overall spending. The classification application uses a rules engine to build data relationships and analyze millions of transactions to create both company-wide and departmental-level spending profiles.
The latest version of ExpenseMap also offers a supplier relationship evaluation capability whereby companies can evaluate the best suppliers for specific purchases based on criteria like supplier credit risk and performance ratings.
Companies can also use ExpenseMap to consolidate disparate procurement information, say after a merger or acquisition.
Both FreeMarkets QuickSource 4.0 and Zeborgs ExpenseMap 3.0 are available now.
Related stories: