Family Dollar Extends Supply Chain Collaboration with Sterling Commerce
"Our success is based on helping value-conscious families meet their basic shopping needs. To do this we need a strong relationship with our suppliers to ensure that we can manage our inventory to keep the prices low and the right products in stock," said Vikas Wali, Director of e-commerce for Family Dollar.
Using Sterling Commerce solutions, Family Dollar has a strong, collaborative supplier management program with a high 96 ppercentage of business documents exchanged electronically with its merchandise suppliers.
When the company needed to expand its e-business activities to include XML translations and AS2 communications, Family Dollar again looked to Sterling Commerce and its Gentran Integration Suite. Gentran Integration Suite is a modular solution designed to allow an incremental progression from basic supply-chain transactions management to more sophisticated business integration as needed, making business process technology migration less disruptive and more ROI-friendly.
"One of our most pressing needs was to expand our direct AS2 Internet connections with our direct-store-delivery and other higher transaction vendors," said Wali. "The modular nature of the Sterling Commerce software allows us to do this and plan for other supply chain collaboration initiatives."
"Sterling Commerce has the two key ingredients that Family Dollar requires from solution partners. The first is solid retail industry offerings and a market leadership position to prove these solutions work," said Sam Starr, president and CEO, Sterling Commerce. "The second is long-term stability from a company that has been around the business integration industry for more than 25 years."
Family Dollar
Family Dollar Stores, Inc. operates a rapidly expanding chain of more than 5,000 stores in 43 states ranging as far northwest as North Dakota, northeast to Maine, southeast to Florida and southwest to Arizona. For more information, visit http://www.familydollar.com
Sterling Commerce
Sterling Commerce, a wholly owned subsidiary of SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC), is one of the world's largest providers of business integration solutions. For Global 5000 companies and their customers, suppliers and partners, Sterling Commerce software and services help maximize business performance and improve business metrics through integration of applications, external partner systems and people. With more than 25 years of experience serving more than 30,000 customers in a vast range of industries, Sterling Commerce is a recognized pioneer in electronic commerce through its longstanding expertise in EDI. Today, as customers explore new ways to improve business performance via the Internet, Sterling Commerce continues to innovate its software and services to further the global adoption of e-commerce while offering its customers strategic solutions that leverage existing technology. For more information, visit www.sterlingcommerce.com
SBC Communications Inc. (www.sbc.com) is a diversified communications company, owning several of the world's leading data, voice and Internet services providers. Through world-class networks, SBC companies provide a full range of voice, data, networking and e-business services, as well as directory advertising and publishing. A Fortune 30 company, SBC Communications Inc. owns America's leading provider of high-speed DSL Internet Access services and one of the nation's leading Internet Service Providers. SBC companies currently serve 55 million access lines nationwide. In addition, SBC companies own 60 percent of America's second-largest wireless company, Cingular Wireless, which serves more than 24 million wireless customers. Internationally, SBC companies have telecommunications investments in 26 countries.
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