EDI for a trial run
Survey by indatex / Crossgate during the 7th Annual Meeting of Automobile Suppliers / 75 percent say ‘Yes’ to synergies of B.I.P.™
Starnberg, 7 June 2006 — EDI with a safety net: a third of the companies in the automotive industry are currently looking for alternatives in B2B telecommunications in line with that motto, a survey of almost two hundred participants in the 7th annual meeting of automobile suppliers on 12 May 2006 showed. An existing telecommunications network such as the Business Integration Platform™ (B.I.P.™), with 30,000 business partners connected, makes a substantially better and faster contribution to reducing costs. For that reason, 75 percent would like to rely on potential synergies from this EDI solution.
Using EDI, administrative costs can be lowered, and processes improved considerably – there is no doubt about that. Yet the degree of market penetration is relatively small, and this is due above all to the high costs of internally hosted EDI software applications. But high investments for procurement and linking up with new partners can be avoided with networks such as B.I.P.™. In that case, fees only have to be paid for the documents actually transmitted. In this way, even a step-by-step introduction of EDI pays – whether with suppliers, partners, or logistics service providers.
More than 90 per cent of those surveyed would like to reduce costs, speed up logistics processes, and increase their competitiveness with EDI. Almost 40 per cent advocate connecting up to B.I.P.™, and thus being able to communicate immediately with more than 30,000 business partners, while over 30 per cent would rather use the network on a trial basis at first. So pilot-scale tests are very popular, showing the companies’ demand for more investment security with respect to EDI.
95 per cent of those surveyed are convinced that the B.I.P.™ network will be a success, due to the proven synergy effect, and that it could be used in their own company, too. “An idea alone is not enough to survive on the market. But the results of this study have shown once again that the Business Integration Platform™ meets the demands of practice fully. The joint, transaction-based approach is welcomed,” Stefan Tittel, Managing Director of indatex SCI GmbH/Crossgate, explains. Thanks to the new financial involvement of the family of Dietmar Hopp, founder and major shareholder of SAP, the network is also being promoted vigorously internationally. “In the medium term, our goal is a market share of 25 per cent in the EDI business,” says Tittel.
Selected Customers
