Will cut procurement costs for major organisations in Australia/New Zealand and worldwide
Sydney, Australia — Corporate Express, the largest contract supplier of business products and services in Australia, and SAP, the leading supplier of inter-enterprise software solutions, announced today that they have partnered to provide a business-to-business electronic procurement service via mySAP.com. The service is available today for SAP and Corporate Express customers in Australia and will soon be available in New Zealand.
Designed using open, industry standards, mySAP.com combines content, community, collaboration, and commerce. Customers, employees, suppliers and business partners work together in one virtual business environment, as if they were all one company. mySAP.com customers benefit from expanded markets, reduced transaction costs, global sourcing, market transparency, lower costs of sales and lower costs of collaboration.
As part of the mySAP.com initiative, Corporate Express can sell its office products and furniture, computer equipment and software, and its services such as promotional services and print and forms management, to any company around the world. The existing Corporate Express NetXpress Internet catalogue currently has 17,000 users and supports more than 1,000 transactions per day, making it the largest transacted business-to-business site in Australia. In addition, the mySAP.com Marketplace links seamlessly to the existing NetXpress service, taking the service to an even wider business community by directing connecting it to thousands of SAP users in Australia and New Zealand.
“Our involvement in mySAP.com strengthens our position as the largest single source supplier of indirect purchases of office supplies in Australia,” said Ted Nark, managing director of Corporate Express. “By integrating our logistics and fulfilment systems with mySAP.com, we are experiencing increased efficiency and reduced cost. After taking an order, we can deliver it complete to customers within 24 hours, 98% of the time. This gives us a significant competitive advantage in the market and greatly benefits the end customer.”
“Asia Pacific enterprises are challenged to meet global market standards of operational efficiency across their supply chain and in their customer relationships,” said Pascal Grant, national e-commerce manager, SAP Australia and New Zealand. “Through mySAP.com, we bring the strengths of SAP and our business partners together to turn internet promises into profit for everyone involved.”
To further strengthen its leadership in collaborative business solutions, SAP has created a new subsidiary – SAPMarkets – to develop, market and operate globally interconnected business-to-business Internet marketplaces. SAPMarkets, which SAP expects to be open for business in May 2000, will consolidate all of the current mySAP.com Marketplace efforts to provide customers with the technology and cross-company integration expertise they need to bring marketplaces to fruition at Internet speed. SAPMarkets will be responsible for all existing and new vertical and horizontal marketplaces.
About Corporate Express
Corporate Express Australia’s strategy is to allow its customers to outsource non-production goods and services they require for the office and to help them simplify their procurement process to reduce their total costs of doing business. Listed on the ASX under the code ‘CXP’, Corporate Express has annualised revenues in excess of AUD$450 million and employs 1,050 staff located in 20 state-of-the-art sales and distribution facilities situated throughout Australia and New Zealand. The company’s NetXpress II system is Australia’s largest transacted business-to-business Internet ordering site with annualised sales exceeding AUD$90 million.
