Launch of B2B e-Commerce Initiative
Unilever PLC/
Unilever NV
3 March 2000
UNILEVER LAUNCHES B2B E-COMMERCE INITIATIVE ON ARIBA PLATFORM
Unilever, the global consumer products company, and Ariba, Inc.,
the leader in business-to-business (B2B) eCommerce solutions,
today announced that Unilever will use the Ariba B2B eCommerce
platform to create global economies of scale and supply chain
efficiencies with its suppliers via the Internet.
Unilever, which sells such brands as Pond's, Dove, Lipton and
Magnum, will initially use the Ariba platform in the non-
inventory and other indirect expense areas. Savings are expected
to result from both aggregated company-wide buying power and
commerce process efficiencies. Unilever expects to use the Ariba
platform to help improve management of its worldwide purchases
from thousands of suppliers.
According to Rudy Markham, Unilever's strategy and technology
director, the Ariba agreement is part of the company's Path to
Growth strategy. 'The Ariba solution will be a vital tool in
building global buying networks to ensure greater efficiency and
effectiveness in our entire supply chain,' he said. 'This is a
part of the major purchasing initiative announced by Unilever
last September.'
'We are excited to have been chosen by Unilever as a strategic
B2B partner as part of the Path to Growth strategy,' said Larry
Mueller, president and COO at Ariba. 'Ariba's leadership in all
phases of B2B eCommerce, coupled with Unilever's senior
management commitment to leverage Ariba's eCommerce solution
across multiple divisions, will result in Unilever achieving a
significant competitive advantage.'
'To have a world class supply chain we must have a highly
efficient and effective system for all our purchasing needs,'
said Charles B. Strauss, President, Unilever Home & Personal Care
- North America. 'The Ariba solution provides an extremely user
friendly commerce environment and can easily be updated to
reflect changing market conditions.'
According to Strauss, every Unilever employee involved in buying
items from office supplies to pumps and motors will be able to
select from a catalogue of previously agreed sources at volume-
negotiated pricing. They will find this web-enabled system
creates clear and timely information for buying, eliminates
paperwork, and significantly simplifies the total procurement
process.
'Through this alliance with Ariba, we are creating a system that
will allow Unilever to consolidate purchasing volume to enhance
scale for us and our suppliers. In addition, this new system
will enable us to drive out non-value-added costs, guarantee
quality merchandise and create automatically the information base
to manage these materials. It offers us a fully integrated
system,' Strauss said.
The Ariba solution will be deployed throughout Unilever's two
business groups headquartered in North America: Foods - North
America and Home & Personal Care - North America by the end of
2000. The initial implementation is expected by June in a select
number of Unilever facilities representing a cross-section of
disciplines: headquarters, research and development and
manufacturing. A global roll out will start in 2001.
The Ariba B2B eCommerce platform, including the Ariba ORMST B2B
procurement solution and Ariba Network commerce services, helps
companies realize greater economies of scale and commerce process
efficiencies, resulting in lower costs and competitive advantage.
The Ariba solution provides companies with a B2B eCommerce
infrastructure that electronically aggregates corporate
purchasing from each employee desktop and directs spending
through the Ariba Network to preferred suppliers and B2B
marketplaces for higher-volume prices.
The intranet-based Ariba ORMS B2B procurement solution provides
seamless access to Ariba Network commerce services that can drive
cost savings while also speeding time-to-benefit. Ariba Network
services provide a single point of integration with business
suppliers and efficient trading mechanisms such as reverse
auctions, auctions, electronic payments and streamlined
transaction services.
About Unilever
Unilever is one of the world's largest consumer products
companies with sales in excess of $45 billion. It produces and
markets a wide range of foods, home and personal care products.
Unilever operates in 88 countries around the globe and employs
255,000 people.
About Ariba, Inc.
Ariba, Inc. is the leading provider of B2B services and solutions
to leading companies around the world, including more than 15 of
the Fortune 100. The company delivers an open, end-to-end, best-
of-breed platform of interoperable solutions to build B2B
marketplaces, manage corporate purchasing, and electronically
enable suppliers on the Internet. Together, Ariba's Internet
services and software integrate commerce processes of B2B
marketplaces, buyers, suppliers and commerce service providers to
create global economies of scale for all participants. Ariba can
be contacted in the U.S. at 650-930-6200 or at www.ariba.com.
-o0o-
3 March 2000
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