GCommerce has launched its Virtual Inventory Cloud technology, which automates parts availability inquiries from wholesalers and retailers to manufacturer and suppliers through a cloud network.
According to GCommerce, the technology can speed the special order cycle, in some cases from 15 minutes to 15 seconds.

GCommerce says parts inventory will eventually exceed 9 million parts with millions of queries each day. VIC's current virtual inventory consists of more than three million active parts in the cloud across more than 10 market segments.

Integrated Supply Network (ISN) did not have an automated model for special orders before adopting VIC.

"Now with VIC, we will see a 100 times return on our investment, by creating an end to end special order process with a one-tenth the people, at one-tenth the cost in one-tenth the time," said Pete Weber, managing partner at ISN. "We see a huge cost and economic advantage of utilizing a seamless platform to match demand without incurring huge capital outlays."

VIC serves as an electronic bridge between wholesalers/retailers and manufacturer/suppliers, giving the buyer visibility to inventory available from existing suppliers.

"With the enhanced visibility of inventory, quality and supply capability enabled by the cloud, we expect increased industry sales at lower cost with less waste across the entire automotive aftermarket and multi-industry supply chains that rely on a distribution model for goods and services," said Steven Smith, CEO, GCommerce. "For most manufacturers, 80 percent of orders generate only 20 percent of sales revenue, but represent 80 percent of operational costs. VIC changes that math. VIC automates the incoming order at the point of origin where the inquiry is made, putting the entire parts industry inventory at the resellers fingertips, sales up, costs down."

The GCommerce VIC solution is built upon the Microsoft Windows and SQL Azure platforms.

More info: www.gcommerceinc.com