Detailed information on each individual item, with net prices and real-time stock information

It takes quite some effort to set up an internal product catalogue in your own ERP system. In addition to the actual product information you also need product classification to enable you to search for the product you want.

Prices have to be requested from the supplier and uploaded to the internal database. It is also useful to be able to give the stock status of an item, if available.

Once it is set up, these data will have to be constantly updated.

Obsolete product and price information will continually result in extra work for the entire organisation, in the way of wrong deliveries, invoices that do not tally will the original order and returns, for example.

One department within the company may consider ordering by telephone not only quick and efficient, but also cost saving; another may see it as counterproductive and therefore more expensive.

Electronic catalogues at TradCom contain as much product information as possible, in many cases including extensive product descriptions, photographs, technical features, minimum order quantities, packaging sizes, UNSPSC and e-class codes and so forth.

Product prices are not uploaded to the TradCom platform. If a search command is executed within a particular product group, at the same time a request is sent to the ERP system of the supplier for this product group for a current, customer-specific price. The prices can be displayed customer specifically, as each user has to log in using an individual user name and password.

Together with the price, the current stock level is also called up and displayed.

This answers many questions suppliers are frequently asked, such as “Can you supply this product?”, “What is your price to us?” and “How many pieces do you have in stock?”

Providing this information at all levels within the organisation not only prevents unnecessary errors at the beginning of the purchasing cycle, but also enables a more systematic approach. Improving the systematic approach prevents urgent deliveries. Being able to draw non-critical and non-strategic MRO items directly from the supplier’s stock means the internal MRO stock can be reduced. The practice of keeping large stocks of non-critical MRO items in house comes from uncertainty regarding product availability and unnecessarily long turnaround times between request and delivery.