Indesit consolidates electronic trading globally on GXS

Carlo Cingolani, supply chain information technology manager at Indesit, explains that the company, which had built up what it describes as "a patchwork quilt" of nationally-based EDI networks, wanted a single pan-European EDI infrastructure. GXS was already successfully operating in Indesit's UK market, which was running the largest and most advanced B2B electronic trading infrastructure. The new consolidated EDI network is now being used throughout Europe – including Eastern Europe – to send orders, invoices and delivery notes to Indesit's principal customers, such as retailers, online stores and catalogue firms. Cingolani believes that to be competitive, companies must be innovative, which also means focusing on more advanced solutions to become as efficient as possible. "Hence the decision to consolidate our EDI infrastructure onto GXS Trading Grid," he says. "Before that, we had too many local systems, leading to duplication of effort and unnecessarily high maintenance costs. "We now have completed the consolidation process and this improved efficiency in our business throughout Europe and beyond. Key benefits are improved performance since we are no longer reliant on different solutions, and cost savings in maintenance."