Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is Expressive Commerce?

A: Expressive Commerce is an advanced sourcing framework in which more open communications between buyers and suppliers results in a more collaborative marketplace—and better results. Through Expressive Commerce, buyers are empowered to provide more information about their sourcing needs, constraints and preferences; in the same system, suppliers are encouraged to provide Expressive Bids that better meet the needs of both the buyer and supplier, driving greater efficiency and innovation into the supply chain.

Q: What is ASAP?

A: ASAP is CombineNet's Advanced Sourcing Application Platform. Built around a proprietary combinatorial optimization engine, ASAP allows companies to reap the benefits of Expressive Commerce. Whether delivered as a category specific product (e.g. Truckload Manager) or as a fully custom project-based solution, ASAP features our unique Expressive Bidding^® and Scenario Builder^SM features. ASAP is delivered On-Demand, as a Web-based application that is accessed via a standard desktop computer from anywhere in the world.

Q: What are the differences between ASAP's category-specific sourcing products and custom sourcing projects?

A: ASAP is the platform upon which all of our products and custom sourcing projects are built and managed. The difference is in the amount of customization and the timeframe involved.

Our advanced sourcing products, such as Truckload Manager, combine years of best practices developing and executing custom truckload transportation sourcing projects. Truckload Manager packages most of the features and functionality we've built into custom projects in an easy to use, self-service sourcing product that can be populated with your organization's lane information, business rules and preferences, and begin collecting bids within days. Truckload Manager has significantly more flexibility and configurability than other sourcing tools in the market, and is a product that most of our clients can use for their most complex North American truckload transportation sourcing events.

Custom sourcing projects, on the other hand, are better suited to sourcing and supply network design projects that require the highest level of flexibility and customization to meet your organization's most unique needs. Custom sourcing projects are also built on ASAP using our Custom Event Manager to organize the event and decision models to your special requirements. While not as quickly implemented as our sourcing products (typically requiring a 2-4 week development cycle), custom sourcing projects are absolutely the most flexible solutions available for your sourcing and supply network design needs.

Q: What factors besides price can be included in evaluating bids during a sourcing event?

A: CombineNet ASAP gives sourcing teams the ability to analyze and evaluate virtually any constraints and business rules they wish to include in the sourcing process. This enables them to analyze the sourcing event beyond the lowest-cost bid. To date, we have been able to model and analyze every constraint and business rule required by our customers, as long as supporting data was available to structure the data model. ASAP has solved problems with constraints ranging from completely unconstrained events to events with nearly 200,000 constraints. Some common factors used in evaluating scenarios in sourcing events include but are not limited to:

Analyzing cost tradeoffs
Valuing incumbency
Approving or rejecting new suppliers or transportation carriers
Assigning minority business spend
Reviewing transportation carrier/supplier service ratings
Understanding capacity constraints
Evaluating transit time change
Assessing multiple-year agreements
Comparing payment terms
Considering transportation lane or item capacity splitting
Matching individual items or transportation lanes to specific suppliers

Q: How much can I expect to save by using ASAP? What rate of return can I expect?

A: On average across all spend categories and industries, users of CombineNet ASAP experience savings in the 10-15% range; many have experienced far greater.

However, actual savings are completely dependent on the item, good or service being sourced, when it's being sourced and the client's industry. For example, in the transportation sector, rates are expected to increase by 5-10% over last year's rates. Therefore, many of our clients are using our advanced sourcing technologies to mitigate this cost increase. That said, many of our clients are still achieving cost savings on their transportation buys of 1-5%. Savings of even 1 or 2% instead of an increase of 10% can mean tens of millions of dollars added to the bottom line.

Other spend categories are not seeing the rate increases that transportation is forecasting. Packaging, for example, continues to be a category in which our clients are experiencing significant returns, many averaging 25% or more in savings, some as high as 45%, due to the efficiencies and innovation enabled by Expressive Commerce.

The key to sourcing in today's market is ensuring that you are receiving the best value. Expressive Commerce, implemented through ASAP, is the absolute best way to receive your supplier's best offers and identify the optimal award scenarios to meet your organization's goals.

Q: Who are CombineNet's clients? In what industries?

A: Fifteen of the Fortune 100 and more than fifty Global 1000 companies have used CombineNet's advanced sourcing technologies. Most of our clients prefer to remain anonymous to retain the competitive advantage provided by our tools. Our customers are leaders in the following industries:

Consumer Packaged Goods
Global Food Manufacturers
Retail
Industrial
Healthcare
Government
Technology

Q: I've already invested in an e-Sourcing system. Why do I also need CombineNet ASAP?

A: Basic e-sourcing platforms work reasonably well for simple sourcing events, but larger spends are usually more complex because of the number of business requirements, suppliers and potential award options. CombineNet ASAP can handle this complexity more comprehensively, quickly, and easily than basic e-sourcing platforms. Additionally, ASAP can interact with most systems (XML in/out, comma delimited, CVS, MS Excel) to complement your existing e-sourcing platforms with optimization capabilities. Using ASAP along with your existing e-sourcing platform enables you to expand the applicability of your e-sourcing platform for both simple and complex spend categories.

Q: What kind of training do I need? Is the system difficult to use?

A: One of the benefits of CombineNet ASAP is the ease of use. ASAP was designed to be used by non-technical businesspeople. Users access ASAP from standard desktop computers over the Internet, similar to using a Web browser, making it simple, straightforward, and intuitive to use. Training for buyers and suppliers is typically accomplished in less than a day.

Q: Do I need IT approval and/or IT resources to use CombineNet?

A: Generally not. CombineNet ASAP is delivered via an On-Demand, web-based application service provider (ASP) model that can be accessed and run from any Internet-connected desktop computer. Because it is accessed over the Internet, this ASP model does not affect a corporation's IT infrastructure. Licensed users and approved suppliers can log in from anywhere in the world, 24 x 7, allowing distributed teams to work collaboratively and efficiently, without IT support.

Because ASAP is also available via an enterprise-wide license for unlimited use, some of our customers invite their IT departments to evaluate our technologies for security and integration purposes. And because ASAP can read and write data to and from most systems (XML in/out, comma delimited, CVS, MS Excel), corporate IT departments find that integration with most third-party applications, such as Ariba, SAP, Oracle, and others, is a non-issue. As such, ASAP is being deployed easily and effortlessly by some of the largest enterprises in the world.

Q: How does CombineNet ASAP integrate with other applications?

A: CombineNet ASAP works with virtually any data collection system ensuring that your accumulated data can be easily and quickly integrated. ASAP can read and write data to and from most systems (XML in/out, comma delimited, CVS, MS Excel). ASAP can also work with most third-party ERP platforms such as SAP, and Oracle, as well as application specific solutions from third parties such as e-sourcing tool vendor Ariba.