Last checked at 
9 Apr 2009 08:00
9 April 2009
LMS Capital plc
Sainsbury's selects Wesupply to provide B2B service for 4000 suppliers
Sainsbury's has selected Wesupply, an investee company of LMS Capital, as the business-to-business (B2B) platform for connectivity to its 4,000 suppliers. Wesupply will work with IBM to provide a complete outsourced solution to Sainsbury's, and upgrade existing supplier connections to boost the visibility into, and monitoring of, critical information flows.
Sainsbury's trades electronically with most of its suppliers but uses multiple solutions. By selecting Wesupply, Sainsbury's will not only consolidate onto a single B2B platform but significantly improve visibility into critical supply chain processes. The platform enables integration with supplier back-office systems; provides checking and validation of content against business rules of all messages exchanged between Sainsbury's and suppliers and will generate alerts in the event of errors or delays. This additional visibility benefits both Sainsbury's and its suppliers by streamlining the exchange of orders, shipping information and invoices in support of the delivery of product from supplier to distribution centre or store.
The Wesupply platform operates on the IBM e-business HostingTM infrastructure. IBM will manage the implementation and maintenance of the service, while managing the migration of suppliers onto the system.
"Sainsbury's has been a long-term user and proponent of electronic trading with suppliers and by selecting Wesupply and IBM will upgrade and extend this capability for the benefit of both Sainsbury's and its suppliers," said Tim Goalen, Director of Supply Chain Operations, at Sainsbury's. "As part of the Sainsbury's 'real-time supply chain' initiative we are seeking to transition all of our suppliers onto Wesupply's innovative trading network."
"We're delighted to have been chosen by Sainsbury's for this important project" said Bob Godfrey, CEO of Wesupply, "our on-demand solution will provide Sainsbury's with a single platform for all of its suppliers while reducing the burden of supporting supplier integration in-house." Justin Suter, Retail Supply Chain Leader, IBM Global Business Services commented, "The IBM and Wesupply solution meets Sainsbury's complex supplier communication requirements in a cost-effective way and also provides the foundation for future supply chain initiatives."
Suppliers will have the ability to exchange data with Sainsbury's automatically, using electronic data interchange, or manually using a web browser, all via the Wesupply platform. The platform will also enable suppliers to check the status of specific messages, as well as manually submit shipping information (ASNs) and print barcode labels to attach to shipments. Sainsbury's will use Wesupply as a management dashboard for key performance indicators relating to the order-to-cash cycle.
Martin Pexton, Managing Director of LMS Capital and non-executive director of Wesupply, commented: "This is a significant step forward in the growth of Wesupply - selection by such a successful retailer as Sainsbury's provides a strong endorsement of the product. We have supported the development of Wesupply for a number of years and look forward to further success."
For further information please contact:
| LMS Capital plc Robert Rayne, Chief Executive Officer Martin Pexton, Managing Director Tony Sweet, Chief Financial Officer | 020 7935 3555 |
| J.P. Morgan Cazenove Limited Michael Wentworth-Stanley | 020 7588 2828 |
| Brunswick Group LLP Simon Sporborg Leonora Burtenshaw Oliver Hughes | 020 7404 5959 |
| Wesupply Nicola Cowling | 01628 817982 |
About LMS Capital
LMS Capital plc is an independent investment company whose shares are traded on AIM. The investment portfolio comprises investments in both the US and UK, with a spread of early stage and second round technology investments, development capital and mature company buy-outs.
www.lmscapital.com
About Wesupply
Wesupply provides business-to-business integration and supply chain collaboration solutions for retailers and manufacturers. Unlike supply chain software companies Wesupply recognises the importance of technically integrating companies with all of their supply chain partners. Unlike traditional B2B integration providers, Wesupply has the supply chain expertise and the on-demand software functionality to directly measure and improve supply chain performance.
www.wesupply.com
For more information on IBM visit www.ibm.com/retail
For more information on Sainsbury's visit www.sainsburys.co.uk and corporate website
www.j-sainsbury.co.uk