White Paper: Turning Visibility Into Value

By Arigo

OBM is a collaborative, web-based system that integrates a set of business practices from within a sourcing solution, or ecosystem, and automates manual and multi-step processes for optimal efficiency. The technique can be thought of as traditional back-end batch processing – pushed to the front-end user experience. The benefits of OBM are profound. Instead of being limited to traditional exception alerts and task-based workflows, which do little more than inform the user of milestones after they have been missed, OBM provides focus on potential issues – before they happen.

OBM improves operational productivity and efficiency by reducing and/or eliminating the number of steps in a user's business process flow. Initiatives are completed faster, more thoroughly and without errors leaving more time for additional productive tasks. Further, in reporting and tracking ongoing correspondence natively through email, OBM eliminates the need for redundant external e-mails and proprietary lists. All the information relating to a chosen topic is instantly accessible and centrally located for every user to see and manipulate. Eliminating data duplication streamlines every process, and centralizing data and data-validation ensures accuracy.

OBM is the optimal collaborative process. It leverages what automated systems do best, and lets people do what teams do best. The result is a symbiotic partnership between system and end-user that speeds products to shelves, diminishes costs, reduces team workload, increases inventory turns, increases revenues, reduces errors and markdowns, and generates maximum ROI.

Today, we are all connected in a tapestry of internet, wireless and cellular connections.Correspondingly, everyone involved in the pipeline should immediately receive tailored notification of whatever action is required, whether or not he or she has access to the system. That's the relevant information, timing, and presentation of a modern, global sourcing ecosystem, and that's what OBM makes possible. In a collaborative web-based environment, suppliers and buyers can see exactly the information that they need to respond to, and can see it instantly. If they're not working within the system at the time information becomes available, they can be summoned via email, SMS or a range of other just-in-time alerts to make decisionsas required.