Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Wireless for Purchasing Network

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 04 Apr 2003 09:49:49 -0500

Wireless for Purchasing Network
by Demir Barlas, Line56
Thursday, April 03, 2003

A consortium doesn't always have to be electronic in nature. A case in
point is the Leveraged
Sourcing Network (LSN), a group of 11 enterprises which finds good deals
courtesy of management
consultant A.T. Kearney -- most recently with Nextel, which will be
providing LSN with wireless
device and data services.

Nextel's director of alliances and partnerships, Michael Inserra, says
that LSN members will be
buying Nextel Direct Connect, which bundles "a cell phone, radio, and
pager in one device" as well
as data services. Inserra points out that Nextel's devices (which run
Java applications) and data
services play an important role in a number of e-business activities.
"We're working with field force
automation (FFA), tracking, logistics, and barcode scanning."

Robert Mandel, senior sales manager for Nextel, points out that 90
percent of the company's
customers are businesses, "and 40 percent of them use data products." He
emphasizes that this
package proved attractive to LSN, and adds that Nextel's ability to
customize devices -- from the
plant level onwards -- was also attractive to LSN.

Jim Pearson, VP of solutions for A.T. Kearney, explains that the
wireless category attracts significant
spending from LSN members and offers more details about the consortium.
"We focus on indirect
[spending] categories, doing an annual volume of between $300 and $400
million. We are not a
marketplace. We use the Kearney process to create a category solution
and negotiate on behalf of
members." While this negotiation process is offline, Pearson adds that
LSN members are free to
conduct the actual transactions on electronic platforms.

In addition to negotiation, A.T. Kearney can stick around for contract
management and category
management, initiatives designed to make sure that negotiated savings
survive the transaction. It's
an example of using services to attain the benefits of what some
research groups have called deep
e-sourcing.

Find this article at:
http://www.line56.com/articles/default.asp?articleid=4547

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