Current economic pressures on manufacturers require a more rigorousapproach to collaborative inventory management in order to minimizedisruptions and increase predictability. With support for multipleinventory pull and push replenishment models, i-Supply enhances existingERP, inventory, logistics, and warehouse management systems by making nearreal-time information visible via the web creating a more efficient andcollaborative supply chain. "Providing a variety of options is an importantfeature, since it allows companies to evolve from traditional 'push'replenishment to more lean based pull strategies at their own pace," saidJohn Fontanella in the November 2008 AMR Research Article, "i-Supply Takes the Gospel of Lean Beyond Automotive." "i-Supply alsoprovides a unique and very intuitive service for vendor score-carding, andfunctionality to alert trading community members of discrepancies in actualversus planned performance."

Terumo Medical Corporation, a leading manufacturer of vital medicaldevices, supplies and accessories, is already experiencing the benefits."We've implemented i-Supply in two of our plants and have already seen agreat return on our investment," said Mark Lincoln, Terumo's Vice Presidentof Operations. "Since deploying the product only a few months ago, we havereduced inventory by over 30 percent. Our efforts are focused on expandingthe tool as fast as we can across all sites and suppliers."

The new TradeBeam i-Supply features an enhanced Lean Order Schedulingfeature that enables the scheduling of multiple lean orders and pickups perday for as-needed inventory, bringing visibility to carriers and 3PLproviders. The information shared between supplier and manufacturer ensuresthat actions are always based on the same data, which leads to reducedemergency shipments and premium freight charges. Manufacturers can alsolimit production downtime that comes from stock-outs and excess inventorythroughout the supply chain.

TradeBeam also facilitates supplier attainment and connection throughaccount management services, including training and support. "TradeBeam'si-Supply helps us to plan proactively, reducing our need for 'just-in-case'inventory," said Jean Flores, Materials Manager at GW Plastics. "i-Supplygives visibility into our customers' inventory levels, which has allowedour San Antonio plant to significantly reduce material levels withoutsacrificing delivery ratings."

i-Supply graphically displays component inventory status, includingon-hand, forecast, usage, orders, shipments and receipts, as well asreal-time notification exceptions. An improved dashboard interface deliversa nearreal-time summary view into inventory, shipping, receiving and supplierquality ratings. A user can filter, sort, and drill-down into forecastdemand, supplier capacity, projected inventory, actual usage, authorizationhistory, and critical inventory. i-Supply also allows customers to monitorinventory of multiple facilities from a single dashboard and has theability to create new orders based on exception.

"We see i-Supply customers being able to address some of the biggestchallenges in supply chain management issues today -- lean implementation,stronger inventory controls and true visibility over the global footprint,"said Graham Napier, CEO of TradeBeam. "In today's economic circumstances,visibility into the supply chain is critical for manufacturers tosignificantly cut costs. The enhancements to i-Supply's already provenmethods provide our customers a safety net that minimizes risk and reduceswaste."

TradeBeam's i-Supply solution is available and operational 24 hours a day,seven days a week in 41 countries and 11 languages including Chinese(simplified), Chinese (traditional), English, French, German, Korean,Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Romanian and Spanish. For more informationvisit:http://www.tradebeam.com/solutions/visibility/collaborative_inventory_management/.

About TradeBeam

TradeBeam is a Global Trade Management (GTM) software and services companyproviding on demand solutions that streamline global trading forenterprises and their partners. TradeBeam's integrated solution providesimport and export compliance and visibility including inventory management,shipment tracking, and supply chain event management, as well as globaltrade finance solutions such as open account and letter of creditmanagement. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in the San Francisco BayArea, TradeBeam has operations in the United States Europe, China, andIndia. www.tradebeam.com

About Terumo

Founded in 1972 as a Terumo Corporation subsidiary, Terumo MedicalCorporation (TMC) develops, manufactures and markets high-quality medicaldevices used in a broad range of applications in numerous healthcaremarkets. TMC manufactures a broad portfolio of IV catheters and syringes,entry-site management products, and a line of sterile connection devicesused in hospitals and blood banks worldwide.

About GW Plastics

GW Plastics is a global, high-precision injection molder, mold builder andcontract manufacturer specializing in single-source responsibility formedium-to-high volume, close-tolerance components and assemblies. Rankedamong the top 100 molders in North America, GW Plastics' leading-edgetechnologies, total quality commitment and pursuit of innovation havedriven its steady growth since the company was founded in 1955. Thefinancially strong, closely held organization services a portfolio ofFortune 1000 customers in the Healthcare, Consumer/Industrial andAutomotive markets. In addition to the China facility, GW has four U.S.plants (two in Vermont; San Antonio, Texas; and Tucson, Arizona). GW alsohas a full-service production facility in Queretaro, Mexico.

TradeBeam Media Contact:Mo MahmoudEastwick for TradeBeam650-480-4058Email Contact