Metal centers get MRO supply deals from Defense
By Staff -- Purchasing, 9/2/1999
Two service-center chains have been awarded $50-million contracts for maintenance, repair, and operations-oriented metals supply by the Defense Industrial Supply Center (disc), a Philadelphia-based division of the Department of Defense.A two-year contract with Metals USA, based in Houston, involves carbon and stainless steel and nonferrous metal products for disc locations in the Northeast and Western regions. TW Metals of Exton, Pa., will receive orders from disc's Central region. Both firms will use an electronic order entry system specifically designed to enhance customer order entry and customer service via the Internet.
"disc, a large national metals purchaser, had strict requirements for the contracts that only a few metals processors/distributors could meet," notes Arthur L. French, CEO of Metals USA. "We were selected because of our capabilities in e-commerce and integrated supply chain management, our national distribution system, and broad product range."
Dennis M. Oates, CEO of TW Metals, notes that the "new electronic commerce process provides customers with direct access to our inventory and provides such benefits as enhanced materials management process and customer delivery response time."
Both CEOs say that real-time Web access will allow selected facilities to place and track orders as required in order to meet their immediate and future demands for raw materials. It allows disc better control over the MRO metals purchasing function, reduces its overhead, and improves cost management. In fact, "integrated supplier contracts allow our agency to shift to commercial logistics practices," notes Neil Kovnat, disc's director of metals. "This will have the effect of lowering the military's costs while increasing our ability to not only increase our support of peacetime repair and overhaul operations, but also greatly enhance our readiness capability."
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