The software would align Retail Link more closely with a nascent movement toward a kind of collaborative retail supply chain system, although the software cannot do it all by itself. Industry officials said it represents the next generation of efficiency in supply chain management. Manufacturers could use that information to become more efficient in managing raw materials, labor, scheduling and transportation, as well as cutting costs and sharing the savings with retailers. A frequent problem is that marketplaces and platforms lock users into one role or another, typically buyer or seller of goods, but supply networks are more complicated, Atlas' Hanger said. Companies that buy inventory from manufacturers later sell goods to retailers.
Retailers make side arrangements with third-party shippers.
Atlas said it designed its platform so that multiple companies could share the same application. ZD Inc. ZDNet Logo is a service mark of ZD Inc.