Jaguar Land Rover signs B2B outsourcing agreement with GXS

Following its sale by Ford to Tata Motors last year, JLR has been looking to re-establish EDI-based, B2B e-commerce for its global production and supply chain operations. Jon Keating, vice-president of GXS EMEA, explains that JLR uses suppliers throughout North America as well as Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and has to support a variety of global EDI standards, including VDA, ANSI X12 and Edifact, along with its proprietary messaging standard. By outsourcing management of its supplier EDI environment to GXS, he says, JLR gets access to modern, highly functional B2B capabilities, without requiring major investments in hardware, software or HR. "There is increased interest in B2B outsourcing as companies review how best to harness their IT and supply chain infrastructures," comments Keating. "GXS Managed Services enables businesses like Jaguar Land Rover to be ready to tap into new market opportunities whenever and wherever they emerge across the globe."