This is the second of our ongoing Supply Chain Matters blog posting series that brings awareness to interesting new technology being directed toward supporting many different supply chain risk management business process needs.
Over these past months, I’ve been penning multiple commentaries on incidents of supply chain disruption and risk. These incidents have involved natural disasters, events related to specific products, such as product contamination, as well as counterfeit parts showing up in many high tech oriented supply chains. Last fall, the U.S. Department of Defense had to reluctantly admit that even military contractors were not immune to unsuspecting counterfeit parts entering defense-related supply parts.
Readers residing in high tech oriented supply chains may want to review a new web-based marketplace, The Verical Electronic Components Marketplace, which launches operations tommorow, October 7th. This online trading platform is targeted toward global based high tech manufacturer’s contract manufacturers (CM’s), or distributors who wish to procure electronic components in the secondary market, and who need to mitigate risks of acquiring grey market or potentially counterfeit components.
The Verical marketplace permits only authorized channels or original parts owners to list inventory for sale. Potential sellers of inventory may include component manufacturers, franchised distributors, or companies with excess inventory above current operational needs. I was informed that the Verical marketplace will open with 27,000 unique part numbers from over 230 manufacturers.
The site utilizes a unique scoring system that traces the pedigree of all parts listed, based on how far back Verical is able to trace chain of custody. The higher the pedigree score, the further up the supply chain the component has been traced. This should allow component buyers a better means to manage their purchase risk, particularly when they are purchasing critical parts in the secondary market.
Verical was the brainchild of a number of seasoned industry veterans experienced in anti-counterfeiting in the secondary market, information-sharing networks, and software management. I had the opportunity of a pre-briefing, and had access to the beta site which has been in a testing mode since January. The site itself has a very intuitive look and feel, and includes lots of flash and rich Internet technology to quickly filter search results as well as visually view lots of information.
The Verical online trading platform will no doubt compete with existing electronic-based marketplaces such as FreeFlow Technologies, or E2Open. The fact that Verical has been designed to track component parts pedigree to supply sources may be the most attractive feature for buyers in the secondary market, who are often chasing parts to alleviate an immediate need or schedule exception. Verical marketplace momentum will certainly be something to watch over the coming months.
Supply Chain Matters readers who check-out the features and benefits of this new site, or decide to participate in the site services, are welcomed to share your comments at the end of this posting.
Author’s Disclaimer: This author has received no financial or other monetary consideration from Verical, Inc. or its investors related to the insertion of this blog posting.
