A.T. KEARNEY, EBREVIATE PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION AUCTION TOOL

A.T. KEARNEY, EBREVIATE PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION AUCTION TOOL

   A.T. Kearney, the management consulting subsidiary of EDS, and eBreviate, an EDS company offering electronic commerce tools and technology, have announced an online reverse auction tool designed to help companies arrange last-minute unscheduled shipments of goods.

   Using Internet negotiation technology developed by Walnut Creek, Calif.-based eBreviate, the transportation auction tool allows a company's core transportation carriers to bid online for the shipment by competing on price. The companies say the reverse acution capability will reduce transportation costs for last-minute shipments from 8 to 10 percent while improving the carrier's access to available shipments.

   'This collaboration addresses the entire transportation sourcing process where the core-carrier expertise handles 90 percent of a company's transportation load. However, to handle cycles in demand this tool seamlessly integrates into core-carrier projects for those inevitable exceptions,' said Sarah Pfaff, eBreviate's executive vice president of sales, marketing and strategy.

   Initially designed for truckload-based shipments, the companies expect the transportation auction tool to be expanded to support less-than-truckload, air, rail and ocean shipments as well.