Dutch electronics giant Philips International BV has developed an internal database system that may bring an end to customs difficulties and lead to increased efficiency in international trading within the European Community. Running on mainly IBM systems – Philips uses IBM, ICL and Honeywell Bull equipment the Trade Transaction Data Base was designed as an […]
Dutch electronics giant Philips International BV has developed an internal database system that may bring an end to customs difficulties and lead to increased efficiency in international trading within the European Community. Running on mainly IBM systems – Philips uses IBM, ICL and Honeywell Bull equipment the Trade Transaction Data Base was designed as an attempt to reduce the amount of paperwork involved in shipping products throughout the world. The system now forms the logistics centre of Philips’ European subsidiaries, helping them organise shipments and predict arrival times of goods. The software cost between $7m and $10m to develop, but Philips says it lost about $95m last year as a result of border-related delays. Rudi Von Lindern, who is in charge of Philips’ strategy for 1992, helped develop the system, and says it enables the company reduce the number of warehouses and to combine trucks with shipments.
