The Silicon Review ^Asia

The retail, trade and logistics industry, like most other industries, is currently confronting immense changes and shifts that bring both risk and opportunity. With new market entrants, technology, customer expectations and business models, the industry needs to explore new areas of innovation that could help streamline the value chain in a number of important ways. Moreover, there are issues of long lead times and variability which get magnified given the proliferation of products and the ever-increasing complexity of supply chains.

In the light of the above mentioned, we present you CBX Software, a company that strives to develop advanced supply chain solutions enabling retailers to meet the challenges in this complex and fiercely competitive environment.

CBX Software was founded in 1995 as a custom software company for the retail, trade and logistics industry. After several years of listening and making software for enterprises, the company noticed that it had a pattern of developing the same thing. So it immediately decided to put all of its intellectual knowledge into developing a standard web interface called CBX. Today CBX Software has continued this trend and developed an extended range of products that automate the lifecycle to assist retailers to bring private label products from conception to sourcing, production, and quality through delivery. Now, CBX operates in Asia, America, and Europe. Starting from Hong Kong as the global trade hub to many merchandise production centers around Asia, CBX quickly connected retail headquarters in the US and Europe to trade with suppliers and factories in Asia.

ICA, El Corte Ingles, Steinhoff International, Pepkor Group, The Warehouse, Dollar General, Kmart Australia, Target Australia, Safeway, PetSmart, Eurogroup and Tractor Supply Company are some of its larger clients.

Much needed solutions built just right

Today’s global sourcing environment is increasingly complex, where multiple functions, processes and suppliers in different countries need to work together like a virtual orchestra to produce products within short timelines. Failure to get the right quantity of your product in front of a targeted consumer when they are ready to buy can mean failure of a product, brand or company. CBX Cloud encompasses a set of solutions to help retailers get products to market on time through creating visibility into critical issues which might impact the product lifecycle. Overall, CBX Software compresses the supply chain, helping Retailers and Brands expand assortments, accelerate new products to market, efficiently on board new suppliers and eliminate redundancies, all while delivering products to market ahead of consumer expectations.

Its position in the retail market landscape enables it to offer retailers the ability to scale their private label business with tools built for process and seed in a simple, user friendly environment for retail sourcing, product development and supply chain management. The company also understands that consumers, in most cases, want a mix of variety, fashion and quality along with a socially responsible product at a cost-effective price. Therefore, CBX responds to these demands and ensures that everyone responsible for bringing new products to market has access to the most current information to support everyday decisions and manage critical path, resulting in dramatically improved supply chain efficiencies at lower costs.

Differentiating factor

One of the major differentiator of CBX Software is its award winning Critical Path Management (CPM). Retail CPM manages the entire flow of a product from concept to delivery. It incorporates information from the planning, product development, sourcing, production and logistics stages into complete view in real time, enabling a more flexible and responsive supply chain. Through CBX’s Critical Path Management Tool, managers are able to view personalized dashboards which roll up data by department, project or season. The system provides color coded indicators which suggest areas that require various levels of action. Effective critical path management (CPM) tools provide real time visibility into issues, allow planning of tasks and shifting of resources, identify due dates and milestones and pinpoint the areas where attention is required. In best practice companies, CPM does this across multiple individual products, lines, brands and divisions. Ultimately, CPM allows managers to move beyond day-to-day reactive management into a more strategic management role aligned with larger business objectives.

The roadmap ahead

Presently, CBX is focused on continuing to help retailers to be first to market with customer-relevant products in a market place where sourcing professionals need to source better, faster and smarter. In the near future, the company is looking forward to transform global sourcing for stronger retail merchandise, sourcing and supply chain automation.

CBX will be the de facto platform for end-to-end sourcing and supply chain management (on quality, production and delivery of private label merchandise) with the largest community network where any retailer can immediate connect and do business with any verified vendor or factory in CBX Cloud for private label merchandise sourcing and supply chain processes.

The leaders who made CBX possible

Michael Hung, Founder & CEO

As CBX Software’s Chief Executive Officer, Michael Hung holds overall responsibility for the company’s strategy and key business initiatives. With more than 25 years of IT Industry experience, Michael has focused on developing software and solutions that streamline business processes for leading retail, manufacturing and financial services organizations. Prior to CBX, he consulted for a range of clients and industries with Lotus Consulting, now part of IBM. Michael holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon University.

Tim Chiu, Co-Founder, Sr. Vice President, Client Management

Tim Chiu has over 25 years of experience in supporting global sourcing automation and information technology that enables collaboration between global commerce communities. Tim has helped numerous leading retailers and brands improve global sourcing efficiency by implementing retail merchandising, global sourcing, vendor management, and vendor collaboration solutions that provide measurable benefits. With a varied background in IT and workflow process consulting, Tim is a frequent speaker on the topic of global sourcing for the retail industry.

“Over the course of 22 years, CBX Software has simplified the business of global sourcing, transforming traditional methodologies into fast, friction-free supply chains through our innovative product development, sourcing, quality and compliance management platform.”