COMPETING THROUGH EDI AT BRUN-PASSOT - ACHIEVEMENTS IN FRANCE AND AMBITIONS FOR THE SINGLE EUROPEAN MARKET

To differentiate its customer service, Brun Passot, a small French com pany specializing in the distribution of office supplies, developed a set of telepurchasing applications. In 1982, it launched Bureautel, a videotex-based service that allows customers to electronically place t heir orders. In 1986, at the request of its large customers, it develo ped a PC-based service, then in 1989 an advanced electronic data inter change (EDI) application linking customers to its supply information s ystem. These services allow data on product availability, price lists, orders, acknowledgement receipts, delivery notices, invoices, and rel ated bank payments to be electronically transmitted. Using ISDN, they also make it possible to look up the photos of the 12,000 products tha t Brun Passot markets. This article illustrates how a small-sized comp any has used IT to improve the quality of its customer service, shorte n lead time and reduce management costs, as well as create new busines s opportunities in France. It also raises some issues related to the a doption and diffusion of EDI and presents Brun Passot's ambitions to u se this technology as an essential enabler to expand its geographical coverage. The 1993 fall of mobility barriers within the European Commu nity, leading to the formation of the single European market, presente d for Brun Passot a unique business opportunity to further leverage it s IT infrastructure and gain new markets.