Doing Good Throughout the Human Supply Chain

Back in 1999-2000, when it looked for a while like i2 Technologies was on a growth cycle that would defy gravity, the supply chain software company announced many projects in the online marketplace arena, many of them centered on the TradeMatrix brand name. TradeMatrix was actually a portal that included exchanges aimed at high-tech, aerospace, consumer goods and retail markets.

Well, the dot-com collapse and subsequent industry malaise following Sept. 11 ultimately did in the TradeMatrix idea, but another idea that was launched at about the same time has quietly survived, possibly because its mission is survival itself -- not economic survival, but human survival.

Aidmatrix, as described on its website, "helps charitable organizations alleviate human suffering by mobilizing resources and orchestrating the right aid for the right people at the right time."

This web-based effort is said to mobilize more than
a billion dollars in aid annually, working with more than 35,000 charities worldwide.

A PR person sent me a note recently reminding me about the good work Aidmatrix does, noting that "Using Aidmatrix?s supply chain technology, relief agencies can view real-time inventory and can order items quickly and efficiently. In addition, relief agencies can electronically link to corporate donors to locate needed items. The result is that less is wasted and more people receive aid. The same systems that save millions of dollars for companies and help them improve their bottom line now help those struggling get more of the aid and services they so desperately need."

It's nice to see that this supply chain stuff we talk about has applications that go well beyond the corporate bottomline.