Editor's Note: On May 17-19 IndustryWeek held its Best Plants Conference in Nashville recognizing the 10 IW Best Plants of 2004. This article is based on a presentation given at the conference. You might also be interested in Maintenance Steps Into Leading Role In Rockwell Automatic's Power Lean and Quality Is What The Customer Says Is Quality. Is it possible to ask 13,000 suppliers to register for an on-line bidding process? Just ask R. Gregg Brandyberry, vice president, procurement global systems and operations, GlaxoSmithKline. Realizing that on-line auctions and sealed bidding would become the future method of conducting business with a global network of suppliers, GlaxoSmithKline was one of the first to adopt this practice. And it has paid off. Brandyberry was seeing a respectable 8% cost savings in his supply chain but it just about doubled to 15% when he moved his suppliers to this on-line system. And these savings drop right to the bottom line.