Tribeka has revealed exclusively to PC Retail that it has agreed a deal with the world's second largest retailer to use its manufacturing on demand technology in its stores.French supermarket chain Carrefour will begin trailing the firm's SoftWide technology in the October at three stores – the first in Brugge – with hopes that it can roll out the system throughout 2009.
Speaking about the deal, Tribeka's chief operating officer Stephen Precious told PC Retail: "This is a major milestone for the adoption of manufacturing on demand. With Carrefour's decision to use SoftWide, it sends a clear signal to the channel that we are really are now on the cusp of the on-demand revolution."
The firm also revealed to PC Retail that it has signed a deal with Ingram Micro to allow the distributor to use its technology, enabling smaller independent and mid-range retailers and resellers to take advantage of SoftWide.
The news comes off the back of Tribeka signing a groundbreaking deal with Microsoft to allow the firm to produce copies of its software.
Initially, the firm will be rolling out its Autoroute and Microsoft Student Encarta along with a third, as yet unnamed title, on the service, although Precious is hopeful that the service will expand that range quickly after the initial trial period.
"We're looking at a trial period of around six to nine months for the current range of software we have agreed with Microsoft; however, after that, we're very hopeful that we will be able to roll out a much wider range of titles for our retail and reseller partners."
Commenting on the impact the Ingram Micro deal will have on the channel, Precious added: "By partnering with Ingram Micro, we are able to bring the benefits and advantages of SoftWide to a much wider audience. We feel that it will not only benefit Ingram Micro greatly, but also its wide range of retail and reseller partners.
"We also feel that by eliminating the need for as many deliveries from vendors to distributors, that the deal also has great green benefits," he added.
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