E-BRIEFS

By Staff -- Purchasing, 11/16/2000

Note to readers: In an effort to report on the largest possible number of e-procurement news developments, Purchasing will run abbreviated items in print, supported by full versions of the relevant press releases in the e-procurement news section of Purchasing.com. To access the press releases, go to www.purchasing.com and follow links for "E-procurement" then "Press releases." Link references appear in parentheses at the end of each news brief. Naming convention = Company name(s), plus Purchasing issue date YY-MM-DD, plus numerical identifier where applicable.

Oracle recently rolled out Oracle Product Development Exchange, a comprehensive collaborative product development and product life-cycle management solution, allowing companies from industry segments such as manufacturing, construction, retail or graphic design to bring team members together to collaboratively develop, design and review projects or products. Oracle Product Development Exchange can facilitate virtual design conferences where CAD drawings can be viewed and marked-up by attendees in different locations. Drawings can then be cataloged in the Oracle Internet File System (iFS), ensuring that valuable intellectual capital is securely held in the database, where it can be searched and versions can be maintained. (Link: Oracle001116)

TPN Register introduced recently its new Interactive Catalog Management (ICM) technology for B2B e-commerce. ICM is an e-content technology that allows buyers and suppliers to interact online to easily create customized catalog output and views from a single instance of data. ICM technology allows both sides of any trading relationship to greatly simplify catalog maintenance and relieve their resource loads by automating catalog updates and in-formation flow between trading partners. According to TPN Register, the online tools ICM technology provides allow suppliers to easily deal with multiple customers, each of whom needs different versions of their catalog. Buyers can efficiently manage and customize hundreds of supplier catalogs into personalized views specific to each individual end user. Buyers and suppliers interact online to specify pricing, logistics and other purchase order information. Business rules set to buyer preferences allow for automated flow of catalog updates from suppliers, greatly reducing resource requirements. IndustryNetworks , an online exchange and supply chain management solution, will be the first to leverage the ICM technology. Industry Networks' E-Supply Chain Management System (E-SCMS) is designed to provide midsize companies with a fully Internet-based supply chain management solution. It includes sourcing, procurement, transactional, financial, logistics and supply chain synchronization processes across industries and companies. (Link: TPNReg-ister0011161)

Andersen Consulting and Moai Technologies announced a strategic global alliance to bring online negotiation solutions to Global 2000 customers for strategic sourcing of goods and services as well as to Net market makers building online exchanges. As part of the alliance, Andersen Consulting and Moai will jointly develop and market online negotiation solutions across a wide variety of industries. Andersen Consulting has already included Moai's LiveExchange as part of its hosted auction services offerings, which provide strategic sourcing solutions to corporate customers. (Link: Andersen-Moai00-1116)

Cardonet, Inc. a provider of catalog management solutions for business-to-business e-commerce, announced Cardonet Supplier, an automated e-catalog management solution for product suppliers. Key features: Ability to easily extract information from relational databases and ERP systems, spread-sheets, text files, HTML and other electronic formats and merge it to create a single database in a common, XML-based format; rules-driven classification and normalization to enable users to automatically convert data from different owners or divisions into standardized corporate nomenclature and organizational structure; ability to create customized pricing tables and customized, buyer-specific views of e-catalog information; support for virtually any protocol, taxonomy, and data format in use today, including marketplaces and procurement systems by Ariba, Commerce One, RightWorks and others; UN/SPSC or customer-specific taxonomies; and delivery in XML, cXML, CBL, and flat files, as well as a variety of industry-specific or proprietary XML formats; and automatic processing of changes in supplier product information such as pricing and availability. (Link: Cardonet001116)

Verian Technologies, provider of 100% Web-based procurement and materials management solutions for the mid-market, announced availability of its Asset Tracking module. The new module is part of the ProcureIT 5.0 solution and offers customer comprehensive and sophisticated means for tracking the activity and movement of fixed assets and machinery using one system. With the Asset Tracking module, organizations can track financial transactions (leases and transfers), and regular scheduled maintenance activities (re-pairs, upgrades and warranties) via one system without the hassles and time-consuming activities of a paper-based system. The module is installed as a component of the ProcureIT 5.0 solution. (Link: Verian001116).

SciQuest, a builder and operator of private marketplaces and supply chain solutions for research enterprises and their supplier partners worldwide, announced a relationship with The EC Co., which offers a hosted Internet Transaction Exchange that provides a business-to-business e-commerce solution for small and midsize suppliers. The EC Exchange network enables the electronic exchange of business documents between the SciQuest e-marketplace and small and mid-sized suppliers, reducing cost for suppliers and extending their market reach through their participation in SciQuest's e-marketplace. (Link:Sci Quest001116)

TheMoment Inc., an enabler of dynamic commerce, introduced Negotiated Ex-change@TheMoment, a product delivering a dynamic, electronic request for proposal (eRFP) system. Negotiated-Exchange@The Moment is designed for Net market makers and brick-and-mortar companies seeking to both improve the terms for online contract negotiation as well as improve the efficiency in which goods and services are procured. Negotiated Exchange@TheMoment features an automated, multi-parametric negotiation environment with real-time rankings of suppliers' bids based on buyers' preferences or needs. (Link: The Moment-001116)

VerticalNet Markets, a network of business-to-business industrial commerce communities, has selected Emptoris Inc.'s ePASS as a key component of its commerce strategy and technology solution. Under terms of the agreement, VerticalNet Markets will integrate ePASS into its network of markets to provide advanced strategic sourcing capabilities for buyers, and to allow suppliers to compete on more than just price. In addition, VerticalNet Solutions will enhance its current offering by serving as an ePASS reseller to its customers, including industry alliances, global 2000 enterprises and Net market makers. ePASS is an optimized e-commerce software solution that extends beyond simple single item transactions to enable strategic sourcing of direct materials and services over the Internet. By using ePASS in conjunction with eMarketplace Suite, market operators will enable buyers to find the right suppliers based on multiple decision factors, including price, product quality, supplier ratings, customer service and existing contracts. (Link: VerticalNet-Markets-Emptoris001116)

Frictionless Commerce introduced the Frictionless e-Market Suite, a complete, scalable, integrated platform that delivers all essential components for e-commerce to e-market makers. Central to the Frictionless e-Market Suite is a unified commerce platform featuring a robust catalog management product, an advanced multi-attribute search solution, and a complete auction product with multi-attribute scoring for making best-value purchase decisions. (Link: Fric-tionless001116)

Netfish Technologies Inc., a provider of XML-based B2B e-commerce solutions, introduced B2B2Go, a product offering that adds support for wireless protocols into the Netfish XDI Server. The wireless protocol provides users with speedy, real-time access to data from anywhere at any time. As the XDI adapter for Wireless, B2B2Go allows mobile workers to use wireless devices, such as phones and PDAs, with Internet micro-browsers, to conduct business trans-actions and queries with their trading partners' enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management and e-commerce systems. B2B2Go features support for RosettaNet Partner Interface Processes (PIPS) for the most common cross-enterprise business processes. Other B2B2Go features include support for wireless standards and workflow integration. Netfish provides an interface to any WAP-compliant device to allow users to connect to XDI with their own device. In turn, the XDI Adapter for Wireless is integrated with the XDI Server's work-flow system to allow mobile users to initiate complex business workflows that integrate with core business processes. B2B2Go will also support other non-WAP wireless protocols such as Palm's Palm.net web clipping and NTT DoCoMo's iMode. (Link: Net-fish001116)

Webango Inc., announced immediate availability of the Webango Network, a Web-based total e-Sourcing solution that enables selection of the best suppliers for complex commodities and services, negotiation and management of contracts, and development of long-term supply partnerships. It comes with high-level reporting capabilities, providing organizational control and visibility into the entire supplier selection and management process. The Webango Network combines Web technology and best-practice content. It includes collaboration, decision sup-port and negotiation tools as well as contract management and performance evaluation capabilities. Network users have access to detailed supplier profiles, easy-to-use RFP templates and model contracts created by industry experts. They can also store their own standard RFPs and contracts. The company's first customer is Eastman Chemical. (Link: Webango001116)

Vinimaya Inc. announced launch of its B2B comparison-shopping service. ViniShopper uses proprietary intelligent agent technologies to search hundreds of B2B e-marketplaces, exchanges, suppliers, trading communities, auctions and supplier sites simultaneously to provide real-time comparison shop-ping by best price, preferred supplier, product specifications and other attributes. Users enter keywords to search for products, specifications or suppliers. Results include real-time pricing, availability, product specifications, sources, sizes and packaging covering both direct and indirect materials. Buyers can use direct links to seller's Web site to complete online purchases, or use ViniShopper to instantly submit multiple RFPs or RFQs for different quantities, specifications, etc. It covers major vertical segments such as chemicals, office supplies, computers, electronic components, MRO, medical equipment, construction, industrial equipment and laboratory equipment, and will be continually expanding its capabilities. As well, users can customize ViniShopper to include additional e-marketplaces and suppliers. The service is currently being offered free of charge to all users for a limited time. (Link: Vinimaya001116)

Silvon Software Inc. announced availability of Stratum, an integrated suite of analytic applications designed to help supply chain companies strategically plan, analyze and manage the performance of their sales, marketing, manufacturing, procurement, e-business, financial and customer-focused operations. The product suite is powered by Silvon's DataTracker technology-a data warehousing and analytical processing platform designed to handle the high daily transaction volumes, large customer numbers, widespread product varieties and multi-tiered sales channels of supply chain businesses. In addition, Stratum features hundreds of pre-built analytical views and reports based on supply chain-specific business models. Product license fees range from $75,000 on up, based on server size, number of modules licensed, and user seats purchased. (Link: Silvon001116)

fob.com Inc., a provider of e-procurement services for raw materials, announced an alliance with webMethods Inc ., a provider of business-to-business integration (B2Bi) solutions. Through the alliance, fob will incorporate a B2Bi component as part of the coming release of its procurement services platform, enabling customers to gain more efficient and cost-effective integration with their strategic supplier bases. The fob raw materials purchasing solution will use webMethods B2B, a flexible, open B2Bi platform, in conjunction with its own suite of technology and procurement services. The webMethods product family was designed to provide broad support for open standards and protocols, such as XML, RosettaNet, ebXML, FpML, cXML, xCBL, OBI, OAG, ACORD, BizTalk framework and UDDI. Through support of these standards, webMethods products provide seamless integration both within the enterprise and across the Internet to trading networks and B2B marketplaces. (Link: fob001116)

Consolidated Commerce a provider of B2B supply chain optimization software solutions unveiled its CC eMarketplace Suite 2.1, an end-to-end supply chain optimization solution allowing manufacturing-led, distributor-led, retail-led and neutral trading exchanges to shift from simply facilitating online purchases to truly optimizing revenue by managing the entire transaction process from order placement to delivery, across an entire trading community. (Link: ConsolidatedCommerce001116).

SupplyWorks Inc. announced the availability of SupplyWorks MAX Release 2.0. Key new features: Integration between procurement plan collaboration and order execution enables buyers to streamline procurement and manage by exception. A new collaboration environment facilitates trading-partner communication, cutting waste from the supply chain and lowering costs. Comprehensive end-to-end system integration supports Internet-based transactions over multiple formats, including XML, OBI, EDI, HTML, FAX and e-mail. Enhanced reporting and analysis capabilities add sophisticated decision support tools, such as leadtime measurement, supplier performance, and cross-plant comparisons. SupplyWorks MAX Release 2.0 is priced based on the number of plants to be automated, the number of production buyers and the extent of supplier connectivity. The company is offering special pilot project pricing that begins as low as $50,000 (U.S.). The offer is limited to the first 10 manufacturers that "green-light" pilot projects. (Link: Sup-plyWorks001116).

Global Sources Ltd. announced Global Sources Connect, a transaction software offering that enables its community of buyers and suppliers to send, receive and respond efficiently to trade documents online. The company expects the service to support up to 200,000 RFIs and other mission-critical negotiation documents per month, based on previous site activity. Prior to Connect's full integration on Global Sources Online, the software was successfully used in B2B market conditions by such import organizations as Kmart and Wards. Since May 2000, more than 70 subscribers to the company's Private Buyer Catalog service, including Kingfisher, Aiwa, Coles Myer and Mitsubishi, have also used the technology. Co-developed with Electronic Data Systems (EDS), Connect creates a platform for future integration of third-party service providers such as Tradecard, ABN AMRO Bank and Insurance Sources as well as new developments planned to link Global Sources Online with other exchanges. (Link: GlobalSources001116)

FacilityPro.com, a business-to-business electronic marketplace for commercial facilities professionals and their sup-pliers, has enhanced its e-marketplace to allow participants to analyze procurement activities and electronically monitor the status of their orders and shipments from "req to check." FacilityPro.com also has rolled out additional payment processing options, Web-site content and enhanced tax calculation capabilities. (Link: Facilitypro.com-001116)

eflatbed.com and eCopper Inc. announced a partnership to provide more efficient flatbed transportation management and logistics services to members conducting business on eCopper.com, a digital marketplace for buyers and sellers of copper and copper alloy products and services. eflatbed.com will provide rate quotes and shipment management services on request to eCopper members. (Link: eflatbed-ecopper001116).