Global Trading: Web Based

Web-Based

The Internet has provided a means for any company, no matter how small or where they are located in the world, to become part of a major supply chain initiative hosted by a global retailer or manufacturing company. Many companies around the world have shifted production of labour intensive parts to low-cost, emerging regions such as China and Eastern Europe. Web-based B2B, allows a company to interact with its suppliers in these regions without the worrying of implementing a complex B2B infrastructure.

In its simplest form, web B2B enables small to medium-sized businesses to receive, turn around, create and manage electronic documents using just a web browser. This service seamlessly transforms your data into electronic formats (EDI or XML) and transmits it to your trading partner. Simple pre-populated forms enable businesses to communicate and comply with their trading partners' requirements using built-in business rules.  Using a friendly web-based interface, transactions can be received, edited and sent as easily as an email. You will also be able to receive electronic documents and send electronic invoices and shipping documents with no software to install. All you require is an Internet connection. Web B2B has the added advantages that it is accessible anywhere in the world and you do not need a dedicated IT person to manage any software installation. In order for a company to decide whether they should implement a Value Added Network (VAN) or webEDI solution, it is important to understand the differences between the two.

VANs have traditionally been favoured for EDI transmission because of their security and their additional features:

• They offer a mailbox service; trading partners dial into a VAN via a network access point and use a file transfer protocol to send messages to the VAN. The VAN automatically routes the message to the receiving partner's mailbox and the trading partner dials into the VAN and retrieves the message
• VANs act as trusted third parties by inspecting and authenticating the messages and verifying the identity of trading partners depositing and accessing them
• VANs take responsibility for providing an audit trail of all transactions and for tracking / recording the trail of a message
• VANs can send email notifications to partners that messages have been deposited in their mailboxes
• Finally, VANs offer an extensive range of other services, for example, data backup, recovery, document mapping and other outsourced services

Even though VANs offer a very secure and reliable service to companies wishing to trade electronically, the internet is making B2Bi more available to all.  This is especially important in the emerging markets where IT awareness and infrastructure are very limited.  WebB2B is traditionally based around the "hub and spoke'"model, with major trading partners or service providers being the hubs and smaller partners being the spokes.

• Hubs or service providers implement B2Bi using email or virtual mailboxes
• Trading partners can send messages directly to a web-enabled messaging site, via the hub.  Messages are simply sent using a web browser
• Systems that are currently being developed will enable messages to be displayed in a web browser and directed via open standard XML, directly into the user's accounts system
• Web based users can interact with VANs without incurring the costs of setting up a dedicated VAN connection