Happy Holidays from all at B2BGateway!
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Monday, December 5, 2016
EDI for NetSuite
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
'Tis The Season To Sell Online!
Did you know that
B2BGateway integrates with Magento, Shopify, 3dcart, Bigcommerce, WooCommerce
and a host of other eCommerce Online Shopping Platforms?
Do you sell your goods and
services on your own in-house shopping cart powered by Magento, Shopify,
3dcart, Bigcommerce, WooCommerce, Volusion or others? Through EDI/API
technology and full integration with your Accounting Software / ERP solution
(e.g. QuickBooks, Xero, SAP, Sage, NetSuite, Acumatica…….), B2BGateway can help
you maximize your eCommerce activities in the following ways:
1.
Pull orders from
your eCommerce shopping cart and place them directly into your Accounting
Software / ERP solution as Sales Orders. There is no need to re-key data.
2.
Send Inventory Updates
to your eCommerce sites so that you never sell out of stock items.
3.
B2BGateway can
automatically send new orders from your shopping cart to your 3PL, Warehouse or
Drop Ship Vendor.
4.
B2BGateway can
help update your site with shipping and tracking information.
Having a
fully integrated B2BGateway solution between your online shopping cart and back
end ERP/Accounting Software solution means that there is no need to re-key the
data – this drastically cuts down on errors, reduces manual labor costs and
speeds up your entire process!
B2BGateway’s
eCommerce EDI solutions will also help your organization to send orders directly
from your eCommerce site to your 3PL (third party logistics provider), warehouse or drop-ship vendor for
fulfillment.
To learn more
on how B2BGateway’s fully integrated EDI solutions for eCommerce platforms can
improve your organization’s supply chain please email our sales team at Sales@B2BGateway.Net
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Blockchain and its potential benefits to the Supply Chain
What is
Blockchain?
According to Wikipedia a blockchain is a distributed database that maintains a
continuously-growing list of records called blocks. Each block contains
a timestamp and a link to a previous block. The data in a block cannot be
altered retrospectively.
The first blockchain was conceptualized by Satoshi
Nakamoto in 2008 and implemented the following year as a core component of the
digital currency bitcoin, where it serves as the public ledger for all
transactions. Through the use of a peer-to-peer network and a distributed
timestamping server, a blockchain database is managed autonomously.
Think of it
like this: If the entire blockchain were the history of banking transactions,
an individual bank statement would be a single “block” in the chain. Unlike
most banking systems, however, there is no single organization that controls
these transactions. It can only be updated through consensus of a majority of
participants in the system. In short, blockchain is a record-keeping mechanism
that makes it easier and safer for businesses to work together over the
internet.
Benefits of Blockchain to the Supply Chain
Many
commentators agree that blockchain technology has far greater potential than
just supporting a digital currency such as bitcoin. The potential for
improvements in the Supply Chain are limitless. Imagine a scenario where every time a product changes hands, the transaction could be
documented, creating a permanent history of a product, from manufacture to
sale. This could dramatically reduce time delays, added costs, and human error
that plague transactions today. The benefits for pharmaceutical manufacturers (all
stage product lifecycle track and trace) and OEM’s (product recalls), to name
just two industries off hand, are enormous.
According to an article by Jon-Amerin
Vorabutra the advantages blockchain
technology brings to the supply chain community could be listed as follows:
·
Enhanced
Transparency. Documenting a product’s journey
across the supply chain reveals its true origin and touchpoints, which
increases trust and helps eliminate the bias found in today’s opaque supply
chains. Manufacturers can also reduce recalls by sharing logs with OEMs and regulators.
·
Greater Scalability. Virtually any number of participants, accessing from any number of
touchpoints, is possible.
·
Better Security. A shared, indelible ledger with codified rules could potentially
eliminate the audits required by internal systems and processes.
·
Increased
Innovation. Opportunities abound to create
new, specialized uses for the technology as a result of the decentralized
architecture.
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
B2BGateway at UK Logistics & Supply Chain Excellence Awards
Monday, November 7, 2016
B2BGateway to attend Exact Live 2016 in Utrecht
B2BGateway, the leading, global EDI and automated supply chain solution provider will be attending this years Exact Live tradeshow in Utrecht, The Netherlands from November 8-9.
Exact Live 2016 is a two day event which will take place this year in Utrecht. Day one is focused on bringing the eco-system of Exact, its partners and third party add-on providers together to discuss overall solutions and to provide 'one stop' seamless solutions to the end user. Day two opens up the event to Exact clients and prospects who can hear from many great speakers as well as learn about new updates and 3rd party software providers who can enhance the users existing system, depending on their unique requirements.
B2BGateway provides cloud based, fully integrated EDI solutions for Exact Online users which remove the need to re-key data when exchanging standard business documents such as purchase orders, invoices, shipping notices, inventory updates, etc., with trading partners. Roger Leyden, Director of Global Business Development at B2BGateway will be attending Exact Live 2016 in Utrecht. If you would like to meet with Roger during the event, please email Sales@B2BGateway.Net
Sunday, October 23, 2016
The Simple #Hashtag - The 21st Century’s Most Important Communications and PR Tool?
As our team
prepares to attend Intuit’s QuickBooks Connect, yet another valuable trade show on the B2BGateway yearly calendar, we
get an email from the organizers, Intuit, encouraging our team to use the
#qbconnect in all our correspondence and social media postings. As a marketer I
am very au fait with the use of hashtags in our messaging, but Intuit’s recent
show correspondence got me thinking. What exactly has the simple hashtag symbol
# become and how has it influenced modern communications?
The hashtag
or sometimes called the pound sign in North America was often used in
information technology to highlight a special meaning. In 1970 the pound sign
was used to denote immediate address mode in the assembly language of
the PDP-11 when placed next to a symbol or a number.
The pound
sign then appeared and was used within IRC networks (internet relay chat) to
label groups and topics. Channels or topics that are available across an entire
IRC network are prefixed with a hash symbol. The use of the pound sign in IRC
inspired Chris Messina to propose a similar system to be used on Twitter to tag
topics of interest on the microblogging network. He posted the first hashtag on
Twitter in 2007:
How do you feel about using #
(pound) for groups. As in #barcamp [msg]?
It was after a series of forest fires in San Diego in 2007 that the use
of the hashtag in Twitter first, and then other social media platforms, became
popular. According to Messin
the intention behind the hashtag was to make it easy for users to search
for content and find specific updates that are relevant without the
technological knowledge to navigate the site. Therefore, the hashtag “was created
organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages. In the world of
the Super Information Highway, where all this happens in an internet minute,
that
Marketers, communication specialists and organizations with a specific message,
needed a tool to be seen, heard or at least somewhat searchable over all the
noise created. Hence the simple hashtag has become one of the 21st
centuries most important communication or PR symbols. Simply by pacing the #
symbol in place of a word or key phrase, the author can highlight the key
points of his or her communication. Likewise the reader can use the # symbol
for research and up to date feeds on any particular topic that may be of
interest.
On social
networking sites such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Google+, etc., hashtags
can be inserted anywhere within a sentence, either preceding it, following it
as a postscript, or being included as a word within the sentence, example
(sorry for shameless plug) – ‘B2BGateway #EDI for QuickBooks’.
The quantity
of hashtags used in a post or tweet is just as important as the types of
hashtags used. It is currently considered acceptable to tag a post once when
contributing to a specific conversation. Two hashtags are considered acceptable
when adding a location to the conversation. Three hashtags are seen by some as
the ‘absolute maximum’, and any contribution exceeding this risks raising the
ire of other users.
So, besides
search-ability, what additional benefits does the hashtag offer the 21st
century marketer and PR guru?
·
Improve brand
awareness by using hashtags related to service or product.
·
Use trending
hashtags where relevant to drive additional traffic to your site.
·
Encourage
interaction with customers, prospects and partners.
·
Create a
brand hashtag that is unique to your business and use as a signature tag.
·
Unique
hashtags are ideal for new campaign or product launches.
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
B2BGateway to sponsor Intuit QuickBooks QB Connect in San Jose
QB Connect is the annual trade show gathering for Intuit QuickBooks Online customers, accounting professionals, advisors and third party developers. During the event attendees will learn about new developments and functionality to the QuickBooks Online solutions, be able to visit QuickBooks Online add-on partners and listen to guest speakers such as Eva Longoria, Michael Phelps, Malcolm Gladwell and Shaquille O’Neal.
B2BGateway, a QuickBooks Gold Developer, has been providing cloud based, fully integrated EDI solutions to QuickBooks desktop users since 2002 and in recent years has developed a full integrated EDI solution for all QuickBooks Online users. EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) has become best business practice in the transfer of electronic business documents such as Purchase Orders, Invoices, Advanced Shipping Notices (ASNs), Inventory Updates, etc., between trading partners and is highly popular in market verticals such as Wholesale Distribution, Retail, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Automotive and Finance.
By integrating with B2BGateway’s cloud based EDI solution the QuickBooks Online user can be compliant in all internationally recognized EDI standards and communication protocols such ANSI X12, EDIFACT, Tradacoms, PEPPOL, VAN, AS2, etc. The cloud based B2BGateway EDI solution offers full integration to QuickBooks Online which removes the need for the user to re-key data when exchanging electronic business documents, thus leading to greater accuracy, increased labor efficiencies and expediting the ‘order-to-payment’ cash cycle of the QuickBooks Online user with their customers.
The B2BGateway EDI App is the available on the Intuit Apps.com store accruing the highest customer satisfaction rating of all EDI providers.
“B2BGateway is delighted to yet again sponsor Intuit’s QB Connect,” states Louisa Gooding, Director of Sales and Strategic Partnerships at B2BGateway, “At the conference we will demonstrate how B2BGateway’s cloud based, fully integrated QuickBooks Online EDI solution can tighten and improve the end users supply chain by reducing errors, cutting costs and improving overall efficiencies. We will also be co-sponsoring with Webgility the ‘We Will Rock You’ after show party. If you are attending this year’s conference in San Jose, make sure to drop by the B2BGateway booth.”
Thursday, October 6, 2016
B2BGateway to sponsor NetSuite SuiteConnect EMEA in London
B2BGateway will be sponsoring
SuiteConnect EMEA which takes place on October 11th in the
Westminster Park Plaza Hotel in London.
For further information on B2BGateway's cloud based, fully integrated EDI solutions for NetSuite please visit https://www.b2bgateway.net/edi-for-netsuite/
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
B2BGateway to attend Natural Products Expo East in Baltimore
B2BGateway, the leading global EDI solution
provider will be attending the Natural Products Expo East trade fair which
takes place in the Baltimore Convention Center from September 22-24, 2016.
Natural Products Expo East is the East Coast’s Largest
natural, organic, and healthy products event with over 22,000 attendees and
1,800 exhibitors. Each year Natural Products Expo East draws top retail buyers
from independent stores, natural market chains and big box retailers – all with
the mission to find the newest and hottest products shaping the future of the
healthy living marketplace. Market categories represented at Expo East include
natural and specialty food and beverages, supplements, pet, natural living and
beauty. New emerging trends include:
·
Foods and beverages with floral ingredients such as
hibiscus, elderflower and chamomile.
·
Coffee fruit, the refreshing and flavorful anti-oxidant
rich and anti-inflammatory fruit.
·
Snacks using avocado oil, which has always been GMO free
and is paleo friendly.
The majority of large scale box store
retailers and natural markets chains require all suppliers to become EDI
(Electronic Data Interchange) compliant for the exchange of electronic business
documents such as Purchase Orders (EDI 850), Purchase Order Acknowledgements
(EDI 855), Advance Shipment Notifications (EDI 856) and Invoices (EDI 856).
Suppliers can also use the EDI for seamless communication with their 3PL’s for
Warehouse Ship Orders (EDI 940) and Warehouse Ship Advice (EDI 945).
By using B2BGateway’s cloud based EDI solutions the supplier can
integrate with all relevant parties in their supply chain. Full integration
removes the need for the supplier to re-key data when exchanging electronic
business documents with trading partners, leading to greater accuracy,
increased labor efficiencies and expediting the order-to-payment cash cycle
with customers.
If you would like to meet with the B2BGateway team attending
this year’s Natural Products Expo East, please email Sales@B2BGateway.Net
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
B2BGateway and Maclaren Shortlisted for a UK Supply Chain Excellence Award
B2BGateway, a leading global EDI solution provider and Maclaren, the company which introduced the world's first lightweight aluminum baby stroller over fifty years ago, have been shortlisted for a UK Supply Chain Excellence Award 2016 for developing a mobile EDI Connect App in the Technology Awards Category.
B2BGateway provides cloud based EDI solutions to Maclaren which fully integrate with Maclaren's NetSuite ERP system. The B2BGateway EDI solution allows Maclaren to exchange electronic business documents such as orders, invoices and shipping notices, etc., with customers such as Target and Amazon and removes the need for the Maclaren staff to re-key data.
The winners of the UK Supply Chain Excellence Awards will be announced in London on November 14, 2016. You can see a full list of all the organizations that are shortlisted for this year's awards here.
B2BGateway EDI Application Certified By Acumatica
Friday, September 2, 2016
A baby stroller manufacturer rolls faster with electronic orders
Maclaren, a pioneer in strollers, is using a mobile app to check EDI orders as it also takes orders via its e-commerce site.
Maclaren sells to retailers ranging from large corporations like Target Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. to smaller regional store chains and individual “mom-and-pop” stores. While the Targets and Amazons prefer to place most if not all of their orders via electronic data interchange, or EDI, many of the smaller merchants aren’t set up to exchange EDI documents and prefer to order via Maclaren’s e-commerce site, MaclarenBaby.com, which also takes orders from consumers.
In early 2015, Maclaren deployed NetSuite Inc.’s SuiteCommerce software suite, which includes Maclaren’s e-commerce platform and its enterprise resource planning, or ERP, business software applications for managing inventory, customer orders and financial records. As Maclaren receives e-commerce orders from customers across eight countries, it automatically updates data across the SuiteCommerce ERP applications.
But it can be difficult to monitor the flow of EDI orders, checking for transmission problems and ensuring enough inventory is on hand to fulfill the orders. Following the SuiteCommerce deployment, Maclaren worked with B2BGateway to also integrate its EDI orders with the SuiteCommerce ERP system, relieving the manufacturer of manually entering EDI order data into its ERP applications.
This summer, Maclaren took things up another notch by deploying B2BGateways’ EDI Connect App, a mobile app that lets Maclaren executives check EDI orders from anywhere, ensuring EDI documents are transmitting properly and that orders are fulfilled. EDI documents include customer purchase orders and Maclaren’s invoices and ship notices. Maclaren’s EDI customers also include retailers like Bed Bath & Beyond, John Lewis and Saks.
“We have an EDI team and they use the app to work with EDI transactions coming and going,” says James Ramsey, global head of technology for Maclaren, a unit of United Kingdom-based holding company Dory Ventures.
“All of our larger customers prefer to work through EDI so they don’t have to use our B2B e-commerce site and everything can be done through EDI with those customers,” he says. “That’s why we’re working with B2BGateway. They’ve been a great partner in getting EDI set up with all of these big accounts, which takes a lot of the load off our account executives and sales team for everything that comes in and goes back out again.”
Ramsey says considerable volume goes through EDI at Maclaren, and that that having the integration with SuiteCommerce and the mobile app make it far easier to keep it running smoothly. “The misconception with EDI is people think once it is put in place it just runs and everything is good in the world. But it never gets done, there’s always some issue that comes up,” he says.
Louisa Gooding, director of sales and strategic relationships at B2BGateway, says B2BGateway is continuing to add more of Maclaren’s trading partners into its EDI system. “We’re in the process of adding 40 more online trading partner relationships between now and December.”
Gooding described the B2BGateway EDI Connect App as primarily a reporting app. Ramsey, she says, “needs it because he wants to have a quick place to see what’s going on.”
Ramsey says he has been able to use the app to catch up on the status of trading partners while walking into the office or to get complete overviews of a day’s EDI transactions while watching his son’s soccer games.
B2BGateway launched the app last year on iOS platforms and added Android platforms earlier this year.
For further information on the B2BGateway EDI Connect App please visit www.B2BGateway.Net or email Sales@B2BGateway.Net
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
B2BGateway to sponsor launch of Acumatica 6
B2BGateway, the leading global EDI solution
provider and Acumatica partner, will be sponsoring the
launch of Acumatica 6 in Boston on September 8th, 2016.
Acumatica 6 is the latest version of the
award winning cloud based Acumatica ERP software suite. During the launch, John Roskill, CEO and Ali Jani, VP
Partner Strategy, Product Management & Services at Acumatica will
demonstrate to attendees how Acumatica 6 will help
increase productivity and accelerate growth with new enhancements like the
Universal Outlook Add-In, Dashboard and KPI widgets, greater drill down across
generic inquiries, and so much more! There will also be a special guest
attendance by Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame pitcher, Bill Lee and a partner expo.
EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) has become best business
practice in the transfer of electronic business documents such as Purchase
Orders, Invoices, Advanced Shipping Notices (ASNs), Inventory updates etc.,
between trading partners and is highly popular in market verticals such as
Wholesale Distribution, Retail, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Automotive and
Finance.
By integrating with B2BGateway’s cloud based EDI solution the Acumatica
user can be compliant in all internationally recognized EDI standards and
communication protocols such as ANSI X12, EDIFACT, Tradacoms, oioUBL, PEPPOL,
VAN, AS2, etc. Full integration also removes the need for the Acumatica user to
re-key data when exchanging electronic business documents with trading
partners, leading to greater accuracy, increased labor efficiencies and
expediting the order-to-payment cash cycle with customers.
According to Eugene Chang, Acumatica user and Head of
Logistics at the gamers provider company NZXT, “B2BGateway’s cloud based, fully integrated EDI solution for Acumatica
provides the communications, data translation and mapping functionality
required by NZXT to comply with all our trading partners’ EDI requirements.
Taking into consideration that Acumatica is a relatively new product and the
short time frame required for our EDI implementation, B2BGateway did a great
job! Within a month we experienced the many benefits of a seamless, fully
integrated EDI solution.”
“B2BGateway is excited to be sponsoring the launch of Acumatica 6
in Boston, states Louisa Gooding, Director of Sales & Strategic
Relationships at B2BGateway, “At the launch we will demonstrate to Acumatica
end users and partners how B2BGateway’s cloud based, fully integrated EDI for
Acumatica can tighten and improve the Acumatica users supply chain by reducing
errors, cutting costs and improving overall efficiencies. I’m also personally
excited to meet with Bill Lee, being originally from the Boston area and huge
Red Sox fan, Bill is one of my all-time favorites.”
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
What should Intuit QuickBooks users and Pro Advisors expect for the future?
For B2BGateway clients and prospects this is a common question. For Charlie Russell, a Pro Advisor and frequent QuickBooks Inner Circle writer/contributor, it is a key issue. In a recent QuickBooks Inner Circle article he commented “While Intuit doesn’t often make specific development plans public, the answer is obvious, the future is mobile. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone given the explosion in the past few years of smart phones, tablet devices, and more. But what about those of us who still rely heavily on our desktop computers? Will we be left out?”
Late last year Intuit released the Intuit 2020 Report, which explores technology and other trends that will affect small businesses over the next decade. This wasn’t presented as a specific business plan for Intuit, but it is clear that mobile technology will be a strong component of any direction the company takes. Charlie continued “In the last few years we’ve seen this mobile trend in the making, with more and more QuickBooks features being released as a part of the Intuit App Center. Does this mean that we will lose our desktop products?”
Not necessarily, according to Scott Cook, the co-founder of Intuit. In last month’s Inner Circle Q&A session, answering a question about QuickBooks Online Edition, Cook said, “What we are trying to do is to enable the QuickBooks desktop user to get many of the benefits of QuickBooks Online Edition. The data that is in QuickBooks can also be up in the cloud where people can get to it and where other apps can get to it.” The key here is anywhere, anytime access.
This doesn’t necessarily translate into abandoning the desktop. Although Intuit is working hard on mobile solutions, Cook says, “Part of our goal is to make it so you don’t have to be at the client location whenever we can make that happen.” For example, Intuit is working on eliminating the need for accountants to travel to fix something in the client’s books. A visit to the client will instead be for the “human touch, the things you choose to do.”
Charlie was reassured. “I take these comments as meaning that Intuit’s vision for my future doesn’t require me to conduct my business through a mobile phone or an iPad. I’ll have that option when I need it, but I won’t be forced that direction. And that works for me!”
Whatever the future brings, B2BGateway will continue to work closely with Intuit to provide our clients with leading edge integrated solutions that will directly address their needs. B2BGateway has been providing EDI for QuickBooks users since 1999. We have provided EDI connectivity for QuickBooks users to every major Retailer and Manufacturer around the world. In our previous implementations we have learned many important lessons and we have addressed almost every business need. If you have a special business need we have probably dealt with the same situation with a previous client. If you would like to know more about B2BGateway’s cloud based, fully integrated EDI solutions for QuickBooks please email us at: Sales@B2BGateway.Net or visit www.B2BGateway.Net
Thursday, August 4, 2016
Oracle and NetSuite: A match made in heaven - but what does the future hold?
Oracle announced on
July 28th its intention to purchase NetSuite for $9.3 billion
subject to regulatory approval. NetSuite is a leading cloud based
ERP/CRM/eCommerce software business suite that was founded in 1998 by Evan
Goldberg and has been to the forefront of financial cloud technology since its
inception. But what does the future hold for both organizations and why did
Oracle feel the need to purchase NetSuite?
The Cloud
Oracle has been shifting aggressively to the cloud over the past two years as its more traditional client/server based enterprise solutions have become less popular with customers. Indeed, its revenue mix has shown just how important cloud is becoming to Oracle’s future. NetSuite as a pure bred cloud company will help Oracle get a great share of the cloud driven marketplace.
SMB MarketplaceThe Cloud
Oracle has been shifting aggressively to the cloud over the past two years as its more traditional client/server based enterprise solutions have become less popular with customers. Indeed, its revenue mix has shown just how important cloud is becoming to Oracle’s future. NetSuite as a pure bred cloud company will help Oracle get a great share of the cloud driven marketplace.
NetSuite will help Oracle strengthen its position in the ever growing small to medium marketplace, a sector that Oracle has largely ignored up to now. It hopes the NetSuite acquisition will help Oracle to reach smaller companies that can't afford Oracle's traditional high-cost, high-maintenance product.
International Reach
In NetSuite, Oracle saw a cloud company whose sales of e-commerce and manufacturing software to smaller businesses were stalling as it tried to move into international markets. Oracle will use its branding and international knowledge to help NetSuite overcome international obstacles.
Competition.
If Oracle had not purchased NetSuite, chances are that a rival such as Microsoft, SAP, Salesforce or Sage may have done so.
NetSuite Two-Tier Strategy
Oracle’s powerful databases will help NetSuite’s Two Tier Strategy of going to market, i.e. where multi-national corporations use cloud solutions such as NetSuite for their subsidiaries and international markets, but feed all the data back to the head office main ERP system such as SAP.
Will NetSuite remain as a separate entity?
Oracle’s Mark Hurd has stated that they will continue to run NetSuite as a separate company, but if the previous PeopleSoft acquisition is anything to go by, it may not be long before Oracle turns NetSuite into a complete Oracle offering which may mean price increases for existing NetSuite clients.
B2BGateway, a ‘Built for NetSuite’ solution, has been NetSuite’s EDI partner since 2001, back when they were known as NetLedger, and we wish them the very best for the future. If you would like to know more about B2BGateway’s cloud based, fully integrated EDI solutions for NetSuite users please email Sales@B2BGateway.Net or visit https://www.b2bgateway.net/edi-for-netsuite/
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Monday, July 25, 2016
What is Supply Chain Management (SCM)?
In this post we will focus on introducing the term ‘supply chain management’ and how your organization may improve the competitiveness of your supply chain.
The term “supply chain management” arose in the late 1980’s and came into widespread use throughout the 1990’s. Prior to this, businesses used terms such as ‘logistics’ and/or ‘operations management’. In the late nineties individual authors undertook an attempt to express the essence of supply chain management in one definition. Its constituents are the subject of a management philosophy, target group, goals and numerous ways to achieve these goals.
The subject of supply chain management is, of course, a chain that represents a network of all the organizations that are involved, through links up and down the chain of different processes and activities creating value in the form of products and services for the end customer.
In broad terms the supply chain consists of two or more separate organizations legally connected with one another by the flow of materials, information and finance. These organizations may be companies that produce parts, components and finished products, logistics providers and even the final customer. Network connections do not usually focus on the flow inside a single chain, but consists of complex flows associated with a variety of customer orders, which must be operated in parallel.
In the narrower sense of the term supply chain, it is used for large companies with multiple locations, often located in different countries. Co-ordination of the flow of materials, information and finances in multi-national companies effectively is still a huge challenge. The objective of managing all links of the supply chain is to increase competitiveness. This is possible because individual organizational units are not responsible individually for the competitiveness of their products and services in the eyes of the end customer but the responsibility lies with the supply chain as a whole. Hence competitiveness shifted from individual companies in the supply chain.
There are two broad ways to improve the competitiveness of the supply chain. One is the integration (or co-operation) of the organizations involved, and the second is better co-ordination of the flow of materials, information and finances. Overcoming organizational barriers, adjusting strategy and accelerating flows along the supply chain are the main subjects in this context.
If you would like to see how B2BGateway can help improve your organization's supply chain processes, please email Sales@B2BGateway.Net today
Thursday, July 21, 2016
B2BGateway heading to the Windy City for Sage Summit
Leading global EDI provider
B2BGateway will be attending this year’s Sage Summit from July 25-28, 2016 at
the McCormick Place Convention Centre in Chicago.
Sage
Summit is the largest gathering of Sage users, business partners and add-on
specialists in the world. Throughout the week attendees will be greeted by
celebrated speakers such as Richard Branson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert Herjavec, business
experts, tech innovations and mentors. The annual Sage Summit is also an ideal
place for peer networking, in-depth education, interactive training and
achieving Sage certification. And of course not forgetting the after show party
where attendees can let their hair down by dancing and singing along to The
Killers.
B2BGateway
which is a Sage Universal Developer, provides cloud based, fully integrated EDI
solutions to Sage 50 (US, EU), Sage 100 (US), Sage 200 (EU) and Sage 500 ERP
(US) users. B2BGateway’s fully integrated EDI solutions remove the need for the
Sage user to re-key data when exchanging electronic business documents such as
orders, invoices, acknowledgements and advance ship notices (ASN) with trading
partners.
If
you are attending Sage Summit this year in the Windy City and would like to
learn more about how B2BGateway’s EDI solutions for Sage can help your
organization eliminate manual data entry, reduce labor costs and expedite
payments from customers, email Sales@B2BGateway.Net to arrange an appointment. We
look forward to seeing you there!
Thursday, July 7, 2016
Modern EDI – It’s no longer just X12, EDIFACT or Tradacoms!
In today’s modern
world of integrated data communication, the term EDI (Electronic Data Interchange)
no longer represents just X12, EDIFACT or Tradacoms file exchanges, but rather
has become a much more generic term for the exchange of all business data
supported by an ‘Any to Any’ integration. In fact, in today’s terms modern EDI
represents a completely integrated communication hub for all parties in the
supply chain.
While the traditional
EDI data formats of X12 et al are still supported, and indeed still widely used
in retail, wholesale distribution, manufacturing and logistics industries,
modern EDI will also support the majority of additional file formats such as
XML, CSV and flat files. Modern EDI will also be built on SaaS/cloud based
platforms allowing much more flexibility, scalability and value for money to
the end user.
The modern EDI
provider will also be able to support API integration in tandem with
traditional EDI ports. Therefore, the modern EDI provider becomes a complete,
integrated communication hub to support all the needs of the end user, be it
the ordering of goods from a factory, selling those goods to traditional box-stores
and the modern online marketplace, selling their own goods and services on
their own shopping cart and integrating with a 3PL for the storage and shipping
of the aforementioned goods.
Traditional EDI
|
Modern EDI
|
|
File Formats Supported
|
·
X12
·
EDIFACT
·
Tradacoms
|
·
X12
·
EDIFACT
·
Tradacom
·
PEPPOL
·
oioUBL
·
XML
·
CSV
·
Flat
Files
·
And much
more
|
Integration
|
·
Desktop
·
Limited
Connectivity
·
SDK
·
ERP
·
WMS
|
·
Cloud
Based
·
‘Any to Any’
·
SDK and
API’s supported.
·
ERP
·
Accounting
Software
·
WMS
·
OMS
·
Inventory
Software
|
Pricing
|
·
High,
used predominantly by very large organizations who could afford it.
|
·
Affordable
and available all.
|
Industries Predominantly
Serviced
|
·
Retail
·
Manufacturing
·
Automotive
·
Large
Scale Wholesale Distribution
|
·
Retail
·
Online
Market Places
·
Drop
Shipping
·
eCommerce
Shopping Carts
·
Manufacturing
·
Automotive
·
Wholesale
Distribution
·
Healthcare
·
Insurance
·
Third
Parfty Logistics (3PL)
·
Finance/Government
|
If you would like to
know more about modern EDI and how it can support your business’ communication needs,
please visit www.B2BGateway.Net or email Sales@B2BGateway.Net
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