Your Business System B2BE Client or Connection Server The Internet B2BE Server(s) Vadilation Translation The Internet B2BE Client or Connection Server Your Trading Partner s Business Enrichment System B2BE Transaction Delivery Network The B2BE Transaction Delivery Network (TDN) provides the infrastructure and environment to enable B2BE clients to transmit documents and data between one another s back end business systems seamlessly with no human intervention removing the need for paper documents and manual processes (EDI or B2B messaging). The B2BE TDN is a fully outsourced approach to document transmission which is fully scaleable enabling B2BE clients and their respective trading partners, whether on the buy or sell side, to transmit electronic documents through the network using any document format and any transmission protocol. B2BE, as part of the TDN solution, provide to its clients a one stop service to ensure data integrity with fully automated and integrated solutions. Combined with any of the other B2BE suite of products your organisation will also be able to trade 100% electronically even if your trading partners cannot. For example, combine an e-invoicing solution with the B2BE Manual Data Processing solution and you will be able to receive 100% of your suppliers Invoices electronically, even if the supplier can or will only send hard copy Invoices! B2BE can also provide it s clients a managed roll-out solution negating the need for you to spend as much time enabling each trading partner, again either on the buy or sell side. B2BE will handle initial discussions, technical requirements and testing before you, as a client, need to become involved. This will free up valuable and limited resources in your organisation. The B2BE TDN is not a market specific solution, horizontal or vertical. Solutions have been deployed across a wide range of industries and sectors including: Automotive Electrical Merchandising Hardware Retailing Industrial Wholesale Telecommunications Retail Department Stores Chemical & Paint Industries Logistics Fast Moving Consumer Goods Office Products Government Departments Consumer Electronic Goods So whether you are looking for an e-invoicing solution or an e-procurement solution, a combination of both the B2BE TDN solution will be able to facilitate the environment suited to your organisation and trading partners needs. Functionality The B2BE Transaction Delivery Network provides a highly flexible solution to your document handling needs. All functionality can be tailored to your organisations requirements as well as your trading partners to improve document integrity, content and automated loading into the respective business system, providing a highly collaborative environment for you and your trading partners. Some of the B2BE standard functionality is described below. However, while B2BE can provide turn key solutions we have also provided highly enhanced and specialised solutions for specific needs and requirements, so if the solution you are looking for is not described below don t worry, B2BE can easily develop the solution based on your requirements. We can even advise what solutions will enhance and improve your process flow. 1
Document Standards The B2BE TDN is capable of handling any document format, whether it s an industry based standard such as UN/EDIFACT, ANSI X12 or cxml or proprietary formats which maybe specific to your trading partner or their business environment. For example; SAP idoc s or XML idoc s to name but just one! B2BE provides in-flight translation and mapping so all the technical and programming work occurs within the B2BE Server environment so you only receive the format you require and specified while you only need to send a single format to your trading partners for translation and mapping into their required format or standard, again handled within the B2BE Server environment. This has proven highly successful as a solution, you or your trading partner can send any format which is either currently in use by your organisation or conforms to your business systems native format. This means greater uptake and in quicker turnaround time frames with less investment. B2BE are able to handle any format of document, the following are but a few: ANSI X12 (Any subset) Tradacoms (Any subset) UN/EDIFACT (Any subset) Transmission Protocol ASCII (Fixed field or delimited) Print Files XML (Any dialect) B2BE also understands that your organisation and your trading partners may wish, or already have setup, a methodology to enable the transmission of documents electronically. So the B2BE TDN is able to handle any transmission protocol to facilitate quicker take-up of e-commerce initiatives with less cost or disruption to existing process flows. Of course you or your trading partners may not, or do not want to handle this aspect of document distribution and transmission, so B2BE as part of its product suite are able to provide the B2BE Client Application which facilitates the transmission of documents and files securely over the internet from your network into the B2BE server environment and onto your trading partners. Whatever your need with regards to transmission protocol B2BE are able to accommodate it as part of the integration solution, some of the following are transmission protocols already in use and supported by B2BE: AS2 HTTPs FTP SMTP Data Validation B2BE Client Application SFTP HTTP MQ One of the key success factors for integration of business documents between two trading partners in an e-commerce environment is data accuracy. To three-way match Invoices within your business system environment you require valid data, for example. Again, to create a Sales Order from your customer s Purchase Order the data must be accurate! As part of the B2BE TDN service B2BE can validate data content based on your business rules or based on specific data stored and maintained within the B2BE TDN environment before the document reaches your business system negating the need for your organisation to deal with a high level of exceptions or errors. 2
For example, you may wish to validate your trading partner s Purchase Order based on your product and price offering to that particular customer. B2BE can provide this functionality to prevent inaccurate data reaching your system through a Purchase Order approval process. If you want to receive your supplier s Invoices you may want to ensure mandatory fields are populated and populated correctly before you receive the Invoice. If it s incorrect it can be rejected to the sending party for rectification and re-sending. This is also based on your business rules. These are but a few validation scenarios, if you have a requirement we can develop a solution! Data Enrichment In certain circumstances data transmitted by your trading partners may not include all the relevant or required information to enable integration of the document, the trading partner may not even house the information within their business system. B2BE are able to house data and as part of the mapping and translation process which then includes the relevant information to facilitate the integration of the document into your business system. For example, if you are receiving Purchase Orders from your trading partner and they are not able to transmit to you your relevant part code then B2BE can add this to the file as it passes through the B2BE TDN system. Or where your trading partner sends a branch or store code and you require the relevant Account Code for that branch or store, B2BE can enrich the file with this type of information. This functionality provides B2BE clients with a solution to ensure a high degree of document integration the first time while also enabling faster uptake of electronic trading. Online Document Access While e-commerce provides an effective and efficient solution for moving documents and data seamlessly between you and your trading partners systems there are however a range of functions within your business that require transactions to have a modicum of visibility to enhance their processes. B2BE provides to its clients an online Document Centre which provides both technical and business functions full document visibility, tracking and audit trails. It is a highly valuable tool to track a document through the B2BE system as well as providing a visual interpretation of the data. IT and technical areas can focus on maintaining systems and business functions such as Accounts Payable and Customer Service can access documents through the B2BE Customer Centre when and if required, so they still have document visability. This is also an ideal tool where business functions are resolving payment issues. For example, all documents can be linked; Purchase Order, Invoice, Debit Note and Remittance Advice if they are available so all the relevant information is in a single point, helping to reduce time and effort. Reporting While B2BE understands that B2B or EDI systems run in the background and should not require any involvement there maybe times where there are exceptions or informaton is required to monitor systems. 3
B2BE provides automated notifications to clients to advise them of any exceptions so they can be dealt with quickly and efficiently to mitigate any short or long term impact on trading. For example, your Customer Services team may wish to be notified if a particular trading partner doesn t transmit a Purchase Order in a particular time frame. B2BE are also able to develop specific management reports relating to transactional data between your organisation and your trading partners. Information such as volumes, values, volumes and value by customer and exception reporting are but a few of the reports B2BE provides to its clients. This service enables B2BE clients to concentrate on their business and only become involved in the document transmission process through exception. What are the benefits? B2BE provides a highly flexible approach in the delivery of our client s solutions to meet specific needs of the organisation Low up-front investment model to maximise e-commerce take-up The B2BE TDN provides the foundation to utilise other B2BE products and services to help improve operating efficiency and process flow B2BE provides to its clients a managed roll-out service to negating the need for excessive involvement of our client s valuable resources A network that is able to handle any document format and any transmission protocol Ability to improve document content through standard B2BE TDN services such as data enrichment and validation The B2BE TDN is fully transparent to all users through an online Document Centre. What documents can you send through the B2BE Transaction Delivery Network? The B2BE TDN is practically able to handle any document type and data requirement, whether they are documents as straight forward as Purchase Orders and Invoices or through to more complex documents such as Material Release Schedules and Sales Data. Some of the standard documents B2BE handles on a day to day basis include: Advance Shipping Notice Change Purchase Order Invoice Just in Time Purchase Order Purchase Order Material Release Schedule Price Catalogue Purchase Order Acknowledgement Recipient Created Tax Invoice Remittance Advice Statement Regulatory Documents (to and from government) For more information on the B2BE Transaction Delivery Network product, please scan the QR code or visit us at www.b2be.com 4