E-Procurement (supplier exchange)

Electronic procurement, also known as e-procurement is the business to business or business to

consumer ordering and purchasing of goods and services over the internet. E-procurement
software allows leaders to automate adherence to some polices, contracts and vendor relationship
within the system.

E-procurement is facilitated by e-procurement software, it vary from vendor to vendor, but e-

procurement software typically computerizes numerous procurement related activities, thereby
eliminating the need for manual and/or paper based processes. One key function of e-
procurement software is that, it allows employees to search through online catalogs as well as
select and acquire needed items online.

However, e-procurement and the software that supports enable far more than merely an online
shopping experience. More specifically, e-procurement automate many of the functions,
procedures and policies that an organization it procurement processes.

The tools within many e-procurement applications allow procurement leaders to automize the
procurement experience, determine which items will be available through e-procurementto
which users.

E-procurement application comes with potential challenges, particularly around installing and
integrating the software with other enterprise, back-end systems, training employees to use it,
working with suppliers to ensure a smooth transition to the new computer system.

E-procurement can product significant benefits for the organization that implements it. It can
lower transactional cost, increase visibility of enterprise procurement spending.

Deliver better reporting of procurement trends and metries through automation.

In terms of Supply Chain Management, e-procurement can be particularly beneficial for
procuring indirect material (i.e. those items and services that are not directly involved in
producing whatever final products sold by the organization).
E-Logistics is defined to be the mechanism of automating logistics processes and providing an
integrated, end to end fulfilment and Supply Chain Management services to the players of
logistics processes.

Those logistics process that are automated by e-logistics provide supply chain visibility and can
be part of existing e-commerce or workflow system in an enterprise.

In a typical E-Logistics process, three component come into play. Request for Quotes, Shipping
and Tracking. The logistics intercommunicate with the business process manager in an
ecommerce service manage to involve the RFQ process.

After getting the response, the purchase order is updated after which the shipping process in
invoked by the business process manager. Once the products are shipped for the specific
destination, the tracking number is then provided to the customer.

This tracking number is mapped to the P.O number in an ecommerce system. This facilitates easy
tracking of shipment for the customers. This is the essential interaction of a business process
manager and e-logistics.

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is the integrated management of core business processes,
often in real- time and mediated software technology. These business activities can include:

Product planning, Purchase

Production Planning
Manufacturing or service delivery
Marketing and sales
Material Management.
Inventory Management
Shipping and payment
Finance

An important goal of ERP System is to facilitate the flow of information so business decisions
can be data driven. ERP Software suites are built to collect and organize data from various levels
of an organization and connect business activities across departments. A structured approach to
ERP can help a company standardize and automate its business processes and improve the
efficiency of operations. In addition to saving time and money, an integrated
Approach to managing business processes ensures that ensures that everyone is working with the
same data and watching the same key performance indicators.

Organization paid to realize they need ERP software when they begin outgrowing their business
systems are composed of disparate applications called overtime.

ERP Software is capable of integrating workflows.

ERP systems typically include the following characteristics.

An integrated system
Operates in (or near real time)
A common database that supports all the application.
A consistent look and feel across modules.

ERP System covers some common functional areas.

Financial accounting: Fixed assets, including receivables cash applications and

collections.
Management accounting: Budgeting, cost management etc.
Human Resource: Recruiting, training, Payroll etc.
Manufacturing, Engineering, bill of material etc.
Order of processing. Order of cash, order of entry. etc
Supply Chain Management: Supply Chain planning, supplies scheduling and a lot more.

Most ERP Systems incorporate best practices. This means the software reflects the vendors
interpretation of the most effective way to perform each business process.

ERP Systems connect to real time data and transaction data in variety of ways.

Direct Integration: ERP System have connections as part of their product offering. This requires
that the vendors offers specific support for the plant floor equipment their customer operates.

Database Integration: ERP connect to plant floor data sources through staging tables in database.
Plant floor systems deposit the necessary information into the database.

Electronic commerce or E-commerce is a term for any type of business, or commercial

transaction that involves the transfer of information across the internet. It covers a range of
different types of businesses, from consumer based retail sites, through auction or music sites, to
business exchanges trading goods and services between corporations. It is currently one of the
most important aspects of the internet to emerge.

E-commerce allows consumers to electronically exchange goods and services with no barriers of
time or distance. Electronic commerce has expanded rapidly over the past five years and is
predicted to continue at this rate, or even accelerate. In the near future, the boundaries between
conventional and electronic commerce will become increasingly blurred as more and more
business move sections of their operations onto the internet.

Business to Business or B2B refers to electronic commerce between businesses rather than
between a business and a consumer. B2B business of the deal with hundreds or even thousands
of other businesses, either as customers or suppliers. Carrying out these transaction electronically
provides vast competitive advantages over traditional methods. When implemented properly,
ecommerce is often faster, cheaper and more convenient than the traditional methods of bartering
goods and services.

Electronic transactions have been around for quite some time in the form of Electronic Data
Interchange or EDI. EDI requires each supplier and customer to set up a dedicated data link
(between them), where ecommerce provides a cost-effective method for companies to set up
multiple, ad-hoc links. Electronic commerce has also led to the development of electronic
marketplaces where suppliers and potential customers are brought together to conduct mutually
beneficial trade.

While there are many types of software you can use, customizable, turnkey solutions are proven
to be a cost effective method to build, edit and maintain an online store. How do online shopping
carts differ from those found in grocery store? The image is one of the invisible shopping cart.
You enter an online store, see a product that fulfils your demand and you place it into your
virtual shopping basket. When you are through browsing, you click checkout and complete the
transaction by providing the payment information.

To start an online business it is best to find a niche product that consumers have difficulty finding
in malls or department stores. Also take shipping into consideration. Pets.com found out the hard
way: dog food is expensive to ship FedEx! Then you need an ecommerce enabled website. This
can either e new site developed from scratch, or an existing site to which you can add
ecommerce shopping cart capabilities.

The next step you, need a means of accepting online payments.This usually entails obtaining a
merchant account and accepting credit cards through an online payment gateway (some smaller
sites stick with simpler methods of accepting payments such as PayPal).

Lastly, you need a marketing strategy for driving targeted traffic to your site and a means of
enticing repeat customers. If you are new to ecommerce keep things simple-know your
limitations.

Ecommerce can be very rewarding venture, but you cannot make money overnight. It is
important to do a lot of research, ask questions, work hard and make on business decisions on
facts learned from researching ecommerce. Dont rely on gut feelings. We hope our online
ecommerce tutorial has helped your business make a better decision in choosing an online
shopping cart for your ecommerce store.