GAITHERSBURG, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 1, 2002--
Small and mid-sized businesses can use Web services to send and
receive business documents over the Internet with little or no
hands-on participation
GE Global eXchange Services (NYSE:GE), a leader in business-to-business Internet commerce, today announced that it is offering Web services capabilities in support of e-commerce transactions for small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Web services will help these companies to save cost, reduce supply chain cycle times and increase responsiveness to customers by automatically sending and receiving business documents over the Internet with little or no hands-on participation.
In addition, the new capabilities are designed to enable SMEs to integrate more effectively with large trading communities, thus benefiting companies of all sizes by expanding the reach of electronic trading.
GE Global eXchange Services (GXS) has incorporated Web services capabilities into its Network-Based Translation (NBT) service, which allows businesses to transact with their trading partners in virtually any data format.
NBT customers will now be able to instruct their own Web services-enabled computer to connect automatically to NBT over the Internet and perform basic tasks (e.g. upload, download, list or delete transaction files) on its own. For example:
A small, US-based manufacturer of high-tech components needs to
check frequently for new electronic purchase orders received from
customers around the world requesting quick-turn delivery. The
manufacturer would instruct their Web services-enabled materials
planning application to automatically connect to NBT over the
Internet at frequent intervals, 24-hours a day, then identify and
download any new purchase orders. The manufacturer would save
costs of implementing additional technology, while receiving
time-critical updates to purchase order status.
"Through Internet technologies such as Web services, Web forms and hosted data translation, GXS is bringing to smaller businesses around the world the types of cost savings and supply chain efficiencies that have long been the domain of large corporations," said John Radko, GXS's chief architect. "GXS will continue to expand the affordability and convenience of electronic trading, thus benefiting individual buyers and suppliers as well as entire global trading communities."
GXS's NBT service now supports the following Internet connectivity options for convenience and ease of use by small and mid-sized businesses:
-- WSDL (web services definition language) and SOAP (single object access protocol) for secure data transfer using Web services technology -- Web forms - data can be keyed directly into a standardized Web form and sent to NBT for translation into a data format acceptable to the recipient. Data received through the form can be printed or downloaded in an eXtensible markup language (XML) format. -- HTTP/s (secure hypertext transfer protocol) for connectivity over the Internet; or FTP (file transfer protocol) for connectivity via VPN (virtual private network), dial IP (Internet protocol) or leased line
GXS's Network-Based Translation service enables companies to exchange business data with their trading partners - in formats such as electronic data interchange (EDI), variations of XML, and user-defined formats (UDF) - without having to re-format the data to match trading partner standards.
By providing data translation as a service on a per-document basis, NBT is designed to remove the cost and complexity associated with document translation. More information about GXS's NBT service can be found at www.gxs.com/gxs/products/product/nbt
About GE Global eXchange Services
GE Global eXchange Services (GXS) operates one of the largest B2B e-commerce networks in the world, with more than 100,000 trading partners. The network's 1 billion annual transactions account for $1 trillion in goods and services.
With a presence in 58 countries, GXS applies Six Sigma quality processes to provide e-commerce solutions that help businesses around the globe remove costs from their supply chains. GE Global eXchange Services is a part of the General Electric Company, U.S.A., and is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md. Call 800/560-4347 or visit our Web site at www.gxs.com.
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CONTACT:
GE Global eXchange Services, Gaithersburg
Jim Fowler, 301/340-5875