B2B Integration : A Practical Guide to Collaborative E-commerce

XML Standards for E-business 193
• The buyer confirms the price and availability for Item A with the
supplier;
• The buyer places the order with the supplier; and
• The buyer checks on the status of the order.
The PIPs that will be used in this example will be from the Order
Management Cluster and Quote and Order Entry Segment as under:
Query price and availability—PIP3A2
With PIP3A2, the partners can query the price and availability of
products from other partners that supply products in the supply chain
(see Figure 7.3). Price and availability queries typically precede requests
for quotes, as the quote is an agreement to provide a product at a
specified price, whereas a price and availability check is much less
formal.
1. The buyer initiates the dialog with PIP3A2.
2. The supplier acknowledges the request.
3. The supplier sends the price and availability response back to the
buyer.
4. The buyer acknowledges the response.
Quote and order entry — PIP3A1
The purpose of PIP3A1 is to support a process between trading partners
that involves requesting and providing quotes (see Figure 7.4).
1.Price and availability query
2. Acknowledges the request
- 4 » " "
i 3. Price and availability query response
Buyer * -; Supplier I
! -- 4. Acknowledges the response
V- -/
Figure 7.3. — Query price and availability (PIP3A2)