B2B Integration : A Practical Guide to Collaborative E-commerce

458 B2B Integration — A Practical Guide to Collaborative E-commerce
Supplier
Data ^
E-marketplace
Buyer
The Q-Centrle
Process Distributor
Figure 15.10. — Q-Centric process — An example of catalog publishing
15.3.2. Receiving and processing orders
E-marketplaces have to be integrated with back-end business processes
of receiving and processing orders to capture the advantages of supply
chain integration, pricing and revenue optimization, electronic workflow
and seamless transactional capabilities. This integration can be done
either on a file-based batch interface or a real-time application programming
interface (API) level. Several vendors, such as Commerce One,
Ariba and RightWorks, provide both buyer-side and supplier-side
solutions for fully automating the electronic flow of documents (such as
purchase orders, purchase order acknowledgments, purchase order check
and availability check).
For instance, Commerce One provides XML Portal Connector (XPC)
— a stand-alone, server-based application that resides at the supplier's
site. This application provides an out-of-the-box, file exchange capability,
using Java APIs for seamless integration between back-office systems
(such as supplier's order management/ERP system) and Commerce
One e-marketplaces. XPC installation includes the XML Commerce
Connector, which provides secure, efficient and validated communication
with an e-marketplace.
The steps involved in a typical e-procurement cycle using XPC are
(see Figure 15.11):
Step 1 — The buyer (1) generates a requisition approved by Enterprise
buyer (2) and stored in the Enterprise buyer database (3). Enterprise
buyer generates an approved purchase order in the form of an XML file