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SAP Upgrade Strategies in 2010
I just downloaded a copy of Panaya’s annual SAP Upgrade survey. Panaya is a very cool company that has built a business model around helping companies upgrade their SAP applications. I love their annual study, because it is one of the few sources of practical information about what companies are really doing with their SAP [...]
Read moreQuestioning the AMR Top 25 Supply Chain
I am fortunate to have the opportunity to moderate a live Question & Answer session about the AMR Research Top 25 Supply Chain later this week with Kevin O’Marah, GVP of Supply Chain Research. AMR published the most recent version of their annual supply chain rankings a little over a month ago. For the third [...]
Read moreCollaboration in the Supply Chain 2010
On June 15th during the Chief Supply Chain Officer Summit, I participated in a panel discussion entitled The Importance of Supply Chain Collaboration in the New Normal. The panel included Reuben Slone, EVP of Supply Chain at OfficeMax and Douglas Kent, Chairman of the European Leadership Team for the Supply Chain Council. During the course [...]
Read moreWhy AT&T Should Not Have Suspended Pre-Orders for iPhone 4
Last week’s decision by AT&T Wireless to suspend iPhone pre-orders is a big mistake in my opinion. Both Apple and AT&T already have significantly underestimated demand for the new device, which is not surprising given that the iPhone4 is arguably the biggest product launch in history. But by cancelling pre-orders they are introducing further entropy [...]
Read moreThe iPhone 4 Pre-Order Scenario
One week ago, Apple’s new iPhone 4 became available for pre-order unleashing chaos in the mobile phone supply chain. Demand for the new device was ten times higher than expected resulting in a series of order management and inventory challenges for AT&T, Apple and its partners. Over 13M AT&T subscribers visited the company’s web site [...]
Read moreStarbucks Coffee Company – Now an AS2 Certified Software Product?
Last week the Drummond Group announced its most recent round of AS2 certified technology vendors. Many of the usual suspects were included in this group of 19 technology vendors. But there was one newcomer, which caught my attention – “Starbucks Coffee Company.” You might ask – Why would the world’s largest and most successful coffee [...]
Read moreSecrets of the Shanzhai – How Counterfeiters can Beat Apple to Market
In my last post, I described the Shanzhai bandit phone manufacturers which have successfully beaten Apple to market with a fake version of its own product, the iPhone 4G. Shanzhai also managed to introduce an imitation iPad called the iPed simultaneously with Apple’s international launch. The Shanzhai enjoy tremendous advantages over traditional brands in the [...]
Read moreWhen Counterfeits Beat the Real Product to Market – iPed and iPhone 4G
For decades Western brand owners have been battling counterfeiting versions of their products in emerging markets such as China. Companies in industries from pharmaceuticals to home entertainment have shifted their product launch strategies to counter piracy threats. Some have pursued simultaneous worldwide launches as a strategy. By launching in emerging markets and developed economies, brand [...]
Read moreTracking Terrorists on B2B Networks – SWIFT EU Data Privacy Debate Continues
In my last post, I outlined how the TFTP (Terrorist Finance Tracking Program) administered by the US Central Intelligence Agency has been leveraging data from the SWIFT network to identify money laundering activities of terrorist cells. The program was made public back in June of 2006 by the New York Times. Nonetheless, in 2010 it continues [...]
Read moreTFTP – A Government-to-Business Bulk Data Transfer Utility
The tech sector headlines over the past few weeks have been dominated with discussions about privacy policies of Facebook, Google and Yahoo both in Europe and the US. Why doesn’t anything controversial like this ever happen in the B2B e-Commerce sector? You might be surprised to learn that consumer and business privacy issues do arise [...]
Read moreCrowdsourcing Forecasts in the Apparel Market
I recently came across a crowdsourcing model, which I believe has potential to disrupt traditional demand forecasting approaches in the apparel segment if widely adopted. The case study involves a web-based company called Threadless.com, which is an online retailer of T-shirts targeted towards teenagers and Gen-Y consumers. In other words, Threadless sells a fast-fashion, short [...]
Read moreOnline Grocery Shopping Lists – A Better Demand Signal than POS?
For almost a decade, Point-of-Sale (POS) data has been considered the gold standard for demand signals in the retail supply chain. Analyzing last week’s sales or yesterday’s sales can help to identify low inventory positions thereby preventing an out-of-stock situation. But POS transactions are historical by nature. And historical demand patterns will not always provide [...]
Read moreFarewell to Allison Tobin
Today is a sad day for GXS as we will be the losing our Director of Corporate Communications, Allison Tobin. She has elected to pursue another marketing role specializing in Electronic Invoicing Presentment and Payment (EIPP) and Supply Chain Finance at another company. Allison has been with GXS for six years leading our public relations and [...]
Read moreEBICS – A Case Study in B2B Standards
In my last post, I discussed the EBICS standard which is being widely adopted in the German and French banking system. The name EBICS stands for Electronic Banking Internet Communications Standard (EBICS). EBICS is a replacement for two legacy standards, BCS (Germany) and ETEBAC (France) which are being decommissioned in the next year. The EBICS [...]
Read moreEBICS – The Standard for Corporate-to-Bank Communication?
2010 is an exciting time in the world of B2B integration standards for the European banking sector. In this case, I am not referring to the continued rollout of SEPA in the EuroZone, but rather the extended reach of EBICS. EBICS is a highly secure file transfer protocol being used in the French and German [...]
Read moreCaterpillar and ISO 20022 XML
Earlier this week in Peoria, Illinois Caterpillar Inc announced a very impressive set of earnings for Q1. The construction and mining equipment manufacturer raised its profit and revenue projections for 2010 citing strong export demand for heavy machinery abroad including emerging markets such as China. Meanwhile, in Seattle, Washington at the NACHA Payments 2010 conference [...]
Read moreGreen Supply Chain 2010
Last week I had the opportunity to present on the topic of Green Supply Chain 2010 at the American Hardware Manufacturers Association (AHMA) Hardlines Technology Forum (HTF) with Bryan Larkin. Bryan is a former GXSer who now is the Chief Supply Chain Strategist for Digital Management Inc. In our presentation we explained how Corporate Social [...]
Read moreBuilding a Smarter Grid
Earth Day is here and so today I continue my series of posts on climate change. See my earlier GXS posts on Cap and Trade, Energy Spend Management, Local Sourcing and China’s Environmental Progress for related articles. One of the important topics I have not discussed is the “Smart Grid,” which environmental advocates believe to [...]
Read moreClimate Change in China – How Manufacturers are Responding
Just two days until the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day. There have been number of great GXS posts in recent days on the issues of sustainability. See Pradheep Sampath’s post on Greenwashing, Mark Morley’s post on Iceland’s Volcanic Ash and Melanie Ligon’s on the Greening of Retail. No discussion of the environment would be complete, however, with a look at how [...]
Read moreCarbon Credit Markets – Scale will Require B2B Integration
In my last post, I discussed the concept of Cap and Trade systems as a strategy for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. Today, I will continue the discussion with a focus on carbon credit markets, which are the key enabling platform for Cap and Trade legislation. Exchanges are specialized types of securities markets in which [...]
Read moreCan Cap and Trade Save the Environment?
Earth Day is less than one week away so I thought a post about climate change and the environment would be appropriate. One of the hottest topics in sustainability in 2010 is the proposed Cap and Trade systems that many nations are considering. Cap and Trade systems are one of the many mechanisms government can [...]
Read moreAvatar DVD Launch – The Supply Chain Challenges
Two weeks from today James Cameron’s Avatar will hit the shelves at retail stores. The film was nominated for nine Academy Awards and broke previous box office sales records making Avatar the highest grossing movie of all time. As a result, retailers and studios are expecting strong consumer demand for the DVD on its April [...]
Read moreApple’s iPad and the Supply Chain
Rumor has it that Steve Jobs sent a letter out to every journalist and blogger last week, with the expectation that any self-respecting technology pundit should feel compelled to write about the iPad shortly after its launch date. It must be true, because the euphoria surrounding this weekend's Apple iPad launch is unbelievable. I feel [...]
Read moreB2B e-Commerce and the Mechanical Turk of the Supply Chain
Many IT and supply chain executives operate under the assumption that once you connect your ERP systems to those of your trading partners via B2B e-Commerce information flows seamlessly through the value chain enabling superior levels of demand planning, inventory management and supply chain execution. While this is a reasonable assumption, a closer examination of [...]
Read moreThe Semi-Automated Supply Chain
How would you respond to the question “Have you integrated your supply chain?” Very few companies would answer “No.” Most would state “We do EDI or RosettaNet or SPEC2000….” But what does that really mean? Many companies that engage in B2B e-Commerce limit their usage to only a subset of their trading partners. For example, [...]
Read more80% of Manufacturers Experience 1% or Greater Error Processing for Supply Chain Transactions
In 2009 GXS worked with AMR Research to conduct a study on the inter-relationships of B2B e-commerce deployments and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) projects. One of the issues we explored was the level of exception processing required for supply chain transactions that flow directly from a B2B gateway into an ERP system. AMR’s study found [...]
Read moreProprietary MFT – The Hotel California Effect
I was speaking to a colleague in the industry earlier this week who likened the challenges with large file transfer to the Hotel California. You can checkout any time you like, but you can never leave. There are no open, Internet based standards for large file transfer. Instead, companies wishing to exchange large files with their [...]
Read moreSupply Chain Winter Olympics – Part 3
In my last two posts, I described the other Winter Olympics which has been underway for the past two months. The past 60 days have witnessed some extraordinary meteorological activity around the world. Consequently, logistics providers, manufacturers and retailers have been performing Olympic efforts to keep merchandise in stock across the supply chain. In Part [...]
Read moreThe Supply Chain Winter Olympics – Part 2 – Snowmaggedon
I live in the Washington DC metropolitan area which has witnessed bitterly cold weather and unusually high snowfalls in the past two months. The second big storm of the season hit over the past weekend. 32 inches of snow fell in less than 48 hours on Saturday (Feb 6) and Sunday (Feb 7). On a [...]
Read moreMicrosoft’s AIF XML for Dynamics Users—The Long Tail of B2B
Most of the examples of the Long Tail of B2B e-Commerce Standards that I have highlighted over the past few years focus on industry associations. For example, Aviation Fuel Data Standards, Green Coffee XML and the European Steel Industry’s ESIDEL. However, there are numerous examples of vendor-driven XML standards as well. In this post I [...]
Read moreThe Supply Chain Winter Olympics – Part 1
Less than two days remain until the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games. On Friday the world will gather to watch athletes from over 100 countries join for two weeks of intense competition. But a less publicized and perhaps equally dramatic type of Winter Games has been already underway for the past 60 days [...]
Read moreCarpEDIem – My New Squidoo Lens – A Companion to the EDInomics Blog
Last year the new lens I introduced a Squidoo lens focused on “Implementing a B2B e-Commerce Program.” Today, I am introducing a second lens entitled CarpEDIem. Why a second lens? CarpEDIem has a different mission than the B2B e-Commerce Lens. In CarpEDIem, my goal was to highlight the importance that B2B e-Commerce plays in the global [...]
Read moreSix Degrees to B2B e-Commerce – e-Book
Last Year, I introduced a series of posts about how every activity in your life is no more than six degrees away from a process that is supported by B2B integration. Wikipedia defines Six Degrees of Separation as “The idea that, if a person is one step away from each person they know and two [...]
Read moreB2B E-Commerce from 2010 to 2020 – Predictions for the Next Ten Years
Each of the past few years, GXS has published a list of predictions for the coming year. With the start of a new decade, we have taken a different approach this year. Instead of issuing predictions about just 2010, I asked a group of eight GXS Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to offer their opinions about [...]
Read moreCould Community Source be a Better Approach for Supply Chain Applications?
In my last GXS post I described the relatively small number of B2B integration vendors which have embraced open source. I this post, I will discuss a type of open sourced called "community source" which I think has high applicability for the supply chain and B2B integration. In community source a group of companies (versus individual users) unite to develop [...]
Read moreOpen Source in B2B Integration
There are not many examples of Open source in the B2B integration space. Many corporate end-users and service providers are running B2B platforms on open source software such as Apache’s web server, Sun’s MySQL database or the various distributions of the Linux operating system. But very few vendors have introduced open source models for their [...]
Read moreB2B e-Commerce Past, Present and Future – The Webinar
Two weeks ago, GXS published its look back at the Technologies which influenced the Past 10 Years of B2B e-Commerce. As a supplement to the Look Back and our Look Forward (coming in January), I have recorded a webinar which offers my perspective on how B2B Past, Present and Future. The webinar examines how B2B [...]
Read moreHow Data Synchronization could help to Reduce Wrap Rage
Although Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy, my holiday spirit is often dampened by a little mid-morning Christmas Day angst. I suffer from a disease known as “Wrap Rage.” The disease affects millions of people around the world, but there are no medications available to manage the symptoms. My outbreaks are usually [...]
Read moreDid You Send Your Suppliers a Holiday Card?
There are six days until Christmas and my Outlook inbox is beginning to fill up with electronic holiday cards from vendors. About 50% of the cards I received this year are from companies I don’t even know. I guess they are trying to sell me marketing services. It has been common for many years to [...]
Read moreB2B E-Commerce in 2010 – Poised for Growth, Challenged for Resources
A few months ago we asked AMR Research to conduct a survey with IT and Line of Business Executives at 120 manufacturing companies in North America. One of the questions we asked the survey audience was to comment about how their B2B programs had been impacted by the macro-economic recession. Not surprisingly, most of the [...]
Read moreB2B E-Commerce – A Look Back at the Past 10 Years
Each of the past few years, GXS has published a list of predictions for the coming year. But with less than 20 days remaining until the start of a new decade I thought that we should take a different approach this year. I asked a group of eight GXS Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to write [...]
Read moreWhat Google Could Do for the Supply Chain
Last week I finally was able to get my 1 year old daughter vaccinated against the H1N1 flu virus. There have been widespread availability issues with the vaccine throughout the US. When a batch of supply is delivered there is a mad frenzy of parents who line up outside the medical facility as if they [...]
Read moreWhy Amazon.com has the Best Demand Forecasting Data
In my last post I discussed one of the key disadvantages of demand forecasting techniques used in today’s supply chain. The demand signals being analyzed by many companies are Point-Of-Sale transactions from yesterday’s or last week’s consumer purchases. Using POS data is an improvement of their demand forecasting techniques of the 1980s and 1990s which [...]
Read moreBeyond POS – Looking Forward, Not Backwards for Demand Forecasting
In my last post, the Most Important Day of the Year for B2B e-Commerce, I discussed how the first full week of December is the time that publishers of movies, music and video games typically reserve for the launches of their best new titles. And suppliers of these products are critically dependent upon obtaining Point-Of-Sale [...]
Read moreThe Most Important Day of the Year for B2B e-Commerce
Yesterday, December 8th was the most important day of the year for B2B e-Commerce. I say this, not because of the “game changing” GXS-Inovis merger, but because of the concentration of pre-holiday product launches that occurred. The Tuesday in the first full week of December is the time that publishers of movies, music and video [...]
Read moreTriple-A (AAA) Supply Chain Webinar – Survey Results
We had over 300 attendees join us for the Triple-A Supply Chain webinar last Thursday. During the webinar we asked the audience to provide some insights on their adoption of Triple-A supply chain strategies as we enter 2010. I have tabulated and analyzed the results, which are summarized below. You can also download a copy [...]
Read moreDr. Hau Lee’s Triple-A Supply Chain
One of the best strategy concepts that I have encountered in recent years is Dr. Hau Lee of Stanford University’s Triple-A Supply Chain. Dr. Lee originally published his research findings in a Harvard Business Review article back in October 2004. Even though the concept is five years old, I consider it to be extremely relevant [...]
Read moreB2B e-Marketplace for Dummies Book Series Re-Launched
I’ve just learned that the popular B2B e-Marketplace for Dummies series is going to be re-launched just in time for Black Friday and the December holidays. The publishers are hoping to capitalize on the nostalgia many former entrepreneurs and venture investors are feeling following the 10-year anniversary of the Internet marketplace era. The four part [...]
Read moreTen B2B IPOs I would like to see in 2010 – Part 2
The Dow Jones Industrial Average has been well above 10,000 for several weeks now. And six new public offerings came to market this week as the capital markets continue to rebound, which begs the question what does this mean for B2B e-commerce providers? In my post last month I outlined the first five (out of ten) [...]
Read moreRecord Cash Holdings by Large Corporations makes B2Bank Integration More Important than Ever
The Wall Street Journal published an excellent article on November 3rd about how companies are holding more cash on average than any time in the past 40 years. “In the second quarter, the 500 largest nonfinancial US firms by total assets, held about $994 billion in cash and short term investments, or 9.8% of their [...]
Read moreASN Best Practices
I had the opportunity to interview Melanie Ligons, Senior Product Manager with GXS, yesterday on the topic of ASNs (Advanced Ship Notices) and how they are used in the supply chain. There are two podcast recordings of the interview available on GXS Trading Grid Radio channel 85.6MHz WASN. Intro to ASNs – In the first [...]
Read moreNew Twitter List for B2B Integration Providers
There were two big news announcements last week. First, NASA reported that it has identified on the moon’s service, a discovery that could lead to near-term manned exploration and lunar space stations. The second big announcement was the creation of a new Twitter list for B2B. I say this somewhat in jest, but in fact [...]
Read moreNew AS2 Restart and the Fall of the Berlin Wall
The answer to the large file transfer problem in B2B may finally be emerging. Earlier this week, the Drummond Group announced a new initiative called AS2 Restart. Restart would allow users of AS2 to exchange messages with very large payloads (up to multi-gigabytes) using an open-standard, vendor-neutral approach. This could be the beginning of the [...]
Read moreRise and Fall of the B2B e-Marketplaces on Slideshare
Now in slideshow format is the story of the Rise and Fall of the B2B e-Marketplaces. This presentation is a complement to my two recent blog posts – B2B e-Marketplaces – A Look Back 10 Years Later and 10 Reasons the B2B e-Marketplaces Failed. The presentation provides an overview of the marketplace era including: Dot Com [...]
Read moreTen Reasons the B2B e-Marketplaces Failed
After reading my earlier post on B2B e-Marketplaces, someone asked me – Why write about the B2B e-Marketplaces? It was a long time ago and most of them failed. So who cares? I think George Santayana’s famous quotation is applicable here “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” This concept is [...]
Read moreEDI and SaaS in Northern Africa
Today GXS issued a press release about a new retail EDI hub called Morocco Retail eXchange that has been developed by one of our partners, GNS. The exchange will help 5 retailers and 800 suppliers to conduct electronic trading and enhance visibility to supply chain activities. GNS has ambitions of expanding the hub beyond its [...]
Read moreRecommendations for Customers Impacted by BT’s Discontinued EDINet Service
GXS has received several calls in the past few days from BT customers exploring alternative options for EDI services. These companies have been advised that BT is discontinuing its EDI*Net service effective 24 February 2010. BT has written to its customers informing them their plans, citing the challenging economic climate and the fact that the EDI*Net [...]
Read moreM&A and Consolidation in the B2B Service Provider Market
In my last post, I discussed the recently released Forrester Wave on B2B Service Providers. One of the aspects of the report that I found most interesting was the detailed history of the 12 service providers evaluated. I find the M&A history in the B2B vendor community to be fascinating. Several major telecommunications and IT [...]
Read moreB2B Service Provider Market is now Wave-Worthy
This past Thursday, Forrester Research published a Wave on B2B Service Providers. The new report is noteworthy, in that this Wave is focused exclusively on providers of services (versus software) in the B2B segment (versus EAI). Historically, Forrester had published an "Integration Suites" Wave, which included all the providers of both software and services and [...]
Read moreB2B Past, Present and Future – Notes from the Panel Discussion at EDIFICE’s 109th Plenary
GXS was fortunate to have the opportunity to sponsor the 109th EDIFICE Plenary last week. EDIFICE is the European B2B Forum for the Electronics Industry. The event was held at our European data centre outside of Amsterdam. On the second day of the plenary, I moderated a panel to discuss the theme of the event [...]
Read moreB2B e-Marketplaces – A Look Back Ten Years Later
Some call it the Golden Age of B2B e-Commerce. Others call it the height of insanity. Regardless of your perspective, it is difficult to argue that there will ever be another time like it in the world of B2B e-commerce. The marketplace era witnessed an unparalleled infusion of capital and an unparalleled appetite for risk [...]
Read moreShould we use Carrier Pigeons for B2B Large File Transfers?
On September 9th, 2009 (09/09/09), while most of us were standing in line waiting to purchase the new Beatles Rock Band game, an IT company in South Africa introduced a new disruptive technology that could alter the dynamics of B2B integration forever. The company, Unlimited IT, proved that it was faster to transmit data using [...]
Read moreDilbert Does Managed File Transfer
In my last posted I proposed the need for a Napster-like service to enable businesses to more easily exchange large files with other companies in their value chain. Business users are more frequently pushing gigabyte-sized files across infrastructure that was designed for kilobyte or megabyte-sized transactions. Fortunately, there are a number of new cloud-style vendors [...]
Read moreWe Need a Napster-like Service for B2B File Transfers
In my last two posts I described how B2B integration infrastructures at major corporations are choking on the increasing number of large files transmitted crossing their firewalls. Most of the existing approaches to large file transfer are expensive, proprietary and complex. It is interesting to note that corporations have yet to achieve a simple, open, [...]
Read moreTechnology Challenges with Large File Transfers
In my last post I described the growing challenge that corporations are facing in exchanging very large files with their business partners. Today, companies employ multiple different techniques to exchange large files – e-mail, B2B integration gateways and specialized Managed File Transfer (MFT) software. But none of these three are the ideal model for the [...]
Read moreLarge File Transfer in B2B – Choking with a Risk of Asphyxiation
It was almost 10 years ago when the file sharing revolution started by Napster first began to surge. Napster enabled the everyday consumer to simply and conveniently share MP3s with other end-users throughout the world. In recent years digital media models have evolved as peer-to-peer exchange has given favor to centralized, commercial sites such as [...]
Read moreTen B2B IPOs I would like to see in 2010 – Part 1
This was another big week for IPOs. Banco Santander Brasil raised $8B, the largest offering on a US exchange in 18 months. Additionally, AIG, Hartford and Travelers Cos sold shares in insurance analytics provider Verisk to raise $1.9B. In my posts last week, I discussed what the return of the IPO market might portend for [...]
Read moreBryan Larkin’s Top 5 Blog Posts while at GXS
Today was Bryan Larkin's last day with GXS. A few weeks ago informed me that he was leaving GXS to pursue a cause he is very passionate about, helping to improve the efficiency and safety of the US railroad system. He will be leading a project for the Federal Railway Administration to help standardize the collection of railroad [...]
Read moreEmdeon – 2009’s Big IPO in the B2B Sector
In my last post I described how the IPO market has returned and started a discussion about what it could mean to B2B vendors in 2010. However, the biggest B2B IPO of this year has already occurred. On August 11th, one of the leading health care EDI vendors, Emdeon, held an initial public offering on [...]
Read moreThe IPO Market is Back – What does it mean for B2B Vendors?
Over $3B was raised through Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) last week by companies such as electric car battery maker A123 which gained 50% on its first day of trading. In fact, the week of September 21st was the largest money-raising week we’ve seen since the spring of 2008 when the likes of Visa raised $19.7B [...]
Read moreNew ERP Channel on Trading Grid Radio
I am pleased to announce that we have added a new channel to Trading Grid Radio exclusively focused on B2B Integration and ERP. Few CIOs or Line of Business leaders appreciate how dependent ERP projects are on B2B integration. Most manufacturing companies tend to focus design, development and testing efforts on business processes within the [...]
Read moreThe Long Tail of B2B Standards in the Securities Sector
Throughout the week news coverage has been focused on the one-year anniversary of the financial markets crisis of September 2008. So I thought I would take this opportunity to detail a few of the B2B integration technologies that form the foundation for securities processing in today’s capital markets. Much as in other industries, the introduction [...]
Read moreThe Systems that Did Not Fail during the Financial Crisis of 2008
One year ago the capital markets were just beginning to rotate into a tailspin in the wake of the Lehman Brothers collapse. To mark the anniversary of Lehman’s failure CNBC hosts have been recounting throughout the day the circumstances leading up to the brokerage house’s demise. There remains significant debate about whether the US government [...]
Read moreBeatlemania Rocking the Supply Chain
Wednesday marked the long-anticipated launch of the Beatles Rock Band Supply Chain game. And it’s been a few hard days’ night for everyone involved in the product launch and associated supply chain activities. Product availability is better than expected with only a few SKUs out-of-stock at each of the major retailers. In my last post, [...]
Read moreWill Rock Band cause Helter Skelter in the Supply Chain?
Today is the much-anticipated launch of The Beatles Rock Band game, available on Sony Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox 360. First launched in November 2007, the Rock Band Series has caused a revolution in the interactive video game segment, by bringing the concert performer experience to the average person. In the past two [...]
Read moreDilbert on Standards
The Dilbert strip from last Wednesday, September 2nd, will really resonate with those of you involved in B2B e-Commerce. See below. I am impressed that standards challenges have become so well known that they would be highlighted in a mainstream comic strip. Then again…industry standards are one of the most challenging aspects of today’s business [...]
Read moreO’Reilly Book Series for B2B e-Commerce
I have always wondered why there are not more O’Reilly books available in the area of B2B e-commerce standards. O’Reilly, of course, is the famous publisher of technical reference guide series with the iconic animals on the cover. O’Reilly has released titles on a wide variety of technical programming languages and standards, but not many [...]
Read moreWhere have all the FIX Networks Gone?
One of the interesting aspects of the NYSE Euronext acquisition of NYFIX is the impact to the FIX vendor landscape. NYFIX was the last major independent, hub and spoke FIX network on the market. There are a few regional players such as Meta-Bit in Japan, UULINK in France and Marco Polo in emerging markets, but [...]
Read moreNYSE-Euronext acquires NYFIX, the last big independent FIX Network
Last Thursday, August 27th, NYSE Euronext announced it that it would be acquiring NYFIX. NYFIX is a leading provider of FIX-based solutions to the securities industry. NYFIX offers both cloud-based FIX services and software applications. The NYFIX software portfolio, which includes a FIX messaging engine (Appia), translation server (cRouter) and monitoring system (Tradescope), is also [...]
Read moreThe Incredible HULFT – My Favorite B2B Network Protocol
Of all the various B2B Communications and Managed File Transfer (MFT) protocols in the market, HULFT is probably my favorite. AS1 is probably a close second. Not only is HULTFT fun to say (Try using it in a sentence), but it provides a strong alternative to Sterling’s Connect: Direct product. HULFT is not a standard, [...]
Read moreLearn about EDI, XML and B2B E-Commerce on My New Squidoo Lens
I just finished creating a new Squidoo lens entitled “Implementing a B2B e-Commerce Program.” Whether you are a newcomer to B2B trying to learn more about the technology or an experienced practitioner attempting to further optimize your e-Commerce program, I think you will find the content in the lens a useful launching point in your [...]
Read moreB2B and Your Summer Airplane Trip
With August here we have reached the peak of the summer holiday season in the Northern Hemisphere. With oil prices considerably lower than a year ago more families will be traveling longer distances for their summer vacations. Airline fares have remained relatively low throughout the summer season, which will encourage many travelers to fly to [...]
Read moreClunker-Mania – How a little P.O.S. can help turnaround the Automotive Supply Chain
In the automotive industry, the acronym P.O.S. (Piece-of-S**t) is most often associated with the less-desired, older vehicles (a.k.a. clunkers) that have been making headlines all over the US in recent weeks. However, there is another type of P.O.S. that should be foremost on the minds of automakers given the rapidly changing demand patterns I discussed [...]
Read moreClunker-Mania Challenges the Automotive Supply Chain
Yesterday, Ford reported better sales for the month of July 2009 than it did one year prior, a sign that was viewed as positive news by not only Ford but its competitors as well. US automakers have been desperately trying to increase sales volumes throughout the year, but with little success. It took the US [...]
Read moreThe New Supply Chain Finance Vendors
Yesterday, Visa and US Bancorp announced a joint venture to build a new Financial Supply Chain Network. The new company which will be called Syncada offers invoice processing, electronic payments and integrated trade finance. The joint venture is a good example of the types of actionsI expected from a post-IPO Visa, which is transforming itself from [...]
Read moreFree-Cat – Parts Catalog for the Automotive Aftermarket
Free-Cat is a cool service that I stumbled upon a few months back in the automotive aftermarket industry. Free-Cat is a free on-line parts catalog service used by repair shops and parts retailers. It was created by a group of aftermarket parts suppliers which were frustrated with the traditional catalog services offered by commercial providers. [...]
Read moreB2B Standards and the US Health Care System
In President Obama’s prime time press conference this evening, he addressed the need to reform health care. Obama stated “If we do not control these costs, we will not be able to control our deficit. If we do not reform health care, your premiums and out-of-pocket costs will continue to skyrocket." Experts have numerous theories [...]
Read moreBack to School Season and B2B – Part 2
This is part 2 of my earlier post about the critical role that B2B e-Commerce technologies play in the supply chain for back to school season. If you are planning to purchase supplies for back-to-school season then chances are high that you will be fewer than six degrees of separation from B2B e-Commerce technologies. Read [...]
Read moreBack to School Season and B2B – Part 1
It is mid-July and the annual back-to-school shopping season has begun. All around the country children and their parents are starting to make lists of the items needed for the upcoming fall semester. Students in varying different age groups will buy everything from apparel and footwear to office supplies and computers to dormitory furniture and [...]
Read moreSarah Palin will not be the new E-Commerce Czar
A number of people have asked me in the past few weeks whether I thought Sarah Palin resigned her post as the Governor of Alaska to seek appointment as the new Federal E-Commerce Czar. It is an interesting idea to be sure. However, it is one that is unlikely to come to fruition. Beyond the [...]
Read moreMichael Jackson – Can your Supply Chain do the Moonwalk?
17,000 devoted fans, family members and fellow entertainers congregated at the Staples Center in Los Angeles today to say goodbye to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. The event was staffed with over 3200 police officers at a cost of $3.5 million to the city of Los Angeles. Those attending today’s services were just a [...]
Read moreGlobal Economy’s Impact on Supply Chain Related B2B Transactions
In my last post I discussed the analysis SWIFT performed to correlate milestones in the global financial crisis with traffic patterns on its B2B network. With the rich data for the financial services sector available from SWIFT, the natural question for me is – Why is similar data is not available for other high volume [...]
Read moreMapping the Global Financial Crisis to B2B – Insights from SWIFT’s Annual Report
Last month SWIFT released its Annual Report for 2008. Most people don’t get excited about reading an annual report, but I am always eager to get a copy of SWIFT’s. Why? Because there is lots of cool data in it about B2B transaction volumes in the financial services sector. I found the 2008 report particularly [...]
Read moreB2B and Your Wedding Presents
There only four more days until June, which means we are nearing the peak of the annual spring wedding season. Last weekend, my wife and I were reviewing the list of upcoming weddings and discussing who we needed to purchase gifts for. My favorite gifts to give are practical items such as cleaning supplies (e.g. [...]
Read moreB2B helps Keep You Safe
Have you flown on an airplane, used prescription drugs or made a purchase with a credit card recently? If so, then chances are high that you were fewer than six degrees of separation from B2B e-Commerce technologies which helped protect your safety, health or identify. Review the questions below about your recent experiences. If you [...]
Read moreB2B Integration could help improve tracking of Pandemics such as H1N1 Swine Flu
I was watching the movie I am Legend on HBO Sunday evening. I’m not sure if there is any correlation between HBO’s decision to broadcast of the film in May and the outbreak of the H1N1 Swine Flu. However, it did start me thinking about pandemics and what could be done to better contain these outbreaks [...]
Read moreStar Trek and AS2
This week is the premier of the new Star Trek movie. Star Trek has now joined X-Men, Star Wars and other films in the strategy of using prequels to reinvigorate a motion picture series. The newest Star Trek movie shows the early history of James T. Kirk during his period before, during and after enlisting at Starfleet Academy. [...]
Read moreWhen having Excess Inventory is a Good Thing
Rarely do you read about supply chain scenarios in which companies stockpile excess inventory as a deliberate business strategy. Perhaps the only example I can think of is the forward-buying techniques sometimes executed in the retail and pharmaceutical industries to take advantage of promotional prices from suppliers. In this economy, however even the biggest risk [...]
Read moreB2B and Your Personal Finances
Do you get direct deposit at work? Do you own mutual funds in an investment account? Have you purchased a stock lately? Is your home or car insured? If so, then chances are high that you were fewer than six degrees of separation from B2B e-Commerce. Review the questions below about your personal finances. If [...]
Read moreB2B and Your New Car Purchase
Have you purchased a new car recently? If so then chances are high that you were fewer than six degrees of separation from B2B e-Commerce technologies. Review the questions below about the car buying process. If you answered “Yes” to any of the questions, then you can read how B2B e-Commerce may have impacted your [...]
Read moreB2B and Your Last Doctor’s Appointment
Have you been to the doctor lately? If so, then chances are high that you were fewer than six degrees of separation from B2B e-Commerce. Review the questions below about your doctor’s appointment. If you answered “Yes” to any of the questions, then you can read how B2B e-Commerce may have impacted your life. Did [...]
Read moreB2B and You – Six Degrees of Separation
This past Sunday I walked into my family room as my wife was watching the end of the movie Footloose. I don’t think I have ever seen more than 5 consecutive minutes of the film before changing the channel so I was surprised to learn that Sarah Jessica Parker was one of the leading actresses. [...]
Read morePAXLST and CUSRES – How EDI keeps our planes safe from Terrorists
The technologies being deployed by government agencies such as the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to keep us safe in the air continue to advance year-over-year. Throughout many airports in the US, the TSA has deployed millimeter wave scanners; explosive detection systems and threat image protection software. There are now specialized types of computer cases [...]
Read moreLarry De’Ath’s Top 10 Best Practices for Analyst Relations
Last April, Larry De’Ath, a good friend and colleague of mine passed away. I had the opportunity to work with Larry for a little over four years during his time at GXS. Larry had a number of things he was extremely passionate about – the RIM Blackberry device; drinking Diet Coke; golf trips to Thailand; [...]
Read moreLowes Supply Chain Finance Program
I had the opportunity to attend the NACHA Payments 2009 conference in Orlando, Florida today. One of the better sessions that I attended was presented by Lowes and Wachovia/Wells Fargo on the topic of Supply Chain Finance (SCF). I found this session particularly interesting, because there has been a significant amount of hype about SCF [...]
Read moreHow Much for that Six Pack? Price and Promotions in the Beverage Industry
In my last post, I discussed the spike in sales of consumer products such as beer and soda that can be expected in the days preceding the Final Four. With the economy continuing to struggle, pricing will likely be a key factor in the decision making process for most shoppers. Brand owners will spend millions [...]
Read moreGrocery Retailers and Beverage Manufacturers Bet Big on this weekend’s Final Four Games
This weekend millions of college basketball fans around the US will congregate to watch the Final Four games on Saturday. It is not only a big weekend for the athletes and fans at the four finalists, but it is a big event for corporations as well. Millions of dollars in advertising revenues will be collected [...]
Read moreTax Software – When Postponing helps to Avoid Extensions
In my last post, I outlined three interesting dynamics of the tax software supply chain. The third aspect I highlighted was the challenge that retailers and publishers of tax software confront with ensuring adequate forecasting and inventory management during the peak sales period of January 1st to April 15th. So you may be wondering – [...]
Read moreSoftware Supply Chain is Fully Taxed as Deadline Approaches
There are only three weeks remaining before the April 15th deadline for filing US federal income taxes. I was at Costco this weekend where I noticed a large display of tax filing software near the store entrance. Lots of procrastinators were gathered around the boxes of Intuit TurboTax attempting to assess the difference between the [...]
Read moreRead the Complete Long Tail of B2B story in Supply Chain Quarterly
Those of you who have been following this blog for some time may recall several posts I published about the Long Tail of B2B e-Commerce Standards during the spring and fall of 2008. The Long Tail describes the growing proliferation of B2B integration standards that have emerged in the past ten years following the advent [...]
Read moreB2B Integration could Accelerate Repayment of Taxpayer Dollars from AIG and Others
Public outrage towards Wall Street reached new heights last week with the announcement of $165M in bonus payouts by AIG to its Financial Products Group. American citizens are growing increasingly outspoken about their desires to see greater accountability amongst Wall Street executives for the financial crisis plaguing the globe. And US citizens are seeking stronger [...]
Read moreWhere Portals Went Wrong
There is no dispute that portals have changed supply chains forever. However, as with many disruptive technologies, not only has a new set of benefits been introduced, but also a new set of challenges. The early success experienced by portals led to an overly aggressive expansion of their usage in the supply chain. Consequently, a [...]
Read moreBenefits of Supplier Portals
Portals were one of the innovative new technologies introduced during the dot com era. But unlike marketplaces, exchanges and other failed concepts, portals successfully gained widespread adoption. In fact, portals have been both a disruptive and transformative force in the supply chain. As we look back on the past ten years of evolution I think [...]
Read moreWhat will the next ASX standard be?
By ASX, I am referring to the Applicability Statements 1-4, which are popular standards for exchanging electronic documents between business partners. Each of ASX standards have been modeled off a popular Internet protocol. The introduction of a new number in the ASX standards is not intended to replace prior versions. Instead, each release AS1, AS2, [...]
Read moreCould EDI tell us how far the Peanut Butter Contamination has Spread?
FDA officials stated last week that the salmonella contamination threat with peanut products could continue on for several years. Although the source of the salmonella has been pinpointed, the process of removing all of the impacted products throughout the supply chain is still on-going. Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), the now bankrupt salmonella source, offers [...]
Read moreWhy doesn’t Amazon’s Kindle 2.0 Support EDI?
This week, Amazon officially started shipping the newest edition of its Kindle electronic book reader. The anticipation for the new device has been building for several months as the Kindle has been out of stock on amazon.com since late November. The new version of Kindle includes significant enhancements over the 1.0 version. There is a [...]
Read moreBody of Lies, filmed at GXS Headquarters, now Available on DVD
Earlier this week the spy film Body of Lies starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe was released on Blu-Ray and DVD. The film, directed by Ridley Scott, chronicles the activities of a CIA operative who chases the mastermind of a wave of European terrorist attacks to his suspected hideout in Jordan. Of course, the most [...]
Read moreSteve Keifer – About me
Currently, I am the vice president of Industry and Product Marketing for GXS. In this role, I have responsibility for the marketing and positioning of the entire GXS product line ranging from EDI services for SMBs to B2B e-Commerce outsourcing solutions for enterprises. I have been with GXS for four years. During that time I [...]
Read moreIntroducing EDInomics
If you were to survey CIOs at Global 2000 companies about their 10 most important IT applications, I can almost guarantee you that B2B e-commerce wouldn’t make their list. In fact, many of the CIOs would even go so far as to tell you that they shouldn’t have to pay for these technologies any more. [...]
Read morePeanut Butter Supply Chain still Jammed Up
Peanut Corporation of America, the source of the recent salmonella outbreaks has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, but fears of food contamination still persist across the country this week. In the past few days there have been dozens of additional salmonella-related news reports. Everyone from supermarkets to food banks to school catering services have announced [...]
Read moreBisync 2020 – The Case for FCC Regulation of B2B Communications
In my last post, I commented on the continued use of legacy communications protocols such as async, bisync and X.25 for B2B e-commerce. I have never seen an official report on the use of legacy communications in B2B integration. However, I am confident there are over 10,000 companies are still using legacy dial-up connections. In [...]
Read moreShould the FCC ban Async and Bisync?
Today is February 17th, which has become the equivalent of Y2K in the television broadcast industry. Today was the original deadline set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to discontinue analog broadcast television signals throughout the US. Congress recently passed the Digital TV Delay law which has extended the deadline to June 12th to allow [...]
Read moreThe Cash Register – Supply Chain’s Most Important Technology
If you were to ask supply chain executives what they think the most important technology in their supply chain is you might get answers such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP); Supply Chain Planning (SCP); or the Transportation Management System (TMS). My answer would be the cash register or what those in the industry formally refer [...]
Read moreTracking the Long Tail of B2B Standards on delicious
A few posts ago I wrote about the ESIDEL standards I recently discovered in the steel industry. Much like Green Coffee XML and the Aviation Fuel Data Standards I have written about in earlier posts, ESIDEL is just one of many examples of the Long Tail of B2B standards proliferating within the supply chain. There [...]
Read moreCan you see your Supply Chain on the Big Screen?
Super Bowl Sunday is just a few days away. And NFL fans are not the only ones excited. Consumer electronics retailers and manufacturers have been eagerly anticipating the Super Bowl season as well. Late January has historically been a peak sales period for High Definition Televisions (HDTV). Thousands of American consumers hosting Super Bowl parties [...]
Read moreESIDEL – The Long Tail Grows
Those of you who have been following my posts regularly will recall the Long Tail of B2B e-commerce concept that I introduced on EDInomics last May. In short, the Long Tail describes the proliferation of B2B e-commerce standards that has occurred since the introduction of XML in the late 1990s. I continue to be amazed [...]
Read moreTrading Grid Radio now available on Apple iTunes
You can now subscribe to GXS Trading Grid Radio podcast series through Apple’s iTunes application. Simply search on “Trading Grid” within the iTunes Store and the GXS feed will come up. iTunes will only list the latest podcast recording that we have distributed. To download the entire set you will need to visit the GXS [...]
Read moreB2B E-Commerce can help New President to improve the Competitiveness of the US Economy
President Obama was officially sworn in today at Noon on the steps of the US Capitol. One of the key themes of his inaugural address was the on-going concern about the rapidly deteriorating US economy. Fortunately, this is another area that B2B e-commerce can help with. In the last of my series of posts on [...]
Read moreBuyer-Supplier Dynamics in the Age of TARP
Circuit City announced today that it plans to liquidate its remaining assets. In the coming weeks Circuit City will sell off the $1.8B in merchandise it is carrying in inventory; close its 567 remaining stores and terminate its 34,000 employees. At GXS, we were disappointed to see Circuit City was not able to find a [...]
Read moreE-Commerce could help New Administration to Automate Homeland Security
In my posts throughout the week, I have outlined several reasons why President-Elect Obama should appoint a cabinet member to focus on public policy for E-Commerce to support improvements to the US economy, environment, health care system and homeland security strategy. In this post I will focus on how e-commerce can help to support homeland [...]
Read moreFive Ways Obama Administration could leverage E-Commerce to Reduce Industry’s Carbon Footprint
I was thrilled to see that the new administration acknowledged the proposal I put forth earlier this week. This is a promising sign that the Obama presidency will live up to its promise of leveraging technology to engage citizens directly in policy making. In this post I wanted to expand upon how e-commerce could be [...]
Read moreObama-Biden Administration could drive $75B in Health Care Savings through Wider E-Commerce Adoption
In my last post, I proposed the President-Elect Obama should appoint a cabinet member to focus on public policy for E-Commerce to support improvements to the US economy, environment, health care system and homeland security strategy. Below are four examples of how e-commerce technologies could be leveraged to generate not only significant cost savings, but [...]
Read moreObama should appoint Cabinet Member for E-Commerce
President Elect Barack Obama’s technology plan includes an ambitious list of projects to reform the patent registration system for entrepreneurs; upgrade computer systems in our schools and fund various R&D programs for innovation. There are a number of altruistic initiatives to promote further expanding broadband connections to inner cities, safeguarding personal privacy from corporate abuse [...]
Read moreThe Massive Inventory Glut of 2009
As the economic recession deepens consumers continue to curtail spending, particularly in discretionary categories such as consumer electronics. Weak holiday sales have contributed to billions of dollars of excess inventory piling up around the globe. The situation is reminiscent of the 2001 high tech crash when even the most efficient supply chain leaders such as [...]
Read moreThe Non-Standard USB Cable
One of the gifts I purchased for my wife this Christmas was a scanner. We often get hard copies of photos our kids from friends that we cannot seem to get digital copies of so the scanner will be used to convert them into JPEGs. I finally got around to hooking the device up this [...]
Read moreTop 10 Logistics & Transportation Stories of 2008
2008 was a year extremes in the supply chain with commodities prices, foreign exchange rates and oil prices reaching record highs and lows with an unusually compressed period of time. The logistics industry has been significantly impacted by many of the macroeconomic forces, but it also has struggled with a number of unusual challenges throughout [...]
Read moree-Books and the Supply Chain
In my post last week, I discussed how the Amazon.com Kindle electronic book reader has been out of stock most of the holiday season. What are the impacts on the supply chain resulting from the unavailability of Kindle? For certain there will be fewer e-books purchased by consumers as there will be fewer new Kindle [...]
Read moreChinese Democracy in Low Demand
In my blog earlier this week, I discussed the out-of-stocks this holiday season for the Amazon Kindle. I thought I would focus this post on some of the products which have underperformed relative to expectations resulting in excess stock. Guns N Roses Chinese Democracy One of the biggest disappointments of the holiday season has been [...]
Read morePirates and the Supply Chain
On Tuesday, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to authorize land and air attacks on pirate bases on the coast of Somalia. There have been approximately 100 incidents of pirate attacks off the Somalian coast in 2008. In fact, just earlier today there was a report that 4 different ships were attacked by pirates including [...]
Read moreWhy is Amazon.com’s Kindle Out of Stock Again?
It seems like every year there is one hot product that everyone wants, but no one can find. Last holiday season the Nintendo’s Wii was out of stock at nearly every retailer – a topic I discussed in a December 2007 post. The Wii was preceded in recent years by the Sony Playstation 2 and [...]
Read moreIn Defense of GM – Part 2
The Big 3 bailout efforts seem to be making progress this week, despite the highly publicized criticism of the automakers by every major politician and journalist. From President Elect Obama’s interview on Meet the Press to Thomas Friedman’s blog on the NY Times to Andrew Horowitz discussion on MSN Money, everyone is having fun taking [...]
Read moreIn Defense of GM – Part 1
Monday night CNBC aired a new primetime special entitled Saving GM – Inside the Crisis. This is one of many new original documentaries that CNBC has broadcast on leading American companies such as Wal-Mart, eBay, Anheuser Busch and American Airlines. Normally, I find these CNBC specials to be very informative and entertaining. However, I was [...]
Read more10 Things Most People Don’t Know about GM
This week is arguably one of the most historic in the history of the US automotive industry as the Big 3 will submit their recommendations for Federal aid to Congress. Of course, this week is just one of many in 2008 that have brought the automotive sector to the brink of catastrophe with record oil [...]
Read moreBenefits of E-Invoicing in the Age of TARP
Suppliers often complain about having to participate in e-commerce programs encouraged by their large customers. One of the typical comments that I often hear from suppliers is “What is in it for me?” One of the benefits of e-commerce I had not considered until recently is the payment visibility advantages to be gained during an [...]
Read moreOAGi and CIDX – The Long Tail Gets a Little Shorter
Earlier this month the CIDX, the Chemical Industry Data Exchange, organization voted to transition its’ operational and governance roles to the Open Applications Group (OAGi) and the American Chemistry Council (ACC). CIDX will transfer its intellectual property to OAGi, which will create a new Chemical Industry Council to manage the standards going forward. I view [...]
Read moreKnow Your Supplier – KYS
There is a concept in the financial services industry called KYC or Know Your Customer. KYC requires that banks perform a high level of due diligence and background investigation on the identity of their customers before agreeing to do business with them. The goal of KYC is to prevent fraudulent activities such as money laundering, identity theft and terrorist financing. In this post, I would like to introduce a concept I refer to as “Know Your Supplier” or KYS that I think is particular relevant in the midst of this year’s global financial crisis – a time I have started referring to as the Age of TARP.
Read moreSupplier Networks – The New VAN Providers
In case you had not heard – suddenly it is cool to have a network again! In the consumer sector, social networks such as MySpace, Facebook and Friendster are generating a tremendous buzz as end user adoption continues to grow at phenomenal rates. In the business world, supplier (or vendor) networks have become a key strategy for numerous software and services providers. These new networks facilitate business-to-business e-commerce by connecting buyers and suppliers. Networks can be used to exchange supply chain related transactions such as purchase orders, shipping notifications and commercial invoices.
Read moreGXS Launches Trading Grid Radio Podcast Series Featuring Interviews with Experts in B2B Integration and Supply Chain
Today, GXS launched a new podcast series called Trading Grid Radio. We considered issuing a press release about the launch, but instead decided to use a blog post for the announcement. It doesn’t really matter I guess whether it is announced via a blog entry or press release. Most people, including reporters, are using search [...]
Read moreWho Turned off the Lights? Energy Spend Management
In my last post, Attacking the Phantom Energy Menace, I outlined many of the opportunities and challenges associated with reducing energy consumption in commercial buildings such as hotels, hospitals, retail stores and office parks. One of the key barriers to reducing commercial energy use is getting access to detailed data about consumption in order to [...]
Read moreAttacking the Phantom Energy Menace
I had the opportunity to co-present with Verizon Business at the ComputerWorld Green IT Symposium in Washington DC last month. In our presentation we addressed five different actions companies could take to reduce their carbon footprint. Most of the recommendations were focused on the supply chain, but there is one that applies to any business [...]
Read moreWhen the Supply Chain Runs Out of Gas
In a post earlier this week titled the Atlanta Gas Supply Shortage, I described the widespread panic that has resulted from the gasoline shortages being experienced in the southeastern part of the US. In this post, I wanted to expand on the previous post with a discussion of the impacts to the local business community, [...]
Read more10+2 – Supply Chain Security on 10/2
It is October 2nd (10/2) so I thought I would post some thoughts on the emerging 10+2 regulations for supply chain security. 10+2 is a new regulation developed by the US Customs and Border Patrol. It is one of many Homeland Security strategies designed to secure US ports through better levels of supply chain security. [...]
Read moreThe Atlanta Gas Supply Shortage
While the collapse of the financial markets has been dominating headlines for the past few weeks, there is a less publicized, but equally concerning crisis mounting in the energy sector. Last week oil prices had their highest one-day gain in history . Yesterday T. Boone Pickens predicted that oil will once again reach $150 per [...]
Read moreCloud Computing and Batman
When I first heard about the concept of Cloud Computing about 18 months ago, my first reaction was – “This must be a joke!” How is “Cloud Computing” different than Utility Computing; Grid Computing; On Demand; Storage Service Providers; Storage as a Service; Software as a Service; and Application Service Providers? These are all new [...]
Read moree-Fueling Jets at $100+ per Barrel
Oil prices surged once again earlier this week. On Monday oil futures experienced their biggest one time gain in history. Experts say that heavy trading volumes were influenced by the US bailout plan for the financial sector. Oil futures contracts are traded in US dollars. A weaker US economy would lower the value of the [...]
Read moreAS3 Conspiracy Theories
In my last post titled AS3 Has Failed, I described the challenges the AS3 standard has faced in receiving widespread market adoption. AS3′s failure will not halt the process of businesses transferring files amongst each other. There are numerous other FTP options available on the marketplace. However, the cost of file transfers will remain unnecessarily [...]
Read moreAS3 Has Failed
AS3 has failed to achieve significant levels of adoption in B2B. GXS released AS3 support on our Trading Grid over 24 months ago. I am not aware of more than a handful of our 30,000+ customers who have even expressed an interest in AS3. With the widespread use of FTP for external communications and the [...]
Read moreANSI and Eddie Fact – B2B’s Impact on the Global Economy
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac In what will undoubtedly be recorded in history as one of the most important government interventions in history, the US Treasury seized control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac this past weekend. The Treasury’s move was, of course, designed to prevent further damage to the global economic climate which is [...]
Read moreTrouble Finding a Seat – Part 2
Yesterday members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers walked off the job at Boeing plants near Seattle due to failures to reach an agreement on their labor contract with the large aerospace OEM. The labor strike will further delay the 787 Dreamliner which is already two years behind schedule, but it may [...]
Read moreTrouble Finding a Seat
2008 has been yet another terrible year for the airlines. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicts that the global airline industry will lose $6.1B in 2008. The primary drag on profitability is the higher prices carriers must pay to fuel the planes. Carriers have responded with a number of cost cutting measures including charging [...]
Read moreNickel and Diming Strategies for the Airline Industry
It seems that not a week goes by without the US airlines announcing some new strategy to nickel and dime their customers with new fees for services that used to be complementary. Some of the recent policy changes I found most interesting include: Snacks – United Airlines announced that they are raising the price of [...]
Read moreThe Software is a Service Market
In my last post, I discussed the recent trend of acquisitions of B2B technology vendors by large manufacturing conglomerates. The mergers of 3M and HighJump as well as Illinois Tool Works and Click Commerce resulted in subsequent divestitures just a few years later. Attempts to incubate and grow B2B technology divisions within major manufacturing companies [...]
Read moreNetflix Software Glitch and the Video Rental Supply Chain
Last week Netflix suffered a major disruption to its supply chain last week when its order fulfillment system went offline for several days. In my opinion, the DVD industry and the broader home entertainment sector consisting of video games and music (CDS) have one of the most complex supply chains of any industry. The primary [...]
Read moreChina’s Export
There has been a surge in articles recently about the risks associated with sourcing from China. With Beijing hosting the Olympic Games, China is the center of attention across the world. As a result, every aspect of the economy, culture, history and political framework is being scrutinized by opinion leaders around the world. With China’s [...]
Read moreNetflix Software Glitch and the Video Rental Supply Chain
Last week Netflix suffered a major disruption to its supply chain last week when its order fulfillment system went offline for several days. In my opinion, the DVD industry and the broader home entertainment sector consisting of video games and music (CDS) have one of the most complex supply chains of any industry. The primary [...]
Read moreShould Manufacturers own B2B Vendors?
Earlier this month, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) announced the planned divestiture of supply chain software and services vendor Click Commerce. The marriage of ITW and Click was relatively short one with the divestiture coming less than two years after the acquisition in September 2006. I recall there were mixed reactions from industry thought leaders following [...]
Read moreThe Long Tail Phenomenon in B2B – For Better or Worse?
Someone recently asked me – Is the long tail phenomenon in B2B making e-commerce better or worse? There is no question that the exponential rise in the number of standards over the past decade is making B2B more complicated than ever before. Considerable effort is required to migrate from traditional EDI to newer XML paradigms. [...]
Read moreFood Supply Chains – Is Shorter Better?
There was a good article in today's New York Times called Supermarket Chains Narrow their Sites, which stated that Wegmans has experienced a 20% growth in local food sales in the past 12 months. I found this not the least bit surprising given that I am hearing more and more discussion amongst my coworkers and [...]
Read moreFood Supply Chain Goes Local
Global trade talks sponsored by the World Trade Organization (WTO) came to a halt earlier this week as the key parties were not able to resolve disputes over agricultural subsidies and tariffs. The primary differences of opinion were between emerging market countries such as China and India and the more developed markets of Europe and [...]
Read moreThe Logistics of Back to School Season 2008
In my last post I discussed the issues surrounding labor negotiations at the US West Coast ports. This potential work stoppage at critical California ports could not come at a worse time. Suppose, for example, that a work stoppage occurred August 1st. Record Energy Prices What are the alternative means of importing goods from [...]
Read moreThe Five Forces Transforming Corporate Banking Connectivity
In my last post I outlined the five primary forces that I think are fundamentally changing the way corporations approach back office finance functions and their banking partners. However, one of the dynamics I did not explore is the dependency of the business model changes on technology. Changes to accounting systems and bank connectivity will [...]
Read moreWest Coast Port Strikes Still Loom on the Horizon
Bank failures, record oil prices, potential automotive bankruptcies…what next? How about a major port strike in the West Coast of the United States? Believe it or not, a strike could happen at any minute now. The dockworkers who manage the California, Oregon and Washington state ports have been operating without a contract for two weeks [...]
Read moreCan B2B E-Commerce save us from Salmonella Outbreaks?
I was not able to post any blog entries in June as it was an unusually busy month for me. In some respects I expected to be busy as I had planned some vacation time. However, I also had a few unexpected events that kept me out of the office. In the early part of [...]
Read moreGreen Coffee XML and the Long Tail
As I stated in my last post on the Green Coffee Association’s XML standard offers an excellent example of the Long Tail of B2B Standards. The standard automates a highly specialized set of business processes within a niche industry subsector. Tremendous benefits can be derived from market participants as a result of the flexibility offered [...]
Read moreGreen Coffee XML
The Long Tail gets Longer I was visiting a US consumer products brand leader a few weeks ago to present GXS view of market trends and best practices. Of course, one of the concepts I introduced was my theory on the Long Tail of B2B Standards. The chart actually initiated a provocative discussion on the [...]
Read moreCan SAP solve the Bank Connectivity Challenge?
SAP recently introduced a new application specifically designed to simplify electronic communications between companies and their financial institutions. The new application has not received much attention by the press or analyst community, but it should have! If anyone is well positioned to break down the barriers of straight through processing between corporate and their financial [...]
Read moreGift Cards and Graduation Season
It is hard to believe that the middle of May has arrived already. There are only a few weeks remaining before schools let out for summer vacation. In the coming weeks, many universities and high schools throughout the US will celebrate graduation or commencement exercises. I was in a greeting card store two weeks ago [...]
Read moreWhat can Dominos Pizza teach us about Supply Chain Visibility?
Last weekend we had some friends over to visit our house and rather than cooking we decided to place an order for pizza delivery from Dominos. Ordering a pizza today is amazingly convenient. We didn't even have to pick up the phone. Instead we placed the pizza delivery order online using the Dominos web site [...]
Read moreThe Long Tail of B2B Standards
In July 2006 Chris Anderson published a book called The Long Tail which illustrated how new Internet business models from pioneers such as amazon.com, Netflix and Apple have enabled an entirely new economic model for the media and entertainment industry. Even if you have not read the book, you are probably familiar with the concept. [...]
Read moreWhat is an ERP Firewall?
In my last post, I made the argument that ERP applications are not designed to support the growing levels of outsourcing in today’s manufacturing ecosystem. I think what is needed is an “ERP Firewall” for manufacturers to protect their enterprise systems from bad data. Let me explain this ERP Firewall concept further: ERP Firewall Defined [...]
Read moreManufacturers Should Firewall their ERP
This week is the annual SAP Sapphire conference in Orlando, Florida. I didn’t make it to the show this year, but I thought I would offer some insights on ERP and its increasingly interdependent relationship with B2B e-commerce. The ERP vendors have spent much of the past few years focused on rewriting their applications to [...]
Read moreEDI and Darwin – How EDI survived the Internet Bubble and the rise of the BRICs
Not only is EDI the dominant standard but it is use is growing more accepted, not less. Microsoft recently added an EDI adaptor to its BizTalk Server 2006 product to make its integration platform more competitive in the B2B segment. This may seem strange to those who view Microsoft as chief evangelist for XML and [...]
Read moreEDI and Darwin – Survival of the Fittest
EDI continues to be the dominant standard in B2B e-commerce. If you don’t believe me, I would encourage you to take a look at the report titled B2B Integration Trends: Message Formats published last year by Ken Vollmer of Forrester Research. Forrester estimated that out of all B2B transaction volumes in 2007, 85-90% use EDI. [...]
Read moreConsumers to Mandate Data Sync in the Grocery Sector
“May Contain Nuts” – No Longer Acceptable Today’s consumer is also more health-focused and socially conscious than ever. And these educated consumers are demanding more information about products before they make purchasing decisions. Consider the case of food. Today’s health-conscious consumer wants to understand not just the brand, price and size of each SKU, but [...]
Read moreConsumers – Not Retailers – will drive adoption of Data Synchronization
Earth Day and the Green Movement We will celebrate Earth Day later this week. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to enjoy much of the outside world today as we have been inundated with thunderstorms here in Washington DC. Nothing like a good dose of acid rain to remind you of the need to proactively attack the [...]
Read moreMicrosoft Now Maintains Largest Share of Translator Market
Most readers of this headline will doubt the veracity of such a claim. Surely, the translator bundled with one of the leading integration brokers from Sterling Commerce, Software AG’s webMethods or IBM must have the highest market share. One could argue GXS’s Application Integrator could also compete for such a title. Well…Microsoft does now boast [...]
Read moreAirline Cancellations and the Falling Dollar Disrupt Supply Chains
Earlier this week American Airlines cancelled approximately half of its scheduled flights due to concerns over a potential wiring issue in MD-80 passenger jets. Over 1000 flights were cancelled on Wednesday and nearly 500 were grounded on Tuesday. It has been a tough year for the airlines. Not only are jet fuel prices rising rapidly [...]
Read moreThe End of Quarter Rush – Avoiding the Terminal 5 Syndrome
Last week I spent three days in London conducting a series of meetings with customers, partners, analysts and local media. These trips are always insightful for me, but last week was a particularly interesting time to be in London. First, the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his new wife Carla Bruni Sarkozy were visiting the [...]
Read moreOffice 2007 Rollout Postponement – Part 2
Consumer Software Deployment Models In my last post (http://blogs.gxs.com/keifers/2008/03/23/office-2007-rollout-postponement/), I began a comparison of the software deployment model used by corporations and consumers. While most corporations of any significant size (50 employees or larger) utilize a completely electronic process to distribute software centrally over the local area network, most consumers use a very physical process [...]
Read moreOffice 2007 Rollout Postponement
GXS has been in the process of rolling out Microsoft’s Office 2007 to our employee base over the past few months. I am one of the few employees who are lucky enough to have been handicapped with this upgrade for about six months now. The user interface for Office 2007 is substantially different than previous [...]
Read moreA Credit Card for International Trade
Last week I had the privilege of delivering a presentation at the CFO Rising conference in Orlando, Florida on the topic of Supply Chain Finance. I was fortunate to be presenting jointly with Neal Harm who is the Chief Administrative Officer of BB&T’s Commercial Finance group. BB&T was a key exhibitor at the show, promoting [...]
Read moreBattle of the Supply Chains
One of the industry associations GXS has been working with recently is the Global Supply Chain Forum sponsored by Stanford University. The forum is comprised of representatives from many of the world’s largest manufacturing companies as well as some of Stanford’s leading faculty such as supply chain thought leader Dr. Hau Lee. Dr. Lee has [...]
Read moreSaaS – A Less Crude Approach to TMS
Crude oil reached over $100 a barrel this week prompting further discussion about energy prices effect on the economy. As I was driving into work on Thursday, I was listening to CNBC on the radio. The Squawk Box crew interviewed T. Boone Pickens on his thoughts about rising oil prices and the need for alternative [...]
Read moreIs your TMS implementation costing you an arm and a leg?
Rising Energy Prices (and Profits) ExxonMobil reported its annual earnings last week – $40.61 billion! Exxon’s profit is the largest in US corporate history beating its own record 2006 earnings of $39.5 billion. To illustrate the magnitude of Exxon’s achievement consider that · Exxon’s profits alone would be nearly enough to buy Yahoo! [...]
Read moreDealer Floorplan Financing
The US Automotive Market in 2008 It seems like every day more and more people are talking about a probable US recession in 2008. As a result businesses in every industry are exploring the potential repercussions of an economic slowdown. The automotive industry is one sector that will certainly not be immune to a downturn [...]
Read moreTop Five Takeaways from NRF’s Big Show 2008
This is a follow up to Sunday’s post on my visit to the National Retail Federation show. Out of the sessions I attended there were five topics I thought were particularly noteworthy this year: 1. Threat of US Economic Recession looms over the retail industry in 2008. There is an air of [...]
Read moreThe Power of Retailing – NRF Big Show 2008
It’s Sunday morning at the annual National Retail Federation Big Show in New York City and there is a mix of excitement, intensity and competitiveness is in the air…. Some of you may wonder what I was doing at a tradeshow on Sunday. Well, I don’t usually spend my Sundays going to tradeshows. However, I [...]
Read moreGift Cards and the New Retail-to-Retail Channel
Of all the presents exchanged this holiday season, what gift do you think was received by more people than anything else? Video Game Consoles Navigation Devices DVDs Clothing If you read the title of the blog you probably have already guessed that none of the answers above are the one I am looking for. The [...]
Read moreASN shown to reduce pre-holiday stress in 85.6% of cases
It’s December 24th. For many gift buyers panic is beginning to strike (if it hasn’t already). There are only a few hours before the stores will close for Christmas and the window of opportunity for 2007 holiday shopping will have closed. The panic is especially high for shoppers who may not have received all of [...]
Read moreB2B Detachment leads to B2B Outsourcing
Earlier this week we were fortunate to have Ken Vollmer of Forrester Research visit GXS headquarters. The purpose of the meeting was to give Ken an update on our plans for 2008, but also to hear Forrester’s perspectives on the market. One of the new concepts Forrester has introduced is the idea of “B2B Detachment” [...]
Read moreThe Physical and Financial Supply Chain
Last week GXS announced that it was selected by BB&T to power the financial institution’s new “Integrated Supply Chain Finance” solution. And since then our phone has been ringing off the hook with calls from other banks, analysts and partners interested in learning more about this topic of Supply Chain Finance. This is a fascinating [...]
Read moreWhy are Wii so often out-of-stock for holiday gifts in high demand?
There is a great article in the current issue of Business Week on the supply chain challenges Nintendo is experiencing with availability of its Wii console this holiday season. This is an intriguing subject to me because it seems like every year there is one hot product that everyone wants, but no one can find. [...]
Read more24 Hours to Prevent LOST Sales – The DVD Supply Chain
Tomorrow is the release of Season Six of Fox’s 24. And next Tuesday on December 11th we will see the release of ABC’s LOST Season 3. These are, in my opinion, the two best programs on television today. And I, along with millions of consumers, will be rushing to stores in during the holiday season [...]
Read moreISO 20022 – In Search Of…Payments Harmony
I first learned about ISO 20022 some 18 months ago. I remember first thinking about the name. I said to myself this new payment standard must be intended to replace the 20021 different formats the global financial community uses today for payments. Unfortunately, while perhaps very fitting, that is not the origin of the name. [...]
Read moreEDInomics Defined
In my first blog entry, I introduced the concept of EDInomics, which is a newly invented term I created as the title for this blog. In this entry, I would like to formally define the term: EDInomics – E •D •I •nom •ics [e-di-nom-iks] - Noun 1. A study of how Electronic Data Interchange [...]
Read moreIntroducing EDInomics
If you were to survey CIOs at Global 2000 companies about their 10 most important IT applications, I can almost guarantee you that B2B e-commerce wouldn’t make their list. In fact, many of the CIOs would even go so far as to tell you that they shouldn’t have to pay for these technologies any more. [...]
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