B2B eCommerce with Foodstuffs
Over four million purchase orders (PO) are sent from Foodstuffs
to 1500 suppliers, almost exclusively by fax prior to the
development of the Foodstuffs eXchange. These purchase orders were
re-keyed into suppliers own systems where they existed, resulting
in similar numbers of advanced shipping notices (ASN) and invoices
(INV) being produced by suppliers for return to Foodstuffs by fax
or mail. Where a supplier did not have their own IT systems, these
documents were often hand written.
A website solution was created for those suppliers that require
minimum effort electronically to trade with Foodstuffs. The
Foodstuffs eXchange was born. It allows suppliers to:
- View or download purchase orders.
- Create or upload advanced shipping notices.
- Enter invoices manually or upload them as files.
- Maintain all product and store codes.
Click on the diagram to the right to view the flow of documents
through the Foodstuffs eXchange and how the process as a whole will
work for you as the supplier.
In parallel to the website, the B2B eCommerce layer offers the
following features:
- It accepts messages from the website, ftp or email.
- Translates the message between Foodstuffs and a supplier
covering more than 50 formats. These include supplier custom
formats, CSV files, EDIFACT standard formats and Foodstuffs XML
formats.
- Product and store codes are translated, with B2B communications
updating the website allowing it to be used as a fallback by
suppliers.
- Messages are sent to the recipients using the preferred
transport, agreed at the time of integration.
The Foodstuffs eXchange is a collaborative eCommerce initiative
among three Foodstuffs companies that minimises transactions costs
for the company and its suppliers. It provides smaller suppliers a
low cost/no cost eCommerce solution, while larger suppliers can use
the B2B connectivity to automate their business processes and
achieve significant savings.
Downloads
Foodstuffs eXchange Application Form (29kb)
