Page 148 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

128 4 Business-to-Business E-Commerce

Figure 4.11 Target’s extranet
Connection Via
Public Internet Private VAN
VPN, encryption, Private line
global reach secure
added

Web Applications Security
Customer service Access control
Portal services Registration
Inventory management Authentication
Quality assurance InterBusiness Digital signature
Supply chain Partner Extranet Certification
Process design
New products
Budget control
E-procurement

Legacy Systems
EDI
ERP

Reduction of Design Cycle Time from the manufacturer. One solution mentioned earlier is to
order from the manufacturer and pick up the merchandise
The following examples demonstrate cycle time reduction from a local retailer or dealer instead. This requires collabo-
through c-collaboration. ration between the manufacturer and the local vendor. One
company that provides the support for such collaborative EC
Example 1: Clarion Malaysia is JG Sullivan Interactive, Inc. (see jgsullivan.com/#digital_
Clarion Malaysia (clarion.com/my/en/top.html), a subsid- asset_management). Their product allows manufacturers to
iary of the global car-audio electronics company Clarion sell online with minimal channel conflict. Another example
Group, manufactures audio electronic systems for cars. is Cisco Systems (see cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collabo-
Using computerized technologies provided by IBM, such as ration/index.html).
computer-aided design (CAD) and product cycle management,
the two companies reduced the time-to-market by about 40%, Example: Whirlpool Corp.
while at the same time improving the design of the products
Whirlpool (whirlpool.com) is another company that experi-
because engineers were able to spend more time creating inno- enced the problem of channel conflict. Consumers prefer to
vative designs. In addition, closer interaction with Clarion’s
buy appliances (sometimes customized) online, directly
customers is easier now throughout the design process. Finally, from Whirlpool. Whirlpool’s nationwide network of dealers
there is also a reduction in tooling preparation time.
was not happy with the direct ordering. Note that, some
Companies such as Commerce Guys (commerceguys. appliances (e.g., a dishwasher, a washing machine) need to
com) offer a socially oriented collaboration platform (e.g., be installed, a job usually organized by the dealers.
see drupalcommerce.org). JG Sullivan’s system for Whirlpool was then used glob-
ally. The system was designed to enable direct online order-
Elimination of Channel Conflict: Collaboration ing, and at the same time manage the delivery, installation,
with Dealers and Retailers warranty, and services by the local dealers. This made cus-
tomers as well as dealers happy, since marketing and sales
As discussed in Chapters 3 and 4, a conflict between manu- expenses decreased significantly. Also, the direct contact
facturers and their distributors, including retailers and/or with customers allowed Whirlpool to know their customers
dealers, may arise when customers order online directly better.