Business processes are the building blocks of an enterprise.

If one of these processes fails to live up to its expectation,

business starts to flounder. How to minimize the risks, get a

better monitoring of the processes and, at the same time, reduce

costs involved? The answer is? business process automation. Although, automated business processes based on online

technologies can create incredible value to existing business,

many companies are slow to adopt technological innovations and

reap benefits from them. However, lately, things have started

to change! According to a recent poll conducted among mid size

companies shows 52 percent of respondents plan to spend over

a million dollar on business process automation. Large

companies? early adopters of online business

processes? have been immensely profiting from the value

created by process automation. Intel recently announced that

it saved one billion dollar last year alone thanks to online

business process management. In broader sense, business process management technology

delivers solutions to understand, analyze and simulate business

process models. Companies adopt this technology to streamline

their business operations, lower overhead expenses, reduce

maverick buying, reduce paper-based? mistake

prone? transactions and get better control. The ultimate goal

is to make the corporation a fully process-managed enterprise,

transformed through strategy, design, realization and actual

operations. Companies require streamlining their business processes to help

solve various crucial but specific problems, such as:An electronic supplier, in order to stay competitive, requires reducing order fulfillment cost aggressively. A merchant needs to reduce shipping time by better monitoring his inbound shipping. A manufacturer needs to cut production cost by reducing manufacturing time of a key product. A bank needs to develop and market a financial product faster than its competitors. A large distributor needs to consolidate buyers and suppliers to bring efficiency to its business. Although, business processes are wide in range; and there are

many complex issues that require meticulous work, automation

of some basic processes may bring notable result for virtually

any company. These processes include supply chain, procurement,

logistics, inventory control, etc. By adopting an online

business to business exchange companies can streamline most

of these business processes bringing added value to their

operations. A B2B exchange is a unified online platform, where buyers and

sellers login to communicate, collaborate and make business

transactions. A private B2B exchange, mostly, consolidates

suppliers and buyers of a specific company, which owns and

operates the exchange. There are two ways of integrating B2B exchange to automate

business processes. A company can participate in existing B2B

exchange or create its own private exchange. While for small companies, it is more viable to participate in

a major B2B exchange that has required components, larger

companies should consider creating their own B2B exchange. The profits companies can reap from joining an existing B2B

exchange or creating their own private one could be enormous. Customer Base DevelopmentA supplier, once registers with a B2B exchange, gets immediate

access to a large community of prospective buyers of his

products or services. Increase Revenue from Existing CustomersBusiness process automation allows companies develop products

faster, buyers get faster and easier access to product

information, receive quicker response to their requests,

get better customer support and may buy products online.

These turn into more sales. Add Profit from Value Added ServicesOnce the exchange is set as primary sales channel, available

free resources can be used to create more value added services

for clients. Some of the services that the exchange may offer

also can be used to generate more value. Reduce Order Processing CostThe supply chain solutions of a B2B exchange may allow sellers

to reduce order processing cost significantly. Studies show

that cost of processing a purchase order can be reduced from

US$ 70 down to US$ 6 only. Sales and support costsBy automating sales and customer support processes companies

can reduce over head costs over 25-30% easily. Inventory keeping costsClearer visibility and forecasting ability allow companies

considerably reduce inventory keeping costs. Since an existing B2B exchange may not have all the necessary

features and functions, a good option is to build a private

exchange based on one? own specific business process

automation need. This exchange, at its minimum, should be able

to cover major portion of supply chain and inventory control. The following elements should be integrated to create substantial value to a private B2B exchange:Supply Chain ManagementSupply chain management is the core solution of an exchange

and can deliver great values to existing systems.

Implementation of this solution will help achieve incredibly

high return on investment. Business process automation in this

component of the exchange includes both supplier and buyer?ide

quotation, requisition, purchase order and invoice. MarketplaceThis is the venue where the exchange owner company will post

their products for sale. A shopping cart should be integrated

to the electronic marketplace in order to automate the buying

process. The offered-for-sale products will be directly

related to inventory control management component of the

exchange. AuctionElectronic auction system can use both English and Dutch

auction methods. For convenience the auction component can

be integrated to the electronic marketplace.

Online auction helps liquidate surplus goods easily. Reverse AuctionThis solution allows automate electronic procurement, where

suppliers compete for a business deal real time online. Members StorefrontThe participants of the Private Exchange? both buyers and

sellers of the exchange owner company get a Storefront that

reflects profile of the company, their products and other

information. ForumA Forum or Discussion Board is an organized, on-line interactive

message board where participants conduct discussion on a set of

topics by posting questions, comments and responses. Directory of CompaniesThis is a listing of all registered participants? buyers and

sellers of the exchange owner company? either by business

category or by alphabetical order. An advanced search engine

tool can be incorporated in order to find a company based on

data provided. E?atalogE?atalog is a hierarchy of product and service categories.

All products and services handled by the exchange owner company

should be consolidated in the catalog. Private B2B exchange is a powerful concept, which engulfs a

fairly big portion of business processes requiring automation.

This is more like a business ecosystem that has an ability to

change the way companies think and do business and create

tremendous value to their owners. Nowshade Kabir is the founder, primary developer and present

CEO of Rusbiz. com. A Ph. D. in Information Technology, he

has wide experience in Business Consulting, International

Trade and Web Marketing. Rusbiz is a Global B2B Emarketplace

with solutions to start and run online business.

You can contact him at mailto:nowshade[at]rusbiz. com,

http://ezine. rusbiz. com/newsletters/newsletter31. htm

Author:
Nowshade Kabir