Demand-driven businesses use the Trading Grid for a variety of complex, industry-specific business processes using multiple entry points:

• Consumer Goods Manufacturers can use the Grid to exchange their product catalog data with retailers. Product data synchronisation through the Grid reduces inaccuracies of data that lead to product stock-outs, invoice deductions and delayed product introductions.
• Computer Systems OEMs can use the Grid to exchange production forecasts with their semiconductor suppliers. Joint forecasting through the Grid ensures uninterrupted flow of components into manufacturing lines.
• Accounts payable departments can use the Grid to process electronic payments with through their financial institutions. The Grid enables suppliers to reduce their order-to-cash cycles. Buyers benefit with lower costs through fast-payment trade discounts.
• Retailers can use the Grid to track international shipments as inbound goods flow through networks of marine, air, rail and ground transportation. Through better visibility available on the Grid, merchandising managers optimise sales through better product mix and promotion planning.

Overview

In today’s demand-driven environment, business agility is vital to be able to respond to the dynamic demands of customers, partners, suppliers and drive efficient cross-enterprise business processes. In this new era, businesses demand a partner they can trust, e-business tools that work in innovative ways and e-business people that understand their business. That’s why over 150,000 trading partners trust GXS Trading Grid to integrate their end-to-end business processes across their global value chain.

Features
With a strong footprint in the international commerce hubs throughout Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region, Trading Grid is the world’s only truly global B2B network. As an infinitely scalable solution that simplifies integration, Trading Grid provides:

• A high-performance, inexpensive message-brokering service with capabilities ideal for dynamic communities, regardless of size, format or protocol.
• Flexible, easy-to-use access methods for users and applications, including a common, multilingual web interface and web services adapters for popular back-office applications.
• A universally accessible, secure metadata repository that contains information on all application sources used within a community.
• Powerful Trading Grid Intelligence Services that include Trading Grid data cleansing and event activity monitoring to shield users from complexity and improve the responsiveness of communities.
• Easy-to-use, configurable Trading Grid Application Services and prepackaged composite applications with secure content repositories. These applications are functionally independent but are highly extensible as customers seek to leverage community automation to solve new problems. Trading Grid Application Services available today include order management, logistics visibility and electronic invoicing.