New Suite By GXS Takes Aim At Procurement

ByDeborah Austin GE Global eXchange Services (GXS) has launched a new source-to-pay services suite for business-to-business e-commerce, to help companies digitize supply-chain buy processes. It is designed, says GXS, to help companies lower procurement costs, compress procurement cycle times and lower working capital requirements. The suite -- hosted and operated by GXS -- offers trading communities Internet-accessible applications to facilitate:

supplier selection -- Requests for Quotations (RFQs), or buyer auctioning demand for goods/services

buyer requirements -- published for suppliers' acceptance/exception

catalog purchasing -- through GXS-maintained database

invoice inquiry -- buyer publishing status of supplier-received invoices

payment settlements -- automated matches of purchase order/invoice details for timely electronic-funds transfer. Supporting services include Six Sigma engagement and custom Web portals. GXS, Gaithersburg, Md., is part of the $126 billion General Electric Co.