Dec. 11, 2006

B2B software company Mincom has inked a deal with Woolworths Ltd., Australia's biggest food retailer outlet, in an effort to become a certified B2B integration partner.

The move follows Woolworths’ decision to adopt the B2B Applicability Statement Two (AS-2) protocol to support its software integration. AS-2 is a specification for EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) between businesses using the Web, which allows businesses to use a common, single communications solution in the B2B segment.

The Mincom Axis solution is one of only three of Woolworths’ current strategic partners. Using the AS-2 standard, Woolworths’ thousands of suppliers can now choose Mincom Axis as a certified B2B integration solution to connect to the Woolworths’ ebusiness platform for the exchange of procurement and other supply chain business documents.

Peter Roebers, Senior Business Manager, eBusiness of Woolworths, said, “We are committed in offering our customers the best possible prices.

By adopting a single B2B communication standard we can streamline costs as it eliminates the complications involved when dealing with different suppliers that have different connectivity capabilities.

Roebers added ”after an extensive evaluation and certification process, we selected Mincom because of Mincom Axis’ technical capability with AS2, the team’s expertise in helping organisations to integrate supply chains, and its overall ability to operate as a strategic partner to help deliver business outcomes.”

Peter Suchting, Executive V.P. of Mincom Axis, said, “This is a significant achievement for Mincom and sets the stage for us to pursue many opportunities in the retail sector in Australia.

The Mincom Axis B2B solution is delivered as a private eHub and so provides greater control of collaboration services for our customers.

What’s more, the solution has scope well beyond Woolworths’ inbound supply chain.”

Mincom Axis is a hosted B2B integration solution that is deployed as an organisation’s private e-Hub to provide integration from internal business systems directly to trading partners, e-marketplaces, or other intermediaries.

It is delivered as a hosted (outsourced) solution so it eliminates the need to invest in costly and complex in-house B2B integration infrastructure or expensive transactional-based third parties.

Source: IT Wire.com.au