Cadillac Plastic, Concept Five Unveil Groundbreaking E-commerce Solution; Pilot Website Designed and Launched in Just Seven Weeks.Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 31, 2000 Cadillac Cadillac expensive automobile and status symbol. [Trademarks: Crowley Trade, 83] See : Luxury Plastic Co. and Concept Five Technologies, Inc. have launched the plastics industry's first e-commerce solution providing customized Web access to automated au·to·mate v. au·to·mat·ed, au·to·mat·ing, au·to·mates v.tr. 1. To convert to automatic operation: automate a factory. 2. product ordering. &uot;We wanted to make it easier for our customers to do business with us, by providing around-the-clock, shop-floor access to product information and procurement The fancy word for "purchasing." The procurement department within an organization manages all the major purchases. capabilities,&uot; said Kerry Given, Cadillac Plastic's director of Information Technology. Cadillac Plastic, a Michigan-based unit of M.A.Hanna Company, is the world's largest distributor of plastics used in engineering, film and aerospace applications. &uot;Customer response to the Web system has been outstanding,&uot; Given said. &uot;The first pilot project client immediately quadrupled its order volume, and the second pilot participant has asked Cadillac Plastic to extend the site with additional revenue-generating services.&uot; &uot;The strength of the response surprised even us,&uot; Given said. &uot;We've increased sales dramatically while serving our customers better and lowering transaction costs Transaction Costs Costs incurred when buying or selling securities. These include brokers' commissions and spreads (the difference between the price the dealer paid for a security and the price they can sell it). .&uot; Most customers use Cadillac Plastic's public Internet site at www.cadillacplastic.com. In addition, the company is rolling out individual extranet sites for its major corporate clients. These extranets feature customized catalogues, contact lists and communications forums. Cadillac Plastic built the Web system in partnership with Concept Five Technologies, a Washington, D.C.-based e-business solutions firm that specializes in applying secure Enterprise Application Integration (EAI (Enterprise Application Integration) Refers to various techniques used to share data and business processes in large enterprises. When companies acquire another organization, disparate information systems have to be made to work together. ) products and technologies as part of its solutions. Concept Five's technique of building incremental Additional or increased growth, bulk, quantity, number, or value; enlarged. Incremental cost is additional or increased cost of an item or service apart from its actual cost. prototypes using pre-existing components enabled Cadillac Plastic to meet aggressive time-to-market deadlines. The plastics company launched its first pilot extranet in just seven weeks. &uot;We build Web systems using enterprise architectures that reuse reuse - Using code developed for one application program in another application. Traditionally achieved using program libraries. Object-oriented programming offers reusability of code via its techniques of inheritance and genericity. components efficiently,&uot; said Kevin Dougherty, president of Concept Five. &uot;For example, the same database lies behind each of the customized extranet sites. Reuse of standards-based components not only enables multiple customized presentations, it makes it easy to add or change applications while protecting information security.&uot; Cadillac Plastic already is making use of this power to quickly expand its Web system. The company now is tying its online applications to back-end systems to further automate To turn a set of manual steps into an operation that goes by itself. See automation. ordering and manufacturing processes. Next, it will explore the possibility of serving as a portal for complementary vendors serving the same customer base. &uot;When you start doing business on the Web, it opens worlds of possibilities you can't predict in advance,&uot; Given said. &uot;The beauty is, our systems now are ready to seize seize v. To exhibit symptoms of seizure activity, usually with convulsions. those opportunities.&uot; Concept Five Technologies, Inc. is an e-business solutions firm that specializes in Web systems using secure Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) products and technologies. Cadillac Plastic is the world's largest distributor of plastic rod, sheet, tube and film, with 117 locations in 15 countries. |
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