Descartes Announces Portal Solution for Vertical Portals, Transportation Exchanges and E-Marketplaces.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers WATERLOO, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 14, 2000 Provides E-Fulfillment Infrastructure and Value-Added Network A communications network that provides services beyond normal transmission, such as automatic error detection and correction, protocol conversion and message storing and forwarding. Telenet and Tymnet are examples of value-added networks. Services for Second-Generation Online Marketplaces The Descartes Systems Group Inc. (Nasdaq:DSGX DSGX Dynamic Sound Generator Xtra (Sony) DSGX Dynamic Sound Generator Extra ) (TSE See Tokyo Stock Exchange. TSE 1. See Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). 2. See Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE). :DSG DSG Direct Shift Gearbox (Audi) DSG Dosage DSG Deputy Secretary General DSG Dressing DSG Designate DSG Desmoglein DSG Duke Student Government (Duke University) ), a leading provider of business-to-business e-commerce solutions, today announced the launch of DeliveryNet.PORTAL, its DeliveryNet software solution for portals, exchanges, e-marketplaces and other market aggregators. DeliveryNet.PORTAL is aimed at the second generation of online marketplaces that wish to provide value-added fulfillment services to customers as a way to gain market leadership. Unlike first-generation market aggregators that simply provided product catalogues or freight bulletin boards, these second-generation marketplaces provide end-to-end commerce processes, taking full advantage of the Internet by dynamically balancing demand and capacity across the transportation community, co-mingling and consolidating freight, and providing real-time visibility of the fulfillment process. "The first generation of marketplaces and transportation exchanges facilitated the trade aspects of Internet commerce by providing electronic storefronts or freight bulletin boards," said Art Mesher, executive vice president at Descartes. "It has now become clear that anyone can post products to an online catalogue or post capacity to a freight bulletin board. Market differentiation and long-term customer loyalty will come from pairing the trade services of Internet commerce with value-added fulfillment services. Customers now want to know, 'What is the status of my order? Are my service levels being met? How can I lower my transportation and inventory costs?' DeliveryNet.PORTAL is designed to let market aggregators rapidly deploy advanced Internet fulfillment functionality to their customers and expand their customer base." Joining Descartes' growing list of global portal and exchange customers is The Logistics Bureau (TLB TLB - Translation Look-aside Buffer ) -- the recognized leader of logistics consultancy in South Africa South Africa, Afrikaans Suid-Afrika, officially Republic of South Africa, republic (2005 est. pop. 44,344,000), 471,442 sq mi (1,221,037 sq km), S Africa. . TLB will use DeliveryNet.PORTAL to build a transportation exchange, with Super Group, one of Africa's leading logistics service providers, as a key participant of the TLB portal (see today's press release). Connecting Customers at Internet Speed DeliveryNet.PORTAL features e-Frame, Descartes' real-time messaging infrastructure that provides a common platform for connecting trading partners and providing order visibility. e-Frame enables a market aggregator to rapidly create an online trading community An online trading community exists to provide its members with a structured method for trading, bartering, or selling goods or services. These communities often have forums and chatrooms designed to facilitate communication between the members. , quickly connecting the disparate systems of trading partners and channeling real-time logistics information into a single, highly scalable network. The market aggregator can then offer a mix of private, semiprivate sem·i·pri·vate adj. Shared with usually one to three other hospital patients: a semiprivate room. Adj. 1. and public exchange and marketplace services across the network on behalf of its customers. e-Frame lets market aggregators more rapidly hook up new customers and other trading partners by letting participants use the messaging and dialog techniques of their choice, including HTTP HTTP in full HyperText Transfer Protocol Standard application-level protocol used for exchanging files on the World Wide Web. HTTP runs on top of the TCP/IP protocol. , FTP FTP in full file transfer protocol Internet protocol that allows a computer to send files to or receive files from another computer. Like many Internet resources, FTP works by means of a client-server architecture; the user runs client software to connect to , SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) The standard e-mail protocol on the Internet and part of the TCP/IP protocol suite, as defined by IETF RFC 2821. SMTP defines the message format and the message transfer agent (MTA), which stores and forwards the mail. and X.400 messaging and XML XML in full Extensible Markup Language. Markup language developed to be a simplified and more structural version of SGML. It incorporates features of HTML (e.g., hypertext linking), but is designed to overcome some of HTML's limitations. , Web forms, HTML HTML in full HyperText Markup Language Markup language derived from SGML that is used to prepare hypertext documents. Relatively easy for nonprogrammers to master, HTML is the language used for documents on the World Wide Web. , EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) The electronic communication of business transactions, such as orders, confirmations and invoices, between organizations. Third parties provide EDI services that enable organizations with different equipment to connect. , CSV (1) (Comma Separated Value) Same as comma delimited. (2) (Computer System Validation) See software validation. CSV - comma separated values and flat file syntaxes. Full semantic translation and transformation capabilities eliminate the need for standardized dialog and messaging techniques across the B2B (Business to Business) Refers to one business communicating with or selling to another. See B2B e-commerce, B2C and B2G. B2B - business to business trading community, ensuring high data quality without the need for time-consuming enforcement of messaging standards. Market Success through Value-Added Services In addition to providing a scalable integration platform, DeliveryNet.PORTAL contains network-based functionality that portals, exchanges and e-marketplaces can use to offer market-differentiating services to their customers. Once connected to the network, each portal participant can track and trace shipments in real time via Descartes' Global Visibility user interfaces, and receive status messages and exception alerts when delays occur in the fulfillment cycle. DeliveryNet.PORTAL also includes a full array of value-added network services that market aggregators can provide to their customers, including transportation load tendering, electronic freight auctions, carrier performance reporting, service level agreement monitoring and management, Internet-based route optimization, logistics contracts management, merge-in-transit functionality, transportation rating services and international freight documentation workflow management. DeliveryNet.PORTAL enables companies to leverage the benefits of "network effects" inherent in the portal and marketplace business model, including aggregating demand to achieve better transportation rates, dynamically balancing demand and capacity across the transportation community, co-mingling and consolidating freight, and communicating seamlessly with community members. Access to a Global Logistics Network For companies that wish to build a market that connects to a global logistics community, DeliveryNet.PORTAL also provides access to Descartes' Global Logistics Network. The Global Logistics Network enables the market aggregator to gain instant connection to a worldwide multimodal Two or more modes of operation. The term is used to refer to a myriad of functions and conditions in which two or more different methods, processes or forms of delivery are used. On the Web, it refers to asking for something one way and receiving the answer another; for example requesting logistics community, including shippers, carriers, freight forwarders, and third-party logistics providers. The Global Logistics Network enables market aggregators to tap into new markets, rapidly deploy new e-fulfillment service bundles, and quickly connect customers' trading communities, capturing time-to-market advantages that are impossible to achieve with a stand-alone tool or software product. DeliveryNet.PORTAL: A Solution for Today's Pioneers and Tomorrow's Winners "Descartes' portal solution not only provides scalable, Internet-based fulfillment functionality in a 24x7 environment, but also provides access to a global ecosystem of pre-connected logistics participants," said Mesher. "This combination will enable portals, exchanges and e-marketplaces to quickly connect new customers, improve customer satisfaction and build new revenue streams. These second-generation market aggregators will rapidly outpace first-generation marketplaces and exchanges because they provide customers with what they really want: full-service Internet commerce, combining trade and logistics processes." About Descartes Descartes is a leading provider of end-to-end logistics solutions for B2B e-commerce (Business to Business Electronic-COMMERCE) Refers to one business selling to another business via the Web. See e-commerce. . Descartes' e-fulfillment software and exchange solutions enable companies to create high-speed, high-performance fulfillment networks -- a.k.a. DeliveryNets(TM). DeliveryNet solutions empower organizations to deliver reliable, responsive customer service in a profitable manner and to create innovative new products and services. DeliveryNet solutions leverage Descartes' Internet-based Global Logistics Network to integrate the internal and external logistics and fulfillment processes of shippers, receivers, carriers, logistics service providers, e-marketplaces, vertical portals and transportation exchanges. The result is a global e-fulfillment information infrastructure that provides cost saving and revenue opportunities for businesses that need to manage physical product movement. Descartes products are licensed today by more than 850 companies in 35 vertical industries and 50 countries worldwide. For more information about Descartes, visit www.descartes.com Note to Editors: All registered and unregistered trademarks mentioned in this release are the property of their respective owners. |
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