B2B Technologies and Georgia Tech EDI Upgrade E-commerce Demonstration Site

Project demonstrates B2B integration in a multi-enterprise supply chain.

ATLANTA, GA, July 16, 2002 – B2B Technologies, an IT consulting and application development firm specializing in e-commerce and supply chain collaboration solutions, and Georgia Tech’s Economic Development Institute (EDI), recently completed an upgrade to the technology used in EDI’s e-commerce test bed.

EDI’s information technology (IT) services group maintains a simulated manufacturing and business environment around the manufacturing of wagons. The simulated supply chain includes a retailer, a wholesale distributor and three suppliers. The retailer and one of the suppliers reside at EDI headquarters in Atlanta. The distributor and other suppliers reside at other EDI IT services locations in Georgia and at the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

In this latest project, EDI worked with B2B Technologies to upgrade the e-commerce and integration technology used by one of the suppliers. B2B implemented Microsoft’s Commerce Server 2000 software as the supplier’s e-commerce platform. B2B then implemented Microsoft’s BizTalk 2002 Server to capture orders received by the manufacturer and integrate them into the ERP system that runs the manufacturing operation.

“We focus on serving Georgia’s small and medium sized manufacturing companies,” says Michael Parks, manager of Georgia Tech’s IT Solutions Center in Atlanta. “One of our missions is to demonstrate to these companies state-of-the-art software applications that will help them implement e-business best practices. Commerce Server and BizTalk are cost effective solutions that can provide our target companies with sophisticated e-commerce capabilities.”

Jim Tebbel, Senior Developer at B2B was responsible for implementing BizTalk 2002, the latest release of Microsoft’s industry leading Enterprise Application Integration tool, “BizTalk provided the ideal platform to receive purchase orders over the Web in a variety of formats and translate them into a standard format. In a very short time we had BizTalk moving these orders directly into the existing ERP system, and we did this without any modifications to that system.”

About B2B Technologies
Atlanta-based B2B Technologies specializes in delivering Web applications that connect businesses to their customers, suppliers, and employees. Clients such as Equifax, Kubota Manufacturing, Samsung, SunTrust Bank and Universal/MCA Records have improved communication, streamlined business processes and increased efficiency by deploying corporate intranets or collaborative extranets from B2B Technologies. Building award-winning e-commerce applications since 1995, the B2B Technologies team is passionate about delivering innovative Internet solutions that leverage the latest advances in Microsoft technology. B2B Technologies is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for E-Commerce. Visit them at www.b2btech.com.

About Georgia Tech’s Economic Development Institute
Georgia Tech’s Economic Development Institute helps Georgia grow by providing technology-driven solutions for businesses and communities. EDI’s IT services group provides information and assistance in the application of computer-based solutions to today’s problems. Its goal is to provide an environment in which organizations can objectively evaluate and compare the latest computer-based technologies and become aware of the issues associated with technology implementation. Visit them at www.cmit.edi.gatech.edu.