By utilizing e-business based e-commerce solutions, companies can:

• Improve margins by using a lower-cost online channel
• Reduce paper-based processes: postage, printing, and handling costs
• Through the use of electronic transfers/just-in-time payments reduce float
• Furnish customers faster, more responsive service

E-commerce has garnered more attention than any aspect of e-business. The Web has had a remarkable impact on a wide number of industries with its remarkable ability to offer goods and services so conveniently. Over $750 million in airline tickets were sold over the Web last year, and the brokerage industry now manages $200 billion worth of assets in online accounts.

The e-commerce process includes:

• Electronic presentation of goods and services
• Online order taking and bill presentment
• Automated customer account inquiries
• Online payment and transaction handling.

How does e-commerce become e-business enabled?

Here are some of the ways your company can implement an e-commerce strategy with e-business in mind:

• Develop a database-driven online catalog
• Provide online ordering by securely integrating front-end presentation with an order entry system
• Move static billing statement data to an interactive Web-based presentment server
• Accept electronic payment methods (credit cards, EFT, etc.) for full-transaction shopping or bill payment.

Customer Relationship Management

Customer Relationship Management requires developing, supporting, and retaining lucrative

How does Customer Relationship Management become e-business?

Central to e-business is the concept of customer self-service. Analyzing past customer behavior makes possible an e-business to personalize its offerings and to anticipate customer's wants and needs. Providing quality customer self-service involves Web-enabling and existing back-end systems, and building in secure access policies. These systems will give customers controlled accesses to the data they need, i.e., not only are you managing your relationship with your customers; you're giving your customers the tools to manage their relationship with you.

By using e-business-based CRM solutions, you can:

• Fine tune segmentations
• Improve customer retention through loyalty Improve customer satisfaction
• Expand customer mind-share and spend-share
• Demonstrate a competitive advantage
• Increase bottom line

Supply chain management

Supply chain management (SCM) is about optimizing business processes and business value in every corner of the extended enterprise -- from your supplier's supplier to your customer's customer. SCM uses e-business concepts and Web technologies to manage beyond the organization -- upstream and downstream. Manufacturers and vendors can share sales forecasts, manage inventories, schedule labor, optimize deliveries, and improve productivity.
Some of the processes included within SCM are:

• Procurement
• Inventory Management
• Forecasting
• Warehousing
• Logistics

How does SCM become e-business enabled?

Companies with a network of suppliers, vendors, and distributors need a fast, efficient way to disseminate information and enable two-way communications. This is done over the Web using:

• customized extranet sites
• Web servers
• Groupware (e-mail-integrated collaborative software)

You can start Web-enabling legacy systems to provide visibility to selected partners, suppliers, and customers and to integrate the supply chain into your company's other processes. The following illustrates the differences between a traditional supply chain and an e-business supply chain.

Traditional supply chain:

• Shared as feasible within the company, only with great cost/complexity outside the company
• Intra-company teams, with additional members added with difficulty and requiring customized administration
• Physically controlled by connection to internal corporate network and/or simple user ID and password access
• Physical models and face-to-face meetings with limitations such as travel and delivery of information

e-business supply chain:

Whenever demand requires, with worldwide access, to whomever is authorized

• Inter-company teams, with global members joining and leaving quickly, securely, and with consistent, easy-to-use administration
• Permission controlled, where data is accessible from anywhere on the globe, with sophisticated security for authentication and authorization
• Virtual product modeling and worldwide simultaneous engineering with integrated video-conferencing, Internet phone links and visual notes

The results

By using e-business based SCM solutions, companies can:

• Lower operating costs through reduced inventory requirements
• Improve customer satisfaction by maintaining adequate stock. This will keep your offerings fresh and attuned to marketplace trends and changes.
• Improve productivity through better data integrity, fewer order entry errors, less rework, and faster communications.

The bottom line is an improved competitive position.

Why AHC?

This is why SCM solutions from AHC and its vendor partnet help companies deliver the right product to the right place at the right time for the right price at the least possible cost through the supply chain. IBM's SCM e-business solutions will:

• Tie together all players in the extended enterprise, from raw materials to final point of distribution
• Give real time market information to these players, allowing them to anticipate and adjust their operations in response to market conditions
• Help eliminate costly stockpiling against demand spikes, freeing up resources and reducing costs
• Lower the costs, improve the speed and increase the accuracy of data sharing within the extended enterprise

Designed to build on what you have, AHC and its vendor partner offer end-to-end e-business solutions for SCM which are designed to integrate with your company's customer service and e-commerce processes. Only AHC and its vendor partner, offer you the consulting, application solutions, middleware, choice of hardware platforms, extent of partnerships, services know-how, and financing to help you complete this transformation successfully.