4. Case Studies: B2B
DE + IA (INFO 243) - 29 January 2007
Bob Glushko
Plan for Today's Lecture
- XML Foundations for Document Engineering
- Paperless Trading
- RosettaNet for Intel
- Operation Clean Data
XML Foundations for Document Engineering [1]
- Neither the methods of Document Engineering nor the models it produces have anything inherently to do with XML or any other syntax
- But HTML has limited use for business applications because it has no tags
for marking up information to give it business meaning
- XML -- which just turned 10 -- has rapidly become the preferred format for representing physical
models of documents and business processes
- XML was designed to give the intuitive idea of a document model a more physical,
formal foundation
- XML is a metalanguage for markup, and markup languages -- "document types" -- can be
created for very specific document or process models
XML Foundations for Document Engineering [2]
- XML schemas define the rules that govern the arrangement and values
of a document’s content
- An XML schema communicates the model of a document type to people or applications
that need to create or receive document instances, so an XML document without a schema is little more than a bag of tags whose meanings are undefined
- There is often a gap between the conceptual model of a document -- all the "business rules" associated with it -- and
what can be described in an XML schema
- The decision about where to transform documents is a business one
The Case for Paperless Trading [1]
- According to the UN, the average international transaction involves:
- 27 to 30 different parties
- 40 documents
- 200 data elements, 30 of which are repeated at least 30 times
- Re-keying of 60 to 70% of the data at least once
The Case for Paperless Trading [2]
- Borneo Bulletin, 12 January 2006
- 74 shipping containers with aid for tsunami survivors stuck in port of Belawan in Sumatra (other side of island from Bandar Aceh) because organizations sending the aid didn't complete all the shipping and customs documents
The Case for Paperless Trading [3]
The Case for Paperless Trading [4]
"Paperless Trading"
- What problems will paperless trading hope to solve?
- Why is international trade so much more complex than domestic trade?
- What are the projected savings? Why do they vary so much by product category and type of shipment?
- How does paperless trading affect the need for inventory in supply chains?
- Why is paperless trading especially attractive to developing countries? In what ways is it problematic for them?
The Three Information Flows
- Commercial / Financial
- Regulatory
- Logistics
Import/Export - Commercial and Financial Document Flow
Commercial and Financial Document Flow: Step by Step [1]
-
The Importer places an order to buy goods from overseas supplier (who then becomes the Exporter).
- The Exporter arranges the shipment of the goods with an international carrier (shipping line, freight forwarder or airline). They will be responsible for getting the goods to the destination port (and maybe beyond).
- The Bill of Lading (sea) or Air Waybill (air) describes the goods and their transportation details and costs. They are required as proof of shipment by many of the parties involved.
Commercial and Financial Document Flow: Step by Step [2]
- Either the Importer or Exporter (or both) will need to insure the goods in transit. Banks have divisions that offer maritime insurance.
- To cover the exporter's exposure a guarantee of funds is lodged with the exporter's bank.
- At some stage the Exporter invoices the Importer for the goods
-
If the Importer is satisfied with the goods they instruct their bank to release funds to the Exporter.
- The Banks inform their customers of the funds transfer.
Import/Export - Regulatory Document Flow
Regulatory Document Flow: Step by Step [1]
-
The Exporter must apply for relevant certificates based on international trading arrangements with the destination country, export restrictions and the type of goods being shipped.
-
A Certificate of Origin verifies where the goods were manufactured (or grown). This controls trade being redirected through 3rd party countries to avoid duty or trade restrictions.
- Sanitary Certificates cover meat products for health and hygiene safety
- Phytosanitary Certificates do the same for vegetable matter (including wooden products)
-
The Exporter needs these certificates when they apply to Customs for permission to export the goods.
Regulatory Document Flow: Step by Step [2]
-
Customs will give authorization for the goods to be exported. This can be done weeks before the goods actually ship.
-
When the goods are actually loaded on a vessel (or aircraft) the terminal operator will notify customs the goods are being shipped
-
The Exporter notifies the Importer that the goods are being shipped and sends copies of all certificates.
-
The Importer uses these when they apply to Customs to import the goods.
Regulatory Document Flow: Step by Step [3]
-
Customs will advise of any duties payable on the goods.
-
The Importer must pay the amount of duty based on the classification of the type of goods.
-
Once duty is paid Customs issue a commercial clearance of the goods
-
The destination terminal operator notifies Customs when the shipment has arrived. This may trigger an inspection.
-
Once Customs are satisfied the shipment is legitimate they allow the terminal operator to release it to the Importer.
Import/Export - Logistics Document Flow
Logistics Document Flow: Step by Step [1]
-
Once they have a Forwarding Instruction from the Exporter (see Commercial Flow) the main (international) carrier will arrange for transportation of the goods to the port of origin.
-
The local carrier (e.g. trucking company) will notify the Exporter of their intention to pick up the goods.
-
The Exporter supplies them with the information (such as customs clearance authorization and onward transportation details) necessary to allow the terminal to load the shipment
-
The truck driver uses this export advice document as authorization for the terminal to accept the shipment and load it onto the vessel.
Logistics Document Flow: Step by Step [2]
-
The Terminal operators notify each international carrier about their (and only their) shipments loaded onto the vessel.
-
The terminal operators also update the ship's bayplan and pass this onto to the next port of call. It will eventually get to the destination terminal operator.
-
The International Carrier will also create a manifest (a list of all their shipments on the vessel) and lodge this with the terminal operators concerned. Copies also travel with the vessel.
-
Prior to the ship's scheduled arrival the International Carrier will notify the Importer of its intended arrival date.
Logistics Document Flow: Step by Step [3]
-
The Importer (or the carrier) will then arrange domestic transportation from the port to the Importer.
-
The Import Delivery Order contains reference information used to match against customs import clearances.
-
When the importing Terminal receives the delivery order it checks against its Customs clearances and then releases to shipment for delivery to the Importer.
"Operation Clean Data"
- What were the primary causes of "dirty" data in the British army's supply chains?
- What were the primary causes of "dirty" data for the private sector firms, Carlson Wagonlit and Cendant?
- Why are "homonyms" worse than "synonyms" in a set of item identifiers?
- What is the best way to deal with "dirty" data?
- What techniques or tools can be used to "clean" data?
- Is "dirty" data ever created on purpose?
Data Warehouses
- A data warehouse is a "subject-oriented, integrated, time-varying, non-volatile collection of data used in organizational decision making"
- Data warehouses extract data from ERP systems and other related business software applications into a separate repository
- It is common practice to "stage" data prior to merging it into a data warehouse with an "Extract, Transform, and Load" (ETL) application
- The data model for the warehouse, designed to enable efficient ad hoc data analysis and reporting, is sometimes called a "hypercube"
Generic Enterprise Information Integration Architecture with Warehouse (Gantz, XML 2004)
ETL vs ELT
- The traditional ETL (Extract-Transform-Load) approach relies on proprietary ETL engines being deployed between sources and targets.
- Relational databases are rapidly eliminating the ETL category by incorporating transformation functionality
- So ETL is becoming ELT (Extract-Load-Transform), with all the complex processing of data occurring inside the database
The Virtual Warehouse
- A virtual warehouse is created "on demand" by centralizing and normalizing metadata about the data sources rather than the data itself.
- The data is left in its original location and extracted only when needed, which makes more "real time" analysis
Virtual Warehouse Via Metadata Repository (Gantz, XML 2004)
"RosettaNet for Intel" -- End-to-end View and RNIF
"RosettaNet for Intel" [1]
- What are the three parts of the RosettaNet standards?
- What's more important here, automating existing processes or enabling new ones?
- What are the roles of IT professionals, business process experts, and lawyers in this effort?
"RosettaNet for Intel" [2]
- In 2000, Intel's trading partners were at "significantly varied stages of technology
deployment and sophistication." Most were doing EDI. What's that?
- What is Intel doing about this? Is it using its market dominance to impose solutions on its partners?
- What is a gateway? What role do gateways play in the solution architecture?
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
- Before the Internet the most important technology for inter-enterprise document exchange and automation was Electronic Data Interchange or EDI
- EDI's roots in the 1960s with freight industry standard electronic formats for bills and other documents
- By 1970s banking and grocery / retail industries
had standard messages and private networks for
exchanging them
- In 1979 ANSI initiates US national EDI standards (ASC X12)
- 1987 - EDIFACT -- UN standards body created to consolidate national standards
- late 1990s EDIFACT collaborates with XML community to develop syntax-neutral libraries: ebXML
EDI's Successes
- EDI is widely used to automate routine transactions between established trading partners
- Reduce costs of interconnecting business systems because connection is via document
exchange instead of via direct integration
- EDI reference models for business processes and standard documents
provide starting points for relationships between trading partners
EDI's Limitations... But It Isn't Dead Yet
- EDI's syntax has serious problems
- EDI's ways of encoding semantics have serious problems
- But reports of EDI's death have been greatly exaggerated
-
"Internet EDI" (use HTTP), "Web EDI" (use Web forms), and EDI to XML gateways are attempts to preserve
EDI's viability and to allow small suppliers for whom EDI isn't affordable to send and receive EDI messages from their customers
"RosettaNet for Intel" -- Gateways
General Discussion about the Case Studies
- How are the business cases in all of these case studies similar? How are they different?
- Are legacy technologies and information dealt with in the same way?
- How does a firm's size affect its adoption of new technology and processes?
- What is the role of standards?
Readings for 31 January
- "Integrating America," Todd Datz, CIO (December 2002)
- "E-Government in California: Providing Services to Citizens Through the Internet", Anna Brannen (2001)
- "eGovernment: Serving Small Business in California", Anya Kartavenko (2007)
-
"IRS Modernized e-File for Corporate and Exempt Organization
Returns. (Section 8.2 of How the US Federal Government is Using XML: One
Year Later)" K. Sall, XML 2004 Conference
