GridNode Brings Beyonics Live on RAE

GridNode goes beyond RAE pilot to bring Beyonics live with its community of suppliers .

Singapore July 31, 2006 – GridNode, a leading B2B collaboration software and services provider, today announced that Beyonics, a major high-tech manufacturer headquartered in Singapore has gone live with its first community of suppliers using RosettaNet Automated Enablement (RAE). GridNode’s RAE solution, GridLite, is purpose designed to be affordable and hassle-free for Small-to-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) who want to participate with their major trading partners over an on-line trading community based on the RosettaNet standard.

“We were surprised to find the deployment process so simple and straightforward. Just a couple of clicks to install GridLite and register ourselves as a recognizable trading partner with our community hub” said a representative from the Beyonics’ supplier community.

With GridLite, there is no need for immediate integration with the back-end system nor constant connectivity to the outside world. This means even SMEs with only intermittent, dial-up connectivity and no back-end system can now benefit from being part of a collaborative value chain with trading partners in its community.

“And the best part is, business documents are still delivered end-to-end between one trading partner and another, which gives each company control and ease of access over its data. Processing of data can thus continue even when not connected to the outside world and at a much faster pace since the data actually resides locally. Integration with the back-end system (if so required by the SME) is that much simpler since the document is actually delivered to the company in a fully automated fashion.” said Ms. Lee Kiew Puan, Vice President of Business Development, GridNode.

GridLite paves the way for rapid community on-boarding with its easy deployment and affordable entry-cost for SME suppliers.

“The solution has been very well received, allowing us to be doubly efficient in our supply chain management processes. We intend therefore to expand the rollout to even more of our suppliers and with more PIPs involved in the next phase”, said Mr. Yeo Teck Guan, Beyonics’ IT Director.

“Leveraging on RAE will enable us to achieve a quantum leap in improving the cycle time from Order to Replenishment. In the near future, we intend to further leverage on this enabler, to achieve enhanced inventory visibility throughout our supply chain”, said Mr. Simon Chow, Senior Manager of Materials and Logistics at Beyonics.

Beyonics MIS department also gained from GridNode’s RAE solution in a big way. Mr Sreekumar, MIS Manager, has been given full mandate to oversee the provision of such IT services to Beyonics’ external suppliers.

“I have assigned Mr Sreekumar to head this section by providing IT support to those SME companies who lack strong in-house IT support. With his strong domain knowledge, I have no doubt that he will be able to deliver and produce results”, said Mr. Yeo.

“We are delighted that GridNode is leading the pack by going beyond RAE proof-of-concept to the application of RAE in an actual production live environment. Through this RAE community rollout, GridNode has once again proven their leadership in spearheading adoption of RosettaNet standards in the marketplace. We believe this signals the beginning of a trend – that of many communities going on board RosettaNet in a holistic manner to realize increased collaboration across a much broader supply network“ said Herman Stiphout, president of RosettaNet.

To learn more about the RAE, visit the RosettaNet website at www.RosettaNet.org.

About RAE

The RAE program, which has been led by a consortium of industry players since 2005, helps bring RosettaNet standards to the masses. It defines a "system-to-human" interface that allows trading partners to participate in RosettaNet e-business processes by simply filling out and exchanging electronic forms while at the same time allowing for extensibility to the back-end system via real-time automated integration where required. By leveraging RAE, large companies can maximize their existing B2B infrastructure investments across their entire trading partner base, while many small and mid-sized enterprises will be able to participate in RosettaNet initiatives for the first time.

To learn more about the RosettaNet Automated Enablement program, visit the RosettaNet website at www.RosettaNet.org.

About PIPs

RosettaNet Partner Interface Processes (PIPs) are specialized system-to-system XML-based dialogs that define business processes between trading partners. Each PIP specification includes a business document with the vocabulary, and a business process with the choreography of the message dialog. Examples of PIPs include 3A4- Purchase Order Request & Confirmation, 4C1 - Distribute Inventory Report, 4A4- Notify of Planning Release Forecast and 7B1 - Distribute Work in Process.

About RosettaNet

RosettaNet is a non-profit consortium dedicated to the collaborative development and rapid deployment of open, e-business process standards that align processes within global trading networks. RosettaNet standards and services provide a common language for e-business transactions and the foundation for integrating critical processes among partners within the global supply chain. Companies that use RosettaNet's proven standards benefit from added cost-savings throughout supply chain processes, improved e-business communications with trading partners, enhanced product life cycle management capabilities, and added customer satisfaction. RosettaNet is a subsidiary of the Uniform Code Council, Inc. ® (UCC®).

About GridNode

GridNode specializes in B2B integration software for trading partner communities. GridNode's out-of-the-box GridTalk partner integration solutions rapidly enable processes like channel visibility management, collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment (CPFR) and vendor managed inventory (VMI) by enabling trading partners to securely exchange and synchronize real-time information. A leader in plug-and-trade deployment of industry-focused standards (such as RosettaNet, EDI-INT (AS2) and Web Services), GridNode is an active proponent of industry interoperability and was the first solution provider to obtained an official RosettaNet Ready compliancy badge for its software. GridNode's Global 2000 customers include leading high-tech OEMs, electronic manufacturers, distributors, retailers and logistics companies.