Haute Content

Selling clothes on the Internet requires its own solution

Quantore

e-commerce reduces integral cost price

An interview with Epicors CMO John Hiraoka

Number two ~ 2010

Global

Digital Media ready for breakthrough ~ News & Gadgets ~ Behind the Button ~ Champagne!

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CONTENT

INTRO

Quantore
P08 Channel Media P11 Column ICSC P12 City Sports

Co-operation
Co-operation means contributing to a joint result, with everyones interests at heart. Perhaps this is also the core of

P07 Column James Dorsey

14
P24 Champagne!

modern business: working together towards a common result. Co-operation is becoming an established concept in e-commerce as well.

Jollein comes of age

P17 Behind the button | PART 1 P18 Epicor CEO Interview P20 Customer Care P22 Haute Content

P25 News & Gadgets

COLOPHON
Publication TIE Kinetix BV, Hoofddorp, Netherlands ~ www.tiekinetix.com Editor & Management Cees Steijger | Steijger.communications BV Art Direction & Design Remco Baars, Sandra Hellingman | beet-vormgeving.nl Coverphoto Leder International Printing Van Schaik Offset BV, Oudewater Cooperation from Marcel R. Bakker, Wim Sonius | Sonius Creative Imaging, James Dorsey, Ronald Oeges, Jim Larkin.
2010 TIE Kinetix BV, P.O. Box 3053, 2130 KB Hoofddorp, Netherlands. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without permission of the publisher.

his is certainly so when such co-operation means a readiness to share information and content that serve mutual interests. Modern forms of channel management are based on the will to increase sales through online co-operation. This works to the benefit of both parties. When companies co-operate with distributors or resellers that each have their own B2B or B2C front office, it depends on an ability to inform the market quickly and reliably. Wouldnt it be nice to be able to simultaneously provide information and content in the form of product offers or price changes, for example, to all of the co-operating parties in exactly the way they would like? Instantly? With one click of a button? For one webshop, or even a thousand? The TIE Content Syndication Platform (CSP) makes that possible. In fact we do this every day for organisations like CBSi or Epicor (see page 18-19). and we work together with partners like Alta and Quantore (see pages 4-6). The latter will be examined in more depth in a lead article in this magazine. Thanks to effective co-operation and TIE Kinetix CSP, this co-operative society with more than 500 members has succeeded in drastically lowering its cost price. Currently we have over one thousand resellers using our CSP, and were looking for more partners for TIE Total Integrated Ecommerce. I hope you will enjoy reading this latest edition of TIE Kinetix Magazine.

Jan Sundelin, CEO TIE

TIE ~ 2/2010 ~ P3

Quantore

XXxx

Mission Quantore wants to be the best partner for the office supplies trade in the Benelux countries. To that end, Quantore offers its members the best deal and assists them on their way to commercial success. Vision Quantore is an organisation that has been created by and for its members and which promotes the interests of its members as best as possible. Together with its members, Quantore approaches the market honestly and transparently. Future The future offers a host of opportunities and possibilities for continuing to grow into a leader in efficiency. Optimum logistics and the use of ICT and e-commerce will help to lower costs further without compromising service and quality.

Marc Gijsberts (left) and Wilbert Hofmeester

Quantores new warehouse in Beuningen

Text Cees Steijger ~ Photography Marcel R. Bakker

BUSINESS INTEGRATION

Quantore
reduces integral cost price with e-commerce
Quantore Europe is the biggest stockist and purchasing and sales organisation for office supplies in the Benelux. Quantore is a cooperative society of more than five hundred office supplies specialists, focussing on the private and business-to-business markets.

A cooperative society with over 500 members

or more than 90 years, Quantore has been purchasing office supplies, and providing logistic and sales support. Quantore focuses primarily on purchasing and logistics. By purchasing in bulk, Quantore can offer its members good conditions that enable them to keep their prices low. We want our members to be able to differentiate themselves in the market both in terms of price and product range and quality, says Wilbert Hofmeester, Marketing Manager at Quantore. We talked to him and to Quantores ICT Manager Marc Gijsberts in Quantores brand new offices and state-of-theart distribution centre close to the A73 motorway in Beuningen, near Nijmegen. This striking building, equipped with the latest technology and systems, was designed by the Czech architect and artist Borek Sipek, famous for his strikingly colourful designs.

ers with products faster and easier. And Quantore continues to develop in the fields of e-commerce and automation too. We actively support our customers in ICT and e-commerce in order to achieve more sales, efficiency and distinctive capability in the industry, says Marc Gijsberts, who manages the implementation of the strategic information plan at Quantore. One of the features of this ambitious plan is the use of online technology in combination with existing offline activities. Quantore has been working with TIE Kinetix since 2006. The relationship started when TIE Digital was taken over by TIE in the same year. Digital Channel has since been incorporated into Direct In our logistics centre, there TIEs Content Syndication are more than fifteen thousand products Platform (CSP). Quantore ready to be sent to our members or directly to the customthen also started to use er, says Wilbert. We can stock up to 23,000 articles in our the TIE Messaging Portal, modern warehouse. Quantore deploys the latest technolto which all of its suppliogy and insights to provide its members and their customers are connected. Our

Our suppliers are connected via TIE software with our back-office.

suppliers are connected via TIE software to our back-office. We send our members and suppliers a fixed set of messages. For members we call that TradelinQ, a set of XML messages that enable them to place orders from their own ERP back-office environment. For our sixty suppliers, the standard is PBS Easy in EDIFACT format. We are the central hub for all product and article information that we release to the web systems, our own systems and our customers systems. At the moment, the Messaging Portal processes 50,000 messages per year and it is expected that this number will rise considerably in the years to come. Drop shipments Marc expects that this rise will come mostly from an increase in the number of so-called drop shipments. These are web orders that are received through the members webshops and delivered directly to the end-user by Quantore. This enables Quantore to reduce the integral cost price. In the supply chain, the cost of stocking at two locations is, by definition, higher than distributing from one central location. Customers who supply from their own stock pay more
TIE ~ 2/2010 ~ P5

BUSINESS INTEGRATION

Quantore stocks up to 23,000 articles

than if they use drop shipments. Our customers choice is often based on geographical arguments as to whether they will deliver from their own warehouse or use drop shipments. Its up to them. We took a critical look at our members ICT needs, adds Marc. Then we put together a number of back-office solutions that members can use as they need. For example, we offer our members webshops in which they do not need to use the same applications as everyone else. chain marketing Quantores approach focuses squarely on chain marketing. Quantore not only looks after joint advertising such as folders, catalogues and promotional materials but also provides its members with up-to-date product information for use in workshops, and all the email marketing tools that they might need for an effective campaign. For this they use TIE Kinetix CSP, which is called Supplies Channel at Quantore. This smart marketing tool enables us to manage customers websites centrally and to provide them with up-to-date information at the press of a button, says Marc. The advantage of this is that the customer doesnt have to bother with it. We manage databases for professional email campaigns and we supply ready-to-go newsletters that can be adapted to the individual situation, either with or without 1st line support.
P6 ~ 2/2010 ~ TIE

Orders received by Quantore have now been increasing by 10% year after year.

In Quantores experience, the number of orders increases almost immediately after members have switched to e-commerce. Orders received by Quantore have now been increasing by 10% year after year. Of course our customers and end-users have to get used to the fact that when you order something online you can no longer say and throw in a box of those envelopes that we always have, says Wilbert. The webshop isnt enough in itself. So if you want to stop the enduser from dropping out on his first visit, you have to make it easy for him. By including a favourites list, for example. We also help our customers with Search Engine Optimalization (SEO). Our slogan has always been: You do the selling and well do the

rest. And perhaps in the online era, well have to do more. neXt DaY And meanwhile competitors are not exactly standing idle. Marc and Wilbert are putting a lot of work into helping their customers on their way and increasing acceptance of the online approach. And they are not shrinking from CSP either. If we want to keep to our 10% yearly growth, well have to speed up distribution, says Wilbert. At the moment, customers must still place their orders for drop shipment before 5.30 p.m. but this deadline is constantly being extended and the end-user will still receive his goods the next day. innoVations And, adds Marc, pointing to his HTC, were also using Twitter. If theres a TV commercial for one of our offers, we link that to Twitter, where you can read more about it. This is how we want to handle communities and niche groups. Hmm, a Twitter alert could be handy! Soon we will see iPod widgets, of course. When it comes down to it, youre either a business innovator or youre not.

By James M. Dorsey

COLUMN

Mobile Access
businesswoman approached Conservative British European Parliament member James Elles at a recent local business conference in Oxfordshire to discuss how local business can survive mounting competition from the likes of India and China. The businesswoman warned that she lacked the basics to do so. She told Elles that to ensure reception on her mobile phone she had to climb to the third floor of her house. Yet, when I am in my holiday home in Turkey its as clear as a bell, Elles quotes the woman as saying. The woman accosted Elles just about the time that British telecommunications regulator Ofcom announced that this year would be the first year in which Britons will make more calls on mobile devices than on fixed landlines. The incident highlights the competitive pressures on Europe as the European Commission and the Spanish presidency of the EU focus on the European digital agenda and the enhancement of the continents digital economy. European Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding says the EU will give priority to the boosting of digital services, integrating markets to overcome fragmentation due to a hodgepodge of national rules, improved coordination of copyright issues and the digitization of books to ensure the union remains competitive with the United States. The key is to merge knowledge and ensure that software architecture and research is close to the future of the Internet and the next generation, says Jan Sunderlin, CEO of TIE Holding NV, a Dutch company involved in EU-funded research to advance Redings agenda. The European Ideas Network, founded by Elles, warns in a recently issued report that to be competitive 15 years down the line, Europe needs to put in place a proper research and development framework. That may already be happening with the Commission investing 1.3 billion a year over the next five years to ensure that people are better connected and able to cooperate better. European competitiveness will depend on its ability to ensure that smart systems able to increase efficiency are at the core of major economic and social sectors such as energy, transport, health care, environmental management and public services. Already, digitally-enabled, purpose-driven masscollaboration demand side systems are undermining inwardlooking economic and political institutions who seek to control information, distribution channels and specific technologies. Those approaches are further cornered by the Commissions insistence system on open standards for ongoing research and development to turn Europe into a collaborative, digitally-en-

Driving Europes Digital Agenda:

abled society that will drive growth by making the continent an outward-looking technology leader and partner for the rest of the world. Achieving that is complicated by the fact that Europe does not have technology giants like Microsoft and Google. Europe is trying to promote the growth of SME-type enterprises through research and development that will, become bigger and may have influence, says TIE Chief Technology Officer Stuart Campbell. The digital society, just as was the case with past technological advances such as the mobile phone, the computer and the Internet, raises social and political questions about the kind of democratic society Europeans want. Issues social groups and political leaders have yet to confront include what impact the digital society will have on the democratic process and how one reconciles digital responsiveness a world driven by mass interaction enabled by the ubiquitous availability of high speed, highcapacity digital communications networks, systems, tools and services connected by the Internet - with democratic legitimacy. The spread of purpose-driven online collaboration involving digital acts being captured and stored in databases invades the domain of public policy, politics and politicians. It impacts issues already in the public domain such as the tension between privacy and security or, as the recent financial crisis demonstrated, the destructive potential of mass collaboration. That collaboration empowers citizens who will demand greater transparency and participation, blurring the lines between direct and representative democracy and transforming the role of government into one of a mediator between empowered, engaged stakeholder communities. To get there, the Oxfordshire businesswomans telecommunications problem needs to be resolved. Rapid advances in mobile Internet technology are key. Ever more people will be online with mobile devices anywhere at any time; user interfaces to access the network will be simplified and more intuitive; new tools, applications and services will be part of the network or available through the network to manage and make sense of vast volumes of data. To be on the leading edge of technical development it will be essential to have unimpeded access to mobile networks, MEP Elles says. James M. Dorsey was a foreign correspondent for more than 30 years for The Wall Street Journal and other publications. Today Mr. Dorsey is a columnist, media entrepreneur and international affairs analyst and consultant to strategic communications, security and water companies as well as investment funds.
TIE ~ 2/2010 ~ P7

Text Cees Steijger ~ Photography Wim Sonius

Digital Media ready for huge breakthrough

Every brand desperately needs measurable results

In recent years, the online dealer channel has grown into one of the most effective sales tools. Alta Creative Marketing Communications Digital Media is an innovative marketing tool that enables brands to send their content and campaigns straight to their online dealer channels and reach hundreds of thousands of people (B-to-B and B-to-C) . This marketing approach, based on TIE Content Syndication (CS) technology is about make a huge breakthrough
P8 ~ 2/2010 ~ TIE

CONTENT SYNDICATION

e spoke to an enthusiastic Wilco van Schaik, a partner and business director at Alta, and client services director Annelouk Kriele. We met up with them at their inspiring office in the Cartesius business park in Utrecht. The atmosphere in this former power station is both industrial and creative, and this is reflected in the sort of company that now occupies the building: architects, inventors, musicians, developers and marketing people all come together here. Alta is a famous name in the Dutch communication world, with roots that stretch back to 1921, making it the oldest advertising agency in the Netherlands. Smart SyStemS Weve taken the lead again with our Digital Media concept, says Wilco van Schaik. The advent of the Internet meant that we had to respond to the demand for keeping brands online dealer channels up-todate with the latest collections, offers and campaigns. This swiftly led to talks with TIE Kinetix and, in 2008, to a licence enabling us to launch our Channel Media product. You should actually view Channel Media as a new medium, alongside such things as advertisements, folders or radio commercials, explains Wilco. Its a medium that allows you to communicate at three distinct levels. This can be purely at

product level (as used for Topform, for example) or at information level (ideal for government use). So it offers very many opportunities and youre right there where the consumer or B-to-B end-user is looking. You cant get more specific than that. Were the only communication agency in Europe to specialise in this and the only one to translate TIEs unique technology into brand communication. It seemed to be a gap in the market. Altas unique approach (applying the technology to communication/content) caught on, especially with clients in durable consumer products such as the furniture industry, which was the first to adopt. But in fact the entire retail trade can use it. Every brand desperately needs measurable results from its campaigns, and we can provide them, says Wilco. Because we approach online marketing from a communication angle, we are in a position to exploit the opportunities that exist between the brand and the dealers much more effectively. Wilco is proud to point out that with Channel Media, Alta is able to at least double the number of online contacts with potential purchasers who are looking to see what the market has to offer. With our approach, we have a qualitatively better reach than can be

Were the only communication agency in Europe to specialise in TIEs unique Content Syndication Platform.

obtained with a Google campaign, adds Annelouk Kriele. She mentions the Dutch furniture brand Topform as an example. In 2008, Topform became one of the first brands in the Netherlands to start using Channel Media for its collections and campaigns. Now three-quarters of Topforms dealers use it and online reach has more than doubled in one year. We have achieved an extra qualitative reach 1 on 1 of 100,000 more potential customers than the year before. This is a vast improvement on the total results that you could have obtained with old-fashioned banners or an advertisement because that would obviously not be a qualitative reach and not 1 on 1 and not at dealer level, says Annelouk. Dynamic It is expected that by 2012, 80% of customer contacts will be online. The retailer who is able to fulfil the wishes of these consumers will see them in the shops. Whereas previously this would have been too expensive and time-consuming for the dealers, Channel Media makes it possible to keep the dealer channels constantly up-to-date and also to activate them. Channel Media is dynamic. We can make a marketing campaign for 4,000 websites even in different countries in one minute. And if a competitor appears with an offering tomorrow, we can respond to that with a single push on the button, concludes Wilco.
TIE ~ 2/2010 ~ P9

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By The Internet Content Syndication Council

COLUMN

Internet Content Syndication

nternet content syndication is the controlled placement of the same content on multiple partnering Internet destinations. Controlled placement means that content is placed on the destination sites, and, to some degree, those placements are directed by the content owner. Multiple destination placement of content is used to increase licensing fees and audience exposure. Destinations partner with the content owner by either contributing value in return for valuable content or by sharing revenue. You have probably consumed syndicated content many times. Whenever you read an article by The Associated Press on Yahoo! News, for example, that is syndicated content. RSS is often referred to as Really Simple Syndication, and when you see RSS feeds for one publication placed on another site, that too, is syndication. Its also important to understand what syndication is not, as there are other types of online distribution that fall outside its scope. On one end of the spectrum is fixed-site or single-site distribution, in which content owners retain exclusive rights over their content and drive traffic through search and display advertising. This is not syndication, because there are not multiple destinations for the content. On the other end of the spectrum is viral distribution, where there is no formal partnership between the content owner and the destination site. Furthermore, with viral distribution, the content owner has no control over the destination of the content. Instead, it is given away to any publisher site that wants to carry it. If you have ever struggled to reach an audience online, you should consider Internet content syndication. With the number of Internet sites at 175 million and growing, reaching an audience is difficult and complex. On the surface, the sheer volume of choices online is a blessing for users. Of course, there is something for everyone on the Internet, which means that everyone has a unique destination. The reality is this range of choices leads to audience fragmentation. For any advertiser looking to reach a large audience online, fragmentation presents an unmanageable number of channels, networks, and technologies to research, negotiate with, and manage. This leads to a further difficulty because advertisers are usually the only means of revenue for Internet content producers. Users have been notoriously resistant to paying subscription fees in ex-

change for content, preferring to tolerate advertising messaging instead. Essentially, this means that online content is supported almost entirely by advertising. Because fragmentation is a problem for advertisers, it becomes a problem for users in the long term. Although Web advertising revenues have been growing at a phenomenal rate, the Web itself has mushroomed. In other words, the number of content creators and publishers supported by advertising is growing faster than the advertising budgets that support them. That means more publishers are sharing less income, which means fewer resources are available to put back into their businesses of creating content for their users. In essence, therefore, fragmentation threatens the quality of content on the Internet. The sheer volume of choices online now appears to be more of a danger than a blessing. Content syndication simplifies Internet advertising by providing, to paraphrase Bill Bernbach, portable environments to buy. With one simple media investment, advertisers can reach large, targeted audiences throughout the vastness of cyberspace in a controlled editorial environment. Supporting syndicated content allows advertisers to go where their audiences are rather than driving their audiences to them. The thing to remember is... Although syndication itself is not new it is, in fact, as old as mass media it is new on the Internet, and it has the potential to benefit all the constituents of the media industry. Some content syndication takeaways: For content producers, syndication provides an opportunity to increase revenue that can be reinvested into their businesses, increasing the quality of their offerings. For content publishers, syndication provides access to high-quality content at affordable rates. For advertisers, simple investment syndication provides reach in a controlled editorial environment. For users, syndication provides higher-quality content easily located. As fragmentation persists, look to syndication to continue to enable content to thrive on the Internet.
TIE ~ 2/2010 ~ P11

BUSINESS INTEGRATION

Text Jim Larkin ~ Photography Stock

Managing Your Business Needs

Accelerate growth and reduce TCO

TIEs support is first class. They are easy to work with, know their stuff really well, and get excited about the product. This makes the programme an overwhelming success in my eyes.
ity Sports wanted a trusted, costeffective solution that would justify outsourcing its EDI process. It selected TIEs all-inclusive Managed Service. I dont worry about EDI anymore, says Dylan Bruntil, City Sports Director of Information Technology. SPOrTS reTaiLer City Sports is an award-winning, speciality sports retailer. The company was founded in 1983 and opened its first shop on Massachusetts Avenue in Boston. The company now operates 17 shops in metropolitan locations in Boston, Providence, New York, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Baltimore and Atlanta, as well as online at citysports. com. City Sports caters to the athletic adult who lives, works or studies in the city. Its product assortment focuses on high-performance footwear, clothing and
P12 ~ 2/2010 ~ TIE

equipment, geared towards running, triathlon, fitness, racquet sports, swimming and outdoor. Sporting-goods retailer City Sports has been growing year after year, and as a result the demands and requirements of keeping its transactional data and processes error-free, up to date and responsive to market conditions were also growing. The time spent manually resolving individual errors in-house, in addition to training qualified technical personnel, led City Sports to seek out a trusted and cost-effective solution that would justify outsourcing its EDI process.

Managed Service TIEs all-inclusive Managed Service is designed to extend business development flawlessly in order to accelerate growth and reduce its clients total cost of ownership (TCO). Automating the EDI process lowers overall operating expenses, accelerates time to market and leads to predictable operational costs. Managed Service customers enjoy the latest TIE technology, optimised eBusiness processes, and a standardisation of the way they connect to their customers and partners electronically. Im thankful the Managed Service option was made available to us, says Dylan Bruntil. I dont worry about EDI anymore. From a billing standpoint, the Managed Service option worked out very well for us.

From a billing standpoint, the Managed Service option worked out very well for us

We receive one predictable bill a month, it solves any potential headaches, and is easy to sell to upper management. It was a simple decision. TIEs Managed Service offering is based on over 20 years of transactional data experience focused on improving the strain on internal resources. City Sports was able to make a seamless transition both internally and externally to its vendors. TIE consultants worked on site to make the B2B Managed Services installation and management as discreet as possible to City Sports trading partners. TIEs Managed Service expertise takes the responsibility of supply chain and maintenance, updates and vendor issues out of City Sports hands and allows the company to focus on what matters: growing its business. TIEs Managed Service helps us to be proactive, efficient and compliant. Vendors complaints arent my problem anymore.

City Sports
City Sports stores have a neighborhood feel. The website offers another way for customers to access that same City Sports experience from their own computer.

TIE ~ 2/2010~ P13

Jollein comes of age

n s e

Text Cees Steijger ~ Photography Jollein and Marcel R. Bakker

BUSINESS INTEGRATION

The South China Morning Post recently praised Jollein Smits Assens Oeko-Tex environmental policy. The Italian press has written flattering reviews. And this opinion has been shared by customers from Norway to New Caledonia and all countries between, not to mention trade fairs in Hong Kong, Cologne and Tokyo. Were talking about Smits Assen, a company that has occupied a leading position in nursery textiles and accessories for 35 years

mits Assen started in 1973, literally in Wim Smits seniors attic. The inventor of the successful Jollein formula sourced quality fabrics from the textiles industry in Twente and had the finished baby-bed textiles made by contractors in Friesland. The Jollein brand name rapidly acquired a strong national position and, in recent years, has also become a household name throughout the world. And to serve their customers worldwide even better, Smits Assen has recently opened an office in Hong Kong under the name Smits Hong Kong Ltd. duTch The Dutch provincial capital of Assen, which in 2009 drew international attention as the starting-point of the Spanish Vuelta cycling race (literally from the front door of Smits Assen) and is known from the Grand Prix TT Assen motorsports event, supplies the latest collections of nursery textiles to retail partners throughout the world. We have a 5,000m2 warehouse where we have about 1,500 different products in stock, says Wim Smits, the son of the founder. We spoke to him in his trendy office. Minimalistic, functional, with art upon the walls and quiet save for the hum of the air-conditioning, everything in his office exudes the atmosphere of a multinational company. On a table lies the latest brochure for the 2010 collections. Its in French and Dutch but its also available in Spanish and Portuguese and in German and English. This colourful brochure affords us a preview of the Jollein collections that will soon find their way to the consumer. Dutch is a product line that catches our eye straight away, with its simple Dutch design based on the Delft Blue theme, with red accents. This does very well abroad, says Smits. We get orders from Tokyo. In fact we even got orders from Tirol recently. Its caught on in a big way and I expect it to become an evergreen that well enjoy for a long time to come.

Pick iT Last year, Smits Assen opted for TIEs EDI approach. Smits Assen started to automate in a big way in 2004, says Karen Woud, who manages the ICT department at Smits Assen. We use Exacts Pick IT to automate our goods flow. We work with a barcode system for the storage and order picking processes. Articles are scanned on entry, the data is fed straight into the system and is sent on to the warehouse via an RF system. We follow developments in RFID very closely. In time were also going to adapt the labels to the articles and introduce central scanning to get a better view of the logistics. Some of our customers in the Far East are doing this already and, of course, were going to follow the demand.

Hofwegen have succeeded in obtaining EDI certification for SSCC labelling, implementing everything at Smits Assen, and integrating it into the Pick IT environment. This usually takes much longer. Speed is the winner everywhere, says Wim Smits, and this has shown itself to be true once again. Anyhow, its nice to be able to progress in such a positive way, adds Karen. Were simply doing great work, at every level. Were young, dynamic and innovative. And then you get things done quickly. Smits Assen has now made a start on electronic SPeed Ideally wed like to have all of our messaging with large retail customers on the TIE Kinetix EDI system, chains in the Netherlands says Wim Smits, because that provides the greatest efand Austria. Are they ficiency. But in practice it appears that its mostly the major satisfied? If everything players who are making the switch with us. At any rate, is well synchronised and they are progressing at a rapid pace because in the pretty TIE sees to the translation, short time of only 2 months, Karin and her team and conit will work just fine, sultant Gosling Mast from the Dutch IT consultancy firm says Karen.

Speed is the winner everywhere.

Wim Smits jr.

TIE ~ 2/2010 ~ P15

csp.tiekinetix.com

Can you branded content on your website?

control

resellers

you can! Now

Content Syndication Platform

Business Integration Platform

E-commerce Platform

TIE Kinetix Content Syndication: Content Distribution Throughout the Channel

You will now be able to assist your channel partners by updating and controlling any reseller's or distributors web site with the latest content updates, marketing campaigns and product information. Consistent and controlled branded content throughout your channel! Real time! For more information: sales@tiekinetix.com or visit our website: ContentSyndication.tiekinetix.com
About TIE Kinetix: TIE Kinetix provides customers solutions that will give them incremental changes to enable significant changes in the way they perform their business with partners in the supply chain. Implementation of the TIE Kinetix solutions will enhance productivity, increase revenue, and add to the bottom line of our customers.

Text Cees Steijger ~ Illustration Remco Baars

eCOMMERCE

button
Modern webshops are more than just online stores. Theres a lot more involved than simply placing articles for sale on the Internet. For example, theres attracting traffic, optimising navigation, intuitive procedures, information that really is informative, and easy methods of payment. Behind the scenes of e-Commerce. PART 1

Behind the

-commerce is growing. Thousands of webshops appear worldwide every day. Global economic developments have even had a positive effect on e-commerce: the traditional costs of marketing can be more effective and take a different form online, and thus lead to more sales. But only professional webshops have a chance of success because, in the orientation phase, the consumer is sensitive to issues such as appearance and operation. This is why its important to gain the trust of the consumer with a professional webshop. CommuniCation A webshop is also all about communication, says Frank van Doorn, general manager of e-commerce at TIE Kinetix. What information does the consumer get in the orientation phase? What impression does the website make in terms of presentation and operation? What information do you get after making a purchase? These are three phases that call for clear, user-friendly, professional webshops. Total Integration the logical integration of the different purchasing phases is the new buzzword in e-commerce. Central Frank explains that the webshop literally occupies a central role in the total e-commerce process. After all, the proverbial buy button is central to the webshop: before and after it is hidden the world of e-commerce, which determines

Success means delivering the order

whether a transaction can take place and can be successfully concluded. Finally success is not about getting the order but about being able to deliver right across the chain, handle returned goods, know the stock status... in short an entire flow comes into operation after the doubleclick, says Frank. Success in sales happens before the button the buyer doesnt see what happens behind the button. But this is what determines satisfaction and whether the customer will ever return. Success is not about having an order but in delivering it within the stated period at the price that has been quoted to the customer. This is all information that has to come from the underlying systems. Phases Frank identifies three phases in the sales process, which TIE MamboFive eCommerce enables him to exploit. First, theres the orientation phase. This is a dynamic process that is approached as a multichannel activity in e-commerce, online or in combination with offline activities. In this phase, we encounter the AdWords affiliation marketing as well as white labelling and content

syndication. The second phase is about the website: its look and feel, how it operates and its intuitive layout. This is where we find the buy button. After the click, we enter the third phase: payment, the e-mail confirmation, after-care and actual delivery of the product or service.

Commerce Suite
The MamboFive Commerce Suite TIE Kinetix e-commerce platform is a complete, scalable, proven solution for e-commerce that can take companies online easily and professionally. This may be B2B, B2C or a combination of both. With this platform, the transition to doing business on the Internet with full control is absolutely no problem. Its also possible to integrate seamlessly with existing ERP systems (Exact, Unit4, BaaN, Oracle, SAP WMS and many others). The Suite enables organisations to achieve high sales on the Internet fast and without drastic changes and gives them more control over the entire e-commerce process.

TIE ~ 2/2010 ~ P17

An interview with Epicors CMO John Hiraoka

Global

Epicors Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer John Hiraoka recently took the time to outline the scope of his companys business software solutions for the manufacturing, distribution, retail, hospitality and service industries.

Text Jim Larkin ~ Photography Epicor

BUSINESS INTEGRATION

solutions
E
picors global reach is built on collaboration and providing efficiency-optimisation solutions for more than 20,000 customers in over 150 countries. TIEs EDI and Data Synchronization is a major component of Epicors broad portfolio of business software solutions, which includes integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management (SCM), and enterprise retail software solutions. Epicor is currently seeing a return to growth in spite of the challenges presented by a struggling economy, and has been positioned as a Visionary in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Midmarket and Tier 2-Oriented ERP for Product-Centric Companies. This honour showcases the strength of Epicors advanced business technology and the importance of its newest release, Epicor 9. TIE: John, can you tell me about your newest offering, Epicor 9, and its role in enabling business on a global scale? Epicor 9 is a revolutionary, next-generation ERP solution. Its a brand-new platform that allows us to provide manufacturers and distributors with a solution that is worldclass in terms of functionality and technology. Although evolutionary, it is effectively an all-new product: very much what we would call a game-changer. The industry analysts also saw it as a game-changer in the market, with Gartner positioning Epicor as a visionary in its Magic Quadrant, largely due to the architecture and technology. Aside from its technology and functionality, Epicor 9 is a truly global solution, currently shipping to almost 50 countries in approximately 20 languages. It is designed to support many different languages across many different localities, and in facilities, plants and sales offices that may span many different countries. Epicor 9 fulfils a need for a software solution that can run businesses end-to-end and help them grow as they move into new and emerging markets.

Epicor 9 is integrated with TIE solutions, helping us to market in tandem with other products that the customer may have

TIE: Where in the marketplace is Epicor 9 particularly resonating, and how do you see the TIE partnership as a part of that? Because of Epicor 9, we have experienced strength in several key and emerging markets in what has obviously been a very difficult market for everyone. We had great momentum at the end of the year, and in the fourth quarter of 2009 in particular. We closed the year with strength across all geographies, and across all product lines and verticals manufacturing, distribution, professional services and business-services-focused solutions, as well as in our retail focused offerings that serve some of the worlds largest retailers. Epicor 9 is integrated with TIE solutions, helping us to market in tandem with other products that the customer may have. This helps them integrate to their own customers, and enables them to do business more effectively. A significant part of our solutions and our partnership with TIE focuses on providing collaborative tools - tools that provide increased supply-chain efficiency, so that customers can react more quickly to market conditions, and meet the needs of their customers. One of the keys to our partnerships is a focus on global partners that not only understand the pressures and requirements of a particular

John Hiraoka, CMO Epicor.

region or locality, but also what it takes to be able do business globally. We want to partner with companies strategically so that we can offer a solution that will work anywhere in the world. TIE fits into that strategy very well because of the global nature of its customer base, its development focus and its desire to increase its business in these areas. Our strategies are well aligned. TIE: How do you see the future of providing enhanced global supply-chain capabilities to industry leaders in North America and internationally? We have a long relationship with TIE that dates back to 1998. We realized early on that TIE could be a global partner, enabling a large part of our supply-chain efficiency and focus on collaboration. We certainly want to continue our partnership and help our joint customers to be more successful. We think there are additional opportunities for both of us as we continue to expand further into global markets. We appreciate the successful partnership between TIE and Epicor.
TIE ~ 2/2010 ~ P19

Text Jim Larkin

Satisfaction rate for TIEs Customer Care

97 .8

Since 1987, the St. Paul office of TIE Kinetix has been conducting customer support, incident management, implementation and Managed Services for over 600 TIE customers per year. With a handful of dedicated employees, this tremendous undertaking is overseen by a soft-spoken support expert who is keen to keep both customers and employees content.

duction, and service departments all work together to service our customers many needs. We all constantly make recommendations to each other to make the product better. It doubles as market R&D and keeps our products up-to-date and nimble. This is true for many of the departments at TIE and its a huge advantage of working for a smaller company. Wearing many hats becomes part of your day-to-day work. Happy EmployEEs mEans Happy CustomErs As an industry, customer support centres have had high burnout rates and even higher turnover. Troubleshooting, problem-solving and managing the expectations of an upset customer can be very demanding on a day to day basis. This was not what I found when I moved to TIEs Service department, says Hentges. What I found was that theres a deeper value in working with people who know their product, and

began my career managing large call centres, says Jeanne Hentges, TIE Customer Relations Director. Managing such sizeable departments with considerable volumes of incoming calls, e-mails and customer communications, not only showed me the value of smooth support, but also the pitfalls of call centre agents who are forced to focus on a number of calls per hour, and extreme productivity requirements. At TIE, we ensure that every call is answered by a person, not

by voicemail. There is no queue, no time limits on calls or quotas to achieve. Every incoming ticket gets addressed quickly and comprehensively. We take a personalised approach and work hard to partner with our clients to fix any data transmission issues as best we can. A big advantage at this branch is the close proximity of our interconnected departments. Much of what TIE does is tailored specifically to our clients, and thats shown in the fact that development, pro-

P20 ~ 2/2010 ~ TIE

BUSINESS INTEGRATION

had a hand in building and rebuilding it. Lets face it, our staff has been here a long time, laughs Hentges. Gerry - 17 years, Robert- 11 years, David - 10 years and so on. This is a prized management situation where we have a great technical support staff that are excited about what they do, have an excellent understanding of the product and push ever further to meet the needs of the customers. They truly love it. This is the secret to their success and longevity here, as opposed to other service departments in this industry. Its a great crew weve got here. partnErsHip In many ways, TIEs Business Integration Platform serves as an extension to our clients EDI department. And thats the feeling you get in much of the interaction between TIE customers and their support representatives. This also effects the interaction, trust and dependency between TIE and its customers year after year. TIEs constant commitment to this partnership keeps customers EDI data and order processing secure and is reflected in the thousands of customers that have trusted in TIE since 1987. In an effort to gain an overview of how TIE was performing in the eyes of its clients, a survey was sent to any customer that had dealt with support within that previous week. These results supported much of the teams mentality and said a lot about the training and professionalism in the support department. 94% of customers were satisfied or extremely satisfied with TIEs support technicians knowledge of TIE Products. 97.8% of customers were satisfied or extremely satisfied with their interaction with the TIE support technician (professionalism, politeness). 93.2% of customers had their issue solved with the information/recommendations provided by TIEs support. These numbers reaffirmed the focus on customer service and the commitment to making it better. Jeanne promptly addressed any specific concerns raised by customers personally, proactively ensuring that TIE was doing the right thing. EVou In line with the evolving commitment to bringing more improvements to TIE customers, the eVision Optimization Utility (EVOU) was created. This provides additional diagnostic functionality to help them get the most from their TIE Busi-

ness Integration system. Running the new eVision Optimization Utility will give TIE customers the information they need to reduce operating costs as well as providing improved responsiveness from TIE, betteroptimised EDI processes and time saved on recurring errors. Working with TIEs customer care team will help customers avoid costly inefficiencies and time spent on addressing the costs of repetitive errors in researching, correcting and sending. TIEs support is very proud of this new initiative. tHE Jim HEnslEy award On 24th January 2005, TIE suffered a deeply personal loss when TIE support representative Jim Hensley passed away. To keep his memory alive and to promote his beliefs and values regarding customer service and TIE Kinetix, the Jim Hensley Professional Excellence award was created. This award is given annually on the anniversary of Jims death to a TIE employee who demonstrates and practices the beliefs and values demonstrated by Jim. Jim would look at things from the point of view of the customer, and would ask what we could do to make the product better. This award reflects his dedication. For this award, TIE selects an employee who goes the extra mile for our customers, who works to deliver a better product, who goes above and beyond their job description. The Jim Hensley award goes to a person who strives to make TIE or any of our products better. tHis yEars award winnEr: CHEryl tHEisEn In the words of TIEs Vice President of Professional Services, Eric Hutchinson: Were happy to announce that this years winner is Cheryl Theisen. Year after year, she has done a

great job with implementing and training. Cheryl has a natural ability to walk into a new customers site and walk out with another happy Customer. Shes demonstrated this time and again as our lead trainer for Epicor implementations, and has been instrumental in consistently producing satisfied customers (who, as a result, have served as references for other prospects). Cheryls team members in Consulting, Sales, and Customer Care look to her for advice and feedback when it comes to technical and process-related questions. She has an innate ability to assess issues quickly and comprehend the customers implementation and training needs. Historically, weve received extremely positive feedback on her abilities as a trainer and consultant. Her easy-going, down-to-earth style, coupled with her thorough expertise put both novice and experienced EDI trainees at ease, providing the customer with confidence that their needs will be met.

Youre still the best technical support line Ive ever had to call.
TIE Customer portal
Over the last year, TIE has made many improvements to the ever-changing customer portal. These updates include flash video tutorials, support incident creation, email and incident follow-up forms as well as a restructured look and feel. Many more customers now use the portal. If you do not currently have a portal login and would like one, please request one at: info@tiekinetix.com

Actual Customer Quotes

Keep up the excellent support. Its nice to talk to a person as opposed to being routed through a phone system. Im not sure when I last contacted Technical Support, however the response time and the service provided is always excellent. Thank you! The assistance from your technical support was an immense help in getting the job done! Quick and perfect answer to my concern.

TIE ~ 2/2010 ~ P21

Text Cees Steijger

Leatherfactory facts .nl

Founded Started in 2009 by Leder International Market share the only professional B2C online solution for specialist leatherwear shops in the Netherlands Forecast Further growth and market share in Europe through white labelling.

eCOMMERCE

Selling clothes on the Internet requires its own solution

Haute Content
Theres something special about web shops that offer clothing for sale. After all, when it comes to ready-to-wear clothing, aspects such as size and the customers experience of the goods are all-important.
webshop solution for the ready-to-wear trade. Leatherfactory.nl is a unique webshop that is fully devoted to the online sale of top-quality leather jackets for women, men and children. What makes web shops that sell clothing so special is that the correct size is all-important in ready-to-wear clothes. So a lot of information has to be provided in order to avert returns as much as possible. Simplicity A primary requirement is that the web shop is easy to use, so that you can proceed to the buy button in three steps, for instance, but it must also be easy to pay and there must be bullet-proof procedures for returning goods, says Rob Westerhof of Leatherfactory.nl. For us theres an extra challenge and that is the product experience. How do you add that? With our webshop, we must be able to provide the consumer with tools for experiencing the product the leather jacket of your choice and so this means excellent photographic material with a zoom-in capability that goes down to stitch-level and a real catwalk where the consumer can see a model wearing the jacket. The retailers that we do business with are particularly impressed with this so-called haute content, and all the more so because they can implement this webshop in their own house style as a white label.

eatherfactory is a customer of the wholesaler Leder International, which is based in Venlo. This town in Limburg is a logistical hub close to Germany and with excellent connections to the European hinterland. Leder Internationals distribution centre is located nearby in Reuver, from where this specialist in leather clothing distributes its products to the European countries and to the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Leder International is a major international player and Leatherfactory is now the market leader in online leather clothing. The company has its own designers and outsources production to countries such as China, Pakistan and India. When we visited the companys headquarters we could not fail to notice the enormous number of leather swatches, neatly grouped according to colour and type. Weve just launched our 2010/2011 winter collection, explained Andre Kuijpers, manager of Leder International. For us this means the end of a busy period during which we developed and manufactured the new collections and showed them to our customers at various international trade fairs. We used the opportunity of the trade fairs such as the recent one in Dsseldorf - to discuss our online vision and approach with our distributors and retail partners. The talks revealed that existing customers have a great need of supporting online services from Leder International. The next logical step was to create a web platform for retailers that could be used for such things as White Labelling. Because of the enormous growth in use of the Internet, existing customers also needed Leder International to add an online sales channel as an extra service for its customers. Leatherfactory opted for the advanced TIE Kinetix MamboFive Commerce Suite

With our web shop, we must be able to provide the consumer with the tools for experiencing the product

Leder International offers its customers the specialist clothing shops with three options. The first option is Stock Access, the B2B option that provides access to the collection. This enables retailers to order products for the physical shop. The second option is the Whitelabel B2C option for retailers that have their own web shop the option used by LeatherFactory.nl. This option provides all the functionality for extra sales without purchases. Thirdly, there is the Stock Online B2B option for retailers without a webshop that still want to benefit from the advantages of the Internet. Examples of this include online ordering in the physical shop. Several specialist leather shops have now chosen one or more options.

Flexibility And, of course, every combination of options is possible, adds Andre. Because the bottom line is to make it easy for our retailers and their customers. We want to provide them with a very professional extra service without any fuss so that the maximum result in terms of sales and customer satisfaction can be achieved. And Andre is already looking to the future. After the Netherlands, we are going to roll this approach out in Germany and Austria and after that were going further. The advantage of the TIE Kinetix e-commerce approach is its flexibility and their international experience so we dont need to concern ourselves about using it locally or regionally. We can continue to focus on our core business: offering fashionable leather clothes in the EMEA. Fine. So what trends can we expect to see next winter? I predict that tight lambsleather womens trousers will be a hit, says Rob Westerhof. Although, surprisingly, warm cow-leather jackets will do very well in the Middle East. Weve just received a large order from Jordan. Clearly Leder International also has a large amount of flexibility in its collection.
TIE ~ 1/2010 ~ P23

BUSINESS INTEGRATION

xxxxx Text Cees Steijger

Successful EDI roll-out in France

Champagne!
Lixir is a major supplier of champagne and spirits in France. For Lixir, electronic messaging is of major importance in its daily operations and communication with its trading partners

ixir is a joint venture between the independent family-run companies William Grant & Sons and Rmy Cointreau. Lixirs headquarters is in Paris, on the Avenue du Capitaine Glarner in the suburb of Saint-Ouen. In this industrial area between the Zone Industrielle Des Dock and the Boulevard Priphrique, Lixir rubs shoulders with some other big names that have their French headquarters here, including Nokia, Danone, Citron and Alstom. With a turnover of 192 million, Lixir occupies a strong position in the spirits market. Famous Lixir brands include Grants, Glenfiddich, Piper Heidsieck, Cointreau, and a lot more.
P24 ~ 2/2010 ~ TIE

BusIness transactIons We spoke to Aurlien Caulem, IT Director at Lixir, about the opportunities provided by electronic data interchange (EDI). Weve been working with TIE France on automating our messaging since 2009, says Aurlien. We use the TIE Kinetix Messaging Portal to efficiently handle about 5,000 messages per month. These are mostly messages between our partners and customers, as well as orders, order documents, packing notes and invoices. The TIE Messaging Portal is, exactly as its name suggests, a corporate portal for business transactions with the outside world. All internal applications can be integrated with the TIE Messaging Portal in order to continue to effectively control the transaction processes. Externally, all standards and communication protocols are supported by one and the same application. Users can log in to the TIE Mes-

saging Portal from internal and external locations in order to complete their tasks. IntegratIon After William Grant & Sons and Rmy Cointreau entered into their joint venture in 2008, the need arose to approach automation more efficiently. They were working with SAP and TIE Kinetix was given the job of administering EDI between the existing SAP ERP environment and the systems of retail partners. Furthermore, the EDI system would have to rationalise messaging in the supply chain. Whats more, in January 2010 we started a new project focussing on the secure electronic processing of invoices. One of our biggest retail customers is also involved in this. In this way, we will improve our own efficiency and also help the customer to shorten processing time. And our invoices will be paid quicker. In the future, Lixir, supported by TIE France, will connect most of its customers and suppliers to the TIE Messaging Portal to create a B2B environment that fully meets all of the requirements that Lixirs business partners have set for messaging.

We use the TIE Kinetix Messaging Portal to efficiently handle about 5,000 messages per month.

NEWS

e-solution for the clothing trade

TIE has launched an advanced webshop solution for the clothing trade. Leatherfactory.nl is the launching customer for this new application of the successful TIE MamboFive Commerce Suite. Selling clothing through the Internet calls for its own solution. What makes webshops that sell clothing so special is that the correct size is all-important. A lot of information has to be provided in order to avoid returns as much as possible.

TIE successful at Monaco channel event

Together with partner CNET Content Solutions (CBS Interactive) TIE took part in the DISTREE XXL 2010 event in Monaco (08-11 February 2010). DISTREE XXL is the premier event for senior channel executives from across the EMEA region. This event gathers the top IT & Consumer Electronics vendors and distributors from more than 80 countries in EMEA. The regions largest e-tailers also attended the event, reflecting the growing importance of online sales within the EMEA channel. DISTREE XXL is based on one simple but powerful concept: it brings high-level buyers into productive contact with vendors via 1:1 meetings. This event turned out to be very successful for TIE. We were able to further strengthen our relationship with CBS interactive during the event by having joint meetings to pitch the combination of CNET content and the TIE Content Syndication Platform, says Emile van de Klok, managing director of TIE International. The combined pitch generated the interest of more than 50 prospective vendors and distributors at EMEA level.

New Translator
TIE has released verion 4.0 of the Translator. The Translator is TIEs anyto-any translation program for business documents. Using the TIE Translator, businesses can translate their electronic documents to any type or layout irrespective of the original (any-to-any). This not only optimises ERP (Enterprise Resources Planning) business applications but also improves integration with the software systems of customers, suppliers and other partners.

Siebe van Ineveld helps to develop EMEA business

Siebe van Ineveld has been appointed as a Senior Consultant for TIE International. Siebe has come from ECi (formerly e-Buzz) where he was responsible for European e-Business projects. At TIE, he will strengthen the TIE Kinetix reseller channel, focusing on the E-commerce Platform and the Content Syndication Platform.

TIE ~ 2/2010 ~ P25

GADGETS

Behind the cloud

How did Salesforce.com develop from a start-up in a rented flat to become the fastest-growing software company in less than ten years? In Behind the Cloud, Marc Benioff reveals the untold story of how Salesforce. com went from an idea to a billion-dollar business and brought about an evolution in the industry on the way.

Plug-in
Kia has presented a concept for a plug-in hybrid. The Kia Ray uses the lightest possible materials, good aerodynamics and is powered by a small 4-cylinder1.4 petrol and 78kW electric engine. Together, the electric motor and the petrol engine provide an action radius of 1,200 km.

Touch me
Apples iPad looks like a cross between an iPhone and a Macbook. There is no physical keyboard but the iPad does have a virtual keyboard on the touch screen. This is a handy feature enabling users to run a modified version of Apples iWork office software package on the iPad. The iPad is available as Wi-Fi model and as model with Wi-Fi + 3G.

Vivazony
Sony Ericsson is releasing its Vivaz smartphone in a new proversion with slide-out QWERTY keypad. The built-in camera can shoot HD movies at 720p and take 5.1 megapixel photos. Features also include UMTS/HSPDA, WiFi and GPS.

Mean green performance

With its SR1 concept car, Peugeot has decided to take a drastically different course that represents the direction that Peugeots design will take in the future. With its Hybrid4 technology which consists of a 1.6L THP gasoline engine that sits at the front helping it produce 218-hp. The engine is mated to a rear electric-motor that produces an additional 95-hp for a total combined output of 313-hp. With 4-wheel drive and steering, this GT roadster is a foretaste of things to come from the French company.
P26 ~ 2/2010 ~ TIE

Smart wave
Samsung has launched the Wave S8500 the first telephone to feature its Bada operating system and a brighter super-AMOLED screen. This is the first cell phone to use the super-AMOLED system which provides much better readability in sunlight.

who owns who?

Drive down Cost to achieve Total ownership of your ERP.

The promise of your ERP solution was that it would keep you in the black. Instead, escalating maintenance and licensing fees may mean youre seeing nothing but red. Demand more. Spend less. And change the balance of ownership in your ERP relationship. own your ERP. Dont let it own you. Learn how at EpicorTCo.com or call 800-997-7528. Get exclusive access to the Epicor TCO Optimization Kit, featuring the 2009 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Midmarket and Tier 2-Oriented ERP for Product-Centric Companies report.

Copyright 2009 Epicor Software Corporation. Epicor and the Epicor logo are registered trademarks of Epicor Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

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TIE Kinetix empowers companies to improve their supply chain efficiency.

For major processes like orientation, transaction and fulfillment, TIE Kinetix customers can streamline the exchange of content and commerce with our premiere SaaS platforms-Content Syndication, E-commerce and Business Integration-all with real-time analytics. By combining the power of the Web and the dynamic force of the TIE Kinetix solution, organizations can now minimize energy and maximize their results.

About TIE Kinetix: TIE Kinetix provides customers solutions that will give them incremental changes to enable significant changes in the way they perform their business with partners in the supply chain. Implementation of the TIE Kinetix solutions will enhance productivity, increase revenue, and add to the bottom line of our customers.