WEBM Webmediabrands (MM)

GXS, a leading provider of business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce solutions, today announced that Sai Cheng Logistics International Company Ltd., a joint venture between China Post and Australia Post, has selected GXS Enterprise Gateway to integrate its internal business applications with customers' workflows. China Post and Australia Post signed a joint venture agreement in July 2004 to create Sai Cheng Logistics, a 'one-stop' integrated logistics shop for companies doing business between China and Australia. GXS Enterprise Gateway will enable Sai Cheng Logistics to build a high performance, end-to-end, integrated supply chain network that integrates its warehouse management system with its application infrastructure while providing customers real-time shipment track-and-trace capabilities. Made available through a strategic partnership between webMethods (Nasdaq:WEBM) and GXS, GXS Enterprise Gateway provides enterprise customers with a single B2B integration platform for centralizing, monitoring, and optimizing real-time supply chain data and processes. The solution leverages a service-oriented architecture that provides Sai Cheng the flexibility to meet current as well as future B2B integration needs. With GXS Enterprise Gateway, Sai Cheng is deploying a reliable and streamlined B2B e-commerce system that will enable it to effectively control interactions with customers in Australia, China and around the globe. "Since this joint venture was announced last year, we have set an ambitious timeline to become fully operational. Adoption of GXS Enterprise Gateway is very much in line with our fast-track approach," said Grant Kelly, General Manager of Sai Cheng Logistics International Co. Ltd. "GXS Enterprise Gateway will help us unify our IT infrastructure, based on open industry standards, which can seamlessly integrate our internal applications with customer' business processes. The depth of logistics industry knowledge and supply chain management expertise GXS brings to this project will help ensure rapid implementation and fast results." As one of the world's largest B2B integration services providers, GXS products and services are available throughout the Asia-Pacific region including in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. GXS' customer base in China includes hundreds of companies serviced through GXS' offices in Shanghai, and both its Asia-Pacific headquarters and data center in Hong Kong. All support, implementation and documentation for GXS Enterprise Gateway are available in Mandarin, Cantonese and simplified Chinese. "GXS Enterprise Gateway is a next-generation B2B solution based on the recognition that integration is not about software versus services - it is about blending them into a single platform that maximizes return on investment and takes advantage of today's global marketplace," said Ben Wong, GXS vice president for Asia-Pacific operations. "With Enterprise Gateway, geographic differences, language barriers, and disparate technology standards no longer stand in the way of true B2B integration. In fact, the knowledge, experience and expertise of two supply chain industry leaders have come together to significantly enhance the operational efficiency and accuracy of Sai Cheng's and other customers' trading partner network transactions." B2B integration is an emerging trend that crosses vertical industry and geographic barriers and is increasingly recognized as a necessary step toward greater business process efficiency. Forrester Research, in its recent Wave(TM) report entitled, "Forrester Wave(TM): Integration Suites: Q3, 2005," confirmed this evolution and included GXS as a "Leader" among integration suite providers. "GXS is a longtime powerhouse in the B2B integration world, and it has entered the integration suite space via its strategic partnership with webMethods. This partnership is stronger than a normal partnership, in that it significantly enhances both vendors' integration offerings. GXS has a strong global presence that will become increasingly important as multinational firms attempt to increase the effectiveness of their application- and process-based interactions."(1) Under its World Trade Organization (WTO) accession agreement, China fully opened its logistics market to international investment in 2004 and its huge potential for third-party logistics services has been widely recognized. Based in Shanghai, Sai Cheng Logistics provides companies with global access to a spectrum of supply chain services from point of manufacture to point of consumption. Its state-of-the-art Shanghai hub will be the first of a network of integrated logistics facilities strategically positioned near major manufacturing centers in China. These will link to similar logistics hubs along the eastern seaboard of Australia. GXS and webMethods are engaged in a strategic partnership to provide customers with "best-in-class" integration software and services. Central to the partnership is the combination of webMethods Fabric(TM), a leading suite of business integration software, with the GXS Trading Grid(TM), a leading global service platform that allows efficient collaboration and information sharing between organizations and external trading partners. As a result of this partnership, companies around the world will be able to leverage GXS' global reach and webMethods integration software to seamlessly collaborate with vendors and partners and improve operating efficiencies and customer service. About Sai Cheng Logistics International Sai Cheng Logistics International Co., Ltd. is a Joint Venture Company established by China Post and Australia Post to provide one stop supply chain services. With increasing economic trade between China and Australia, China has now become the second largest trade partner for Australia. China Post and Australia Post have kept in contact with each other with a long history of business cooperation between both sides. Both parties found common ground in the business targets, commercial model and target market of logistics. China Post and Australia Post decided to establish a logistics cooperation partnership and set up a hub in China to provide one stop logistics and supply chain management services including hub transportation, value added services and international forwarding agency services. China Post and Australia Post have the intention to establish mutual beneficial commercial cooperation partnership via Sai Cheng Logistics International Co., Ltd. to provide customers trading between China and Australia with an integrated supply chain solution. About GXS GXS, Inc. is a leading global provider of B2B e-commerce solutions that simplify and enhance business process integration and collaboration. Organizations worldwide, including 75 percent of the Fortune 500, leverage the GXS Trading Grid to achieve the perfect balance of supply and demand. Active in the global standards arena, GXS solutions enable customers both large and small, to connect with global partners, synchronize product information, optimize inventory levels and demand forecasts, and accelerate the execution of supply chains. Headquartered in Gaithersburg, MD., GXS provides sales and support to businesses and their partners worldwide. For more information visit our Web site at www.gxs.com. -0- *T (1) Forrester Research, "Forrester Wave(TM): Integration Suites, Q3 2005" by Ken Vollmer and Henry Peyret, July 28, 2005. *T All products and services mentioned are trademarks of their respective companies.