TIE Kinetix Magazine #5

7/28/2019 TIE Kinetix Magazine #5

1/20

2013 ~ Introduction to Innovation ~ E-Government and more!

Motivated &Data Driven

25 Years

MAGAZINEOFTIEKINETIX

Business Intelligence

Total Integrated E-Commerce

Geared forGrowth

WD-40 CaseFutureThe

now!is


2/20

Whats really happening in your EDI / Integration system?Effortlessly identify the weakest links within your EDI, XML and other B2B E-Commerce communications with a free Optimization

Report. Your customized report will include a detailed overview of: secure communications, trading partners, maps, documents and

volume, frequency of errors and additional various system performance aspects.

Current Customers Get a Free Optimization Report!

Contact your local TIE Kinetix representative for a free Optimization Report today.

1-800-624-6354

[email protected]

www.tiekinetix.com

Business IntelligenceIntegrationE-CommerceContent Syndication

what you dont know?

How do you fx


3/20

P3INTRO

No matter if you are in B2B Telecom or in the government space,the publics expectations are constantly rising in this ever-changing digital landscape. We know Software-as-a-Service

(SaaS) solutions will provide businesses with the required agility andblinding speed to market they need to meet and exceed customerdemand. That is why it was vital we moved past the rules of licensebased software and wrote our book on SaaS solutions.

For many years, we have seen SaaS trends grow and become more

widely accepted. As others struggle to make to the SaaS game, wecontinue to push new boundaries everyday by crafting solutions in thecloud throughout all stages of the supply chain. We invite you to joinour exciting journey.

Enjoy Reading,

INDEX

MASTHEAD

P07 25 Years of TIE Kinetix

P08 E-Government

Solves Everything

P09 Unite Online and In-Store

P10 Everyones Talking

About the Channel

The Future is now!

Publication TIE Kinetix, Breukelen,Netherlands ~ www.tiekinetix.comArt Direction & Design Remco Baars,Sandra Hellingman | beet-vormgeving.nlCoverphoto Nadja Willems | Studio-Soest.nl Printing Van Schaik GramediaIn Cooperation with Nadja | StudioSoest.nl, David Webb, Robin Pilcher, ShannonClemons, John Hunnicutt, Carol Irish,Pim van de Donk, John Peters, LewisPRAuthors Suzanne Glorie, Patrick vanBoom, Brian Tervo, Rick Cedrone,Jim Larkin. 2013 TIE Kinetix, De Corridor 5d, 3621 ZA,Breukelen, Netherlands. All rights reserved. No partof this publication may be reproduced in any mannerwithout permission of the publisher.

Motivated &Data Driven

P13 Enables Huge Efciency

P14 Introduction to Innovation

P16 Geared for Growth

P17 More Competitive

Insurance Carriers

P18 Facts & Figures

Writing the book on

SaaSSolutions

Jan Sundelin, CEO TIE Kinetix

Welcome to the fth edition of our magazine.In this issue we will cover topics from marketing andE-Commerce trends to the importance of integrationand business intelligence.

12

4


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TIE Kinetixs new headquarters as of April2013. All three ofces from the Netherlandswill be merged into 1 ofce centrally locatedin the Netherlands. The ofce will be locatedin Breukelen (the Netherlands) directly nextto the expressway A2 and within 5 minuteswalking distance of the train station ofBreukelen. The ofce is equipped to fullybenet from the technology available likemovement sensors for lighting the ofce,electric car charging and keyless entry tothe ofce.

P4 WRITTEN BY PATRICK VAN BOOM ~ PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO SOEST (P6)


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P5TOTAL INTEGRATED E-COMMERCE

Future

The

now!isThe rise of mobile devices and SaaS solutions, as well as access tobig data, are trends driving development in the exponentially growingE-Commerce marketplace. In this article we take a closer look at thesetrends, and what solutions marketing departments are tracking tointegrate these functions online to derive greater value.

Many com-panies nowsee content

marketingas a way togeneratedirect sales,especially inthe world ofbusiness-to-businessmarketing.

CONTENT DRIVES MARKETING,BRANDING & SALES

Content Marketing, is a growingarea of focus for both B2C and B2Bmarketers. Many companies now seecontent marketing as a way to

generate direct sales, especially inthe world of business-to-businessmarketing. A study conducted by B2BMagazine2, identied contentmarketing (51%) as being the mostimportant tool for generating leads,outscoring brand awareness (38%),thought leadership (34%) and sales(29%). Buyers are hungry for contentand are less inuenced by marketing

messages. Instead they prefer toselect and consume content on theirown terms. They want contentcreated for their particular interests

delivered to them when they need it

T he fast moving mobile andsocial world of E-Commercelast year, (according to

eMarketer1), 33.7 million Americansused a tablet device at least monthly.By 2014, the number will rise to nearly

90 million one in three of allInternet users. More than 60 percentof 25-34 year olds now own asmartphone. And more than onebillion people worldwide areconnected via Facebook. When itcomes to shopping, these connectedconsumers increasingly turn to thedevice closest at hand. While PCs andlaptops are still the most widely usedchannel for browsing and purchasing,tablet and smart phone shopping ison the rise. E-Commerce solutionsmust support web, mobile, tablet, call

centers and in-storetouch points.

across more diverseplatforms than anyonecould have everimagined. The maingoal of contentmarketing is to drive

deeper customerengagement and todo so earlier in thebuying process.Creating a message thatis consistent in allmarketing and salesmaterial and across thedierent departments

is essential for anorganization but it isnot a common practice.Its hard enough toalign marketing and

sales within a company

The fast moving mobile and social world of E-Commerce


6/20

to get them speaking the samelanguage - let alone broadcasting aunied message to the outside world.

This challenge becomes herculeanwhen the sales force is not part of thesame organization and the companysells through independent resellers.The growing importance of content to

drive marketing, sales and branding,means organizations must create theright content and deliver it viamultiple touch points to ensure aconsistent end-user experience andmaximum conversion rates.

BIG DATA IS CHANGING THE GAME

The premise is simple: big data hasthe power to fundamentally changealmost everything we do. But themountain of data that businessescollect from consumers is onlypowerful if it is analyzed, put into

context and acted upon.The big data trend we have seen takehold in other areas of the enterprise ismaking its way to channel marketingand sales. Dealing with Big Data is achallenge for many marketers, but itsrise in importance is pushing moreand more to use it. If marketingmanagers can create a big datacapability to capture, analyze andpredict customer behavior, they canfundamentally change not only howmarketing is done, but how itinteracts with other aligned corporate

functions.In addition to developing

they see IT as bureaucratic, inexible

and slow to respond to fast movingmarket needs. This costs time, moneyand ultimately customer conversions.Marketers see SaaS based solutions asinnovative and scalable. With theeconomies of scale, SaaS providers willalways outpace innovation in themarket because they act on trendsbefore individual organizations /traditional software deliverymechanisms can put these features inplay. Marketers want to focus all theireort in driving new business, not

dening what needs to be there to

execute their mission. SaaS platformsgive them freedom, agility andavailability to move at the pace ofbusiness.

INTEGRATION WILL ACCOMPLISH ASEAMLESS EXPERIENCE ACROSSCHANNELS

A critical issue for the E-Commerceadopter is integrating the activities afterthe buy button is pressed. E-Commercesolutions must:Integrate with an organizations

ERP system (so data can be analyzed

and incorporated as a marketingresearch tool)

Work together seamlessly in real-timeto exchange information withoutduplicating the content or data

Be able to merge and normalize dataand content sources, both frominternal and 3rd party sources likecontent providers and suppliers

Deliver the right content at the righttime across all possible touch pointsto create a consistent end-userexperience.

Think Total Integrated E-Commerce,

think T.I.E.

an integrated experience for contentmarketing, organizations will be bestserved by sourcing a solution providerwith a business intelligence productthat can help provide a 360 degreeview of sales. With systems andprocesses that enable integration andautomation of their business

throughout their internal and external

1) eMarketer, Nov 21, 2011. eMarketer covers digital marketing,

media and commerce, oering insights essential to navigating

the changing, competitive and complex digital environment.

2) B2B Magazine, Dec12, 2012. Content Marketing: Ready for

Prime Time

The powerof decision-making isshifting andCMOs choosecloud-basedsolutions.

P6 TOTAL INTEGRATED E-COMMERCE

facing systems andcustomer touch points,companies will havegreater intelligence andinsight - and ultimatelystronger sales.

MARKETING INCONTROL

The power of decision-making is shifting andChief Marketing Ocers

(CMO) choose cloud-

based solutionsaccording to Gartner, sixout of ten CMOs andnot their IT managers decide on which ITsolutions their companyuses. The marketingdepartment is turninginto a technologypurchasing department.

Marketers arelooking to break free ofanything thatencumbers the

execution process and

TIE Kinetix believes it is well positioned in this fastchanging market because they can oer end-to-

end solutions throughout the entire supply chain.By facilitating a Total Integrated E-Commerceexperience both businesses and their customersreap the benets.

TIE Kinetix Global

Management Team

Standing (from left to right):Franklin Lassman,

Stuart Campbell,Zwier-Jan van Puijenbroekand Patrick van Boom.In front (from left toright): Jan Sundelinand Brian Tervo.


7/20


C onnectivity and integration has been, andcontinues to be, a foundational part of TIE Kinetix.Our extensive history started in the bits and bytes

of back oce fulllment. Over the years, we have

leveraged and applied this understanding of connectivelyand automation to E-Commerce and Online Marketingsolutions with great success. Learn how we have raised upover the years and evolved into a total integratedE-Commerce solution provider.

87TIE Kinetix was founded in 1987 and started as anElectronic Data Interchange (EDI) providerfocused on the food and distribution markets in theNetherlands.

00In 2000, the company initiated an Initial Public

Oering (IPO) and was listed on the Amsterdamstock exchange as one of the early technologycompanies to go public that same year, TIEintroduced Extensible Markup Language(XML) support and was one of the rst

companies to oer E-invoicing

solutions. In 2000 TIE expanded itsmarket footprint with the acquisitionof DNS Worldwide (Burlington, MA)and St. Paul Software (St. Paul,MN)in the United States.

03 In 2003, inuenced by theintroduction of RadioFrequency Identication (RFID)

technology, TIE started the developmentof an advanced Catalog Management producttogether with an article verication system.

05 In 2005, TIE Kinetix acquired EDI-TIEFrance SAS.06 On its way to a Total Integrated E-Commerceoering called TIE Kinetix, in 2006 TIE added afront-end marketing solution to complement its back-endbusiness integration solutions through the purchase ofDigital Channel (DC). Before customers purchase a productor solution, they orientate themselves based on product-and marketing information. This information should beavailable at the point of sale, which is especiallychallenging when suppliers sell through independent

resellers or agents. This acquisition gave TIE the ability to

Total Integrated E-Commerce

Innovation, Stability and Customer Satisfaction:The hallmarks of TIE Kinetixs twenty ve years of experience.

25Yearsoer seamless supply chain integration to facilitate themarketing process.

08 In 2008, TIE added E-Commerce functionality tothe product range with the acquisition ofMamboFive. TIE became a 100% E-Commerce solutionsprovider and was able to oer its customers the ability to

sell online to other business (B2B) or directly to the enduser (B2C). Connecting the marketing solutions to thebusiness integrations solutions extended the TIE oering

to solutions that facilitate market sell - deliver throughthe supply chain.

12 In 2012, TIE completed two acquisitions. With theacquisition of Light BV, TIE added talent to theDutch business and strengthened both commercial and

development teams in portal related front-endtechnologies. Further expansion in Europe is

necessary for growth. Recognizing the needfor companies to analyze the vast amount

of data churned out in the consistentE-Commerce environment, TIE made

another strategic acquistion. With theascention acquisition, an Austrianbased company with businesses inAustria, Germany and Switzerland,TIE not only expands its geographical

reach but it also adds additionalexpertise with respect to business

intelligence solutions. This last

acquisition completes the Total IntegratedE-Commerce oering for market sell

deliver analyze.In addition, for many years, TIE has been recognized as aleader in the development of next generationtechnologies. TIE is particularly active in the EuropeanCommission framework for innovation programs. TIEsR&D has demonstrated its technological excellence in keytopical areas such as SaaS, Cloud, Mobile, Semantics, andInteroperability in vital technologies.With oces in the United States, the Netherlands, France,

Germany, Austria, Switzerland, United Kingdom andAustralia, TIE Kinetix can facilitate both global and smallerenterprises to do business electronically around the world

with its Total Integrated E-Commerce solutions.

WRITTEN BY PATRICK VAN BOOM


8/20

T his brings along quite ahassle. Especially when

exchanging large amountsof information or sensitiveinformation. Security andauthorization issues are verycommon. There is no structure andcontrol. Important documents mightget lost or sensitive information isexposed to unauthorized persons.

DIGITAL PORTAL OFFERSSTRUCTURE AND SAFETY

There is a solution that enables you toautomate all communication with

your suppliers, the TIE Digital Portal.This Digital Portal is a secured Internet

portal from where information can beexchanged. It oers the infrastructure

to control and steer the exchangeprocesses. Through the portalmessages are exchanged betweensender and addressee. This could bebetween the government and itsvendors but also between companies.The portal has been set up in such away that incoming messages arevalidated automatically. It checks towho the message is addressed andprior to delivering the message it

Digital Portal Automates Dutch Government

Organizations exchange several documentswith their entire supply chain. Orders, invoices,packing slips, etc. Many of which are still sentand received via (snail) mail. Unfortunatelymany businesses cannot easily exchangedocuments electronically.

E-Government

checks if the sender is authorized to sendmessages to the addressee.

EFFICIENT AND SAFE COOPERATION

A number of generic steps in processingthe messages can be automated, liketransferring a message from one formatto another, archiving messages, splittingmessages for several addressees anddelivering status feedback to both theaddressee as well as the sender. Itfacilitates the communication from thesystem of one organization to thesystem of another organization,

regardless of format. Think ofexchanging invoices, orders, orderconrmations, etc. Governments and

companies that are dealing with manyvendors use the Digital Portal tostreamline processes and reduce errors.By forcing their vendors to use the portalthey make sure all orders, conrmations

and invoices are automaticallytransferred to their back-end system.Quickly, correctly and making sure theright information reaches the rightperson.

EverythingSolves

P8 TOTAL INTEGRATED E-COMMERCE

BENEFITS TIE DIGITAL PORTAL

The innovations that TIE Kinetix made in developing the Digital Portal have givenboth governmental organizations as well as businesses many benets in the area of

cost-reduction, eciency and safety. Some of the benets are:

Fully automated integration with any back-end system Ability to directly receive 100% digital invoices, orders, etc. Even vendors that do not have an ERP system can send you messages in the right

format Save paper, time and money by connecting your vendors to the Digital Portal Automated processes reduce administrative tasks Strict validation and authorization within a secured environment

WRITTEN BY SUZANNE GLORIE ~ Photography iStockphoto


9/20

I n 2012, TIE Kinetix launched a new retailsolution that enables its customers toeectively link their online and retail

business by introducing tablets in their retaillocations. This E-Commerce solution is an answer tothe growing need to increase sales in retail storeswhile leveraging the digital strategy. By connecting totheir cloud-based E-Commerce platform provided byTIE Kinetix, they are able to easily integrate their

physical and online storefronts. This new solutionwas rst implemented with TIEs Telecom customers.

In the old situation cell phone collateral, plans andpricing were printed on paper. The average time ittook per customer to convert to a sale in a store wasapproximately 20 minutes. In the new digitalexperience, the sales process on the retail oor

ows much smoother.

ACHIEVING A MORE EFFICIENT SALES CYCLE

With direct access to pricing and rich product contentlike videos and reviews, shoppers inside the store canreceive the full interactive product experience rightalongside a knowledgeable sales representative to

guide them through the buying process. Sales reps

Tablets enable Unique Online and In-Store Retail Experience

also have the ability to create a quote for a customer.This not only alleviates the pressure to buy for thecustomer, but it also helps sales reps close deals fasterand more eciently later in the sales cycle. If desired,

retailers can also provide consumers access to theirquotes online, giving them the opportunity topurchase online after visiting the store.

IMPROVING THE IN-STORE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE

When a shopper is ready to purchase, another helpfulquality from the tablets is applied to the in-storeshopping experience. Once restricted by theirlocations stock level, sales reps are now connected toreal-time inventories. Their location may be out-of-stock, but the sale can still be completed andeverything purchased in-store will be easily shippedto the buyers home.

The internet alongside technology hasprogressively changed how shoppers interact withproducts in the world today. This new in-store tabletexperience is simply another step forward inproviding TIEs customers with the best tools tomarket, sell, deliver and analyze their products faster

and more eciently.

Unite OnlineIn-Storeand

P9E-COMMERCE SOLUTIONSWRITTEN BY SUZANNE GLORIE


10/20

F uture growth for B2BTelecom will depend on theindustrys ability to leverage

partner communities. This can bedone by making existing partnershipsmore productive and more eective

in growing their business, and by

introducing new channel partners

The Case for Telecom

The communications industry is going

through a massive change. Today telecom

is less about software and more about

connecting to the cloud. Telco managers have been

folded into IT operations. Calls that once took place at a

desk can seamlessly be forwarded to an iPhone. And perhaps mostimportantly, the inherent nature of selling these products through the

indirect channel has changed as well.

Talking About TheEveryones

Channel

who come from dierent back-

grounds than the existing ones.

UP-TO-DATE CONTENT

Getting a manufacturers brand andmessaging out to partners, and theircustomers, with limited marketing

and web presence, can be an

enormous challenge. How can aunied message be properly delivered

when theres no infrastructure tosupport it? How do these companiesmake sure that the partners sellingtheir product have up-to-datecontent on their websites? All channel

partners need to sing the same

P10 WRITTEN BY JIM LARKIN


11/20

P11CONTENT SYNDICATION

Enterprise Commu-nications. TIE Kinetixempowers us by

syndicating contentdirectly into ourpartners websites. Ourpartners dont have toworry about hundredsof web pages beingbuilt, updated andmanaged. Its done forthem automatically.Thats why TIE Kinetixis so absolutely criticalto us, because contentsyndication makesour partners websites

better, clearer,comprehensive,up-to-date, with theright information,the right imagesand improves the

and provides information forpotential customers quickly andeasily. We had a very large potential

customer contact us for a niceopportunity through the site.

Small, medium and enterpriselevel brands are also inclined to usecontent syndication tools sincechannel reporting is available inreal-time from Webtrends. A populararea brands in the telecommu-nication space like to measure itsleads generated via their content andcampaigns. This level of campaignanalysis allows vendors a new depthof campaign optimization that waspreviously unavailable.

PARTNERS WIN WITH FEWER CLICKS& MORE CONVERSIONS

With content syndication, customersnd relevant web content in fewer

clicks. That customer has no need toshop elsewhere, and is much morelikely to convert because they didntneed to jump around to other siteslooking for additional information.

Our goal is to enable our partnersto be more productive and win morebusiness that will grow withSiemens, concluded Robin Pilcher,

Head of Global Channel Marketing atSiemens Enterprise Communications.With content syndication from TIEKinetix we can update content forthem automatically and instantly. Allaround the world, over 500 partnerwebsites immediately reect a

product that we have just launched. Itdoesnt take days, weeks, months forthem - its instant. As soon as I pressthe button, its updated. This is whyTIE Kinetix is absolutely important toour whole channel strategy. If wewant to build our channel we need to

enable our partners.

The contentsyndicationprogram wasvery easy toadd to our exi-sting websiteand providesinformationfor potentialcustomers

quickly andeasily.

consumers web experience. Thatsvery powerful.

Partners themselves are quick toacknowledge how useful this process isand how it has helped shape their ownmarketing programs. According to JohnHunnicutt, Vice President FederalSystems at Technology Resource Center

of America:As an organization with less than 50,

our budget and time for updating web,designing brochures, and researchingnew information is limited. The contentsyndication page (embedded in our web)has given us a magnicent tool. It

provides our sta and clients fast, easy

access to the newest updated informationand brochures are automaticallyco-branded with our logo.

Carol Irish, Marketing Director forIdeal System Solutions, Inc. added:The content syndication program was

very easy to add to our existing website

marketing song, with up-to-datecontent, collateral and campaigns.

We started working with TIE

Kinetix because we had a largeamount of content that we needed tosyndicate to our partners worldwide,says Shannon Clemons, Director ofMarketing at Digium, an U.S. basedphone system provider. One of therequirements of our program is thatpartners have updated Digiumcontent on their websites. We knewthat we needed to make it easier forour growing partner base to publishcontent and it needed to be easier forus to publish as well!

Content syndication from TIE

Kinetix is a powerful tool forpublishing a brands content on apartner product page, while neverleaving that partners website. Userscan engage and view productshowcases, videos, co-branded PDFs,and much more. Most importantly,its delivered directly from the brandto partner websites with next to zerowork required.

VENDORS AND PARTNERSLOVE SYNDICATION

The eectiveness of TIE Kinetix is

applauded by Robin Pilcher, Head ofGlobal Channel Marketing at Siemens


12/20

Business Intelligence Helps German Ofce Furniture Manufacturer

S edus Stoll AG is a companywith tradition that has setnew standards again and

again during a history that goes backover 140 years. In ergonomics,manufacturing processes and ecology.A brand which moves people and abrand for people who get thingsmoving. Sedus is a global playerwhich continually redenes the

concept of aesthetic oce furniture

and gives a new and timeless qualityto the oce environment.

STRONG AMBITION FORINNOVATION AND SUSTAINABILITY

Sedus ambition goes further than justgrowing the gures but encompasses

sustainability and innovation. In orderto achieve the desired growth andambition the company needs to beable to quickly respond to changes inthe market. Therefore, accuratemanagement information is key. Inthe old situation important businessinformation was stored in dierent

formats in dierent systems. The IT

department spent a lot of time

gathering and combining all bits of

information. Generatingreports was complexand always required thehelp of the IT people. Inorder to increase agilityand exibility Sedus

decided to implement acompletely newbusiness intelligencesolution. They wentlooking for a end-to-end solution, t for the

future, which woulddirectly connect with

their SAP system andwould seamlesslycombine informationfrom all dierent

systems. Sedus asked 4vendors to do a proof ofconcept and nally

chose TIE ascention toimplement theproposed solution.

of Revolution to automatically set upa data warehouse structure includingthe complete ETL process reducedthe implementation time by 70%!This enabled Sedus to establish quickand exible analysis and reporting in

the areas of sales and logistics. Keybusiness intelligence to eectively

steer the business.

BUSINESS ANALYSIS MADE EASY

Sedus has a Business Analysisdepartment; they gatherinformation from all sources,

analyze it and deliver specicinformation to management ordepartments upon request. Before,it was very hard to drill down to adeeper level of intelligence. Now,with data centrally stored in thedata warehouse, it is much easier toanalyze data and comply to specic

information requests quicklywithout the involvementof the IT department. A hugeimprovement, but Sedus is lookingahead. The next step will be to makethis management information

accessible from mobile devices.

VALUABLE INFORMATIONTO STEER THE BUSINESS

TIE ascention used Revolution to set up a

data warehouse. The unique capabilities

Wherebefore the ITdepartmentwas involvedto generatestandardreports, nowdepartmentshave the

exibility togenerate theirown customreports.

Peter Smoly,TIE ascention

& Data DrivenMotivated

P12 BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE WRITTEN BY SUZANNE GLORIE


13/20

INTEGRATION P13

N owadays, millions of orders andinvoices are exchangedelectronically without interference

of man, paper, fax or email. Where EDI usedto be for automating primary ows of goods

it is now more and more used foroptimizing the entire purchasing process.

- Workow and integration withback-oce systems

CONNECTING SUPPLIERS,AUTOMATED DATA ENTRYAND VALIDATIONThere are 3 possible ways forsuppliers to present their invoices:1. Delivery of invoices in electronic

format (Edifact/XML/UBL, etc.)2. Online via the Digital Portal3. Paper invoice arrives per regular

mail and is digitalized via OCRtechnique

SUPPORT FOR BOTH COST ANDGOODS RELATED INVOICESProcessing invoices, comparingpurchase orders and reviewingreceipts are time-consuming tasks.Automation saves time and reduceserrors. By matching invoice dataautomatically at line item level,manual work can drastically bereduced while the process isaccelerated. Invoices withoutdeviations are processedautomatically. Invoices with

deviations are marked for analysis

and presented to the appropriateperson via workow. Those responsible

for the ordering and invoicing processhave real time insight in the statusof an invoice including the completeaudit trail, tracking & tracing and theinvoice archives.

WORKFLOW & BACKOFFICE INTEGRATIONIt takes a lot of time to manually sendaround invoices in an organization forreview and approval. Automatedworkow integration helps to optimize

and control this process. Based onpredened rules, the correct employee

receives invoices for approval and isable to carry out the complete approvaland handling process through a fewsimple actions. Thanks to theintegration of all back oce systems,

workow approval and validation, an

invoice can easily work its way throughthe organization quickly, eciently

and error free. The TIE Kinetix andMedius end-to-end solution oers a

great chance to digitally process yoursupplier invoices 100% while improving

eciency and lowering cost.

Huge

Innovative, end-to-end E-Invoice & EDI solutions

The partner-ship betweenTIE Kinetixand Mediushas led to asolution thatachievesspectacularresults interms ofefciencyand cost-reduction.

Every transaction leadsto an invoice andprocessing these is anexpensive and labourintensive task. Bycombining E-Invoicingand EDI in an end-to-end

solution you will be ableto electronically receiveand process 100% of yourincoming invoices.

In order to achieveecient, intelligent

invoice processing thefollowing 3 elements areof great importance:- Connecting suppliers

and automated dataentry and validation

- Support of bothcost- and goods

related invoices

WRITTEN BY SUZANNE GLORIE

EnablesEfciency


14/20

I t took them 40 attempts toget the water displacingformula worked out. But

they must have been really good,because the original secret formulafor WD-40which stands for

Water Displacement perfected on the40th tryis still in use in manyhouseholds and companies today.In 1969 the company was renamedafter its only product, WD-40Company, Inc.

SUCCESS BRINGS ALONGCHALLENGESThe continued success of thecompany lead to new productdevelopment, growth andinternational expansion. In a fastpace oces were set up all over the

world including many European

ERP and message ow integration makes

We all know WD-40. This famous multi-purposeproblem solver nds itself in four out of ve

households. WD-40 was created in 1953 by the

Rocket Chemical Company. Its staff of three set out tocreate a line of rust-prevention solvents and

degreasers for use in the aerospace industry.

countries, Australia and China. TheEuropean distributor network has grownto include distributors in 37 countries.

Along with the success came somechallenges, especially in streamliningprocesses. Each group within WD-40

Company used its own systems, makingprocess alignment dicult, while order

volumes were increasing rapidly. Somecountries even doubled in size!

Time to realign processes and tools atthe European headquarters in the UnitedKingdom, WD-40 Business AnalystDavid Webb realized that steps neededto be taken to overcome thesechallenges and manage the growth ofthe business. The UK oce was using an

old but stable EDI system. Since moreand more customers demand the use ofEDI the other European oces needed

to be set up on EDI as well. At the same

gearedgrowth

forWD-40

time the Epicor iScala ERP systemneeded to be updated so it seemedlike a perfect time to realignprocesses and tools.

WD-40 was looking to improvethe EDI set up European wide. The

EDI solution should have the capacityto cope with the continuous growthof the business. On top of that, itneeded to be closely integrated withthe updated version of the Epicor ERPsystem, E9, which WD-40 wasplanning to implement.

From the selection of vendorsWD-40 was looking at, TIE Kinetixoered the best solution. Not purely

based on cost but on the all-roundpackage they oered. Especially the

partnership with Epicor and theirability to integrate with both Epicors

iScala and E9 ERP systems inuenced

P14 TEXT SUZANNE GLORIE ~ PHOTOGRAPHY WD-40


15/20

P15INTEGRATION

David Webb: TIEKinetix has the EDIexpertise and EpicorERP knowledge toguarantee great results

now and a smoothtransition once we areready to go live with E9.In addition, the factthat TIE can directlycommunicate with ourcustomers in the locallanguage is worth itsweight in gold.

The fact thatTIE Kinetixcan directlycommunicatewith our cus-tomers in thelocal languageis worth itsweight in gold.

Thats one of the things TIE helps usto do. It takes a lot of stress away

from me and increases my credibilityinternally as well as externally.

SAAS MANAGED SERVICES KEEPSEXPERTISE CLOSE AT HANDWD-40 Company is a leanorganization and they like to keep itthat way. Therefore they do not havethe desire to keep all expertisein-house. TIEs EDI SaaS solutionfully supports this philosophy. Evenwhen doubling the business theresno need to hire additional personnelto keep EDI running smoothly

because TIE takes care of that.

MASSIVE TIME SAVINGS ANDIMPROVED PROCESSESUsing EDI has already lead tomassive time saving at WD-40.The improved processes and tightintegration with their ERP systemhas led to increased eciency,

improved communication and abetter customer experience.

FACTS AND FIGURES WD-40 has 6 ofces in Europe Annually 28000 orders are processed 11000 orders are currently processed via EDI This leads to a message ow of 22000 docu-

ments, incl. invoices Entering an order message manually takes 10

minutes Sending a message through EDI takes less than 1

minute, requiring NO human intervention Average time savings 3300 hours per annum.

WD-40s decision to choose TIEKinetix. Eventually WD-40 thoughtthey had to wait with implementing

the EDI solution until the migrationto E9 was completed but TIEconvinced them otherwise. Byintegrating the EDI system withiScala rst, WD-40 could enjoy all

benets of EDI right away. In the

meantime, the E9 EDI integration isbeing set up. To ensure a smoothtransition customers are connectedin parallel now. They will not evennotice the change when E9 goes live.

MANAGING EXPECTATIONS HELPS TOIMPROVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCEIn the European roll out of the EDIsystem TIE takes care of connecting new

customers. The direct communicationbetween WD-40s customers and TIEhas led to a better customer experience.Expectations are managed better thanbefore and issues can be solved muchquicker.

David Webb: Previously we wouldsay, we do it in 4 weeks and it would takeus 12 weeks, now we say we do it in 6 to8 weeks and it takes us 6 to 8 weeks, sowe are living up to the expectation.

WD-40, multi-purpose problem solver since 1953


16/20

T IE Kinetix continuously

keeps up with new onlinetechnology and trends

through our Research &Development (RDI) unit with theaim to improve and enhance ourproducts and solutions.

MULTI-PARTNER COOPERATION TO

SHARE & ACQUIRE SKILLS

One of the ways we share our skillsand acquire new ones is throughmulti-partner cooperative Europeanand National research projects. TIEis particularly active in the European

Commissionss frameworkinnovation programs (e.g. FP7)which annually spends about 50Billion Euro on research inimportant elds such as ICT, Energy

and Health. Other programs TIEparticipates in include ITEA andEurostars - an European JointProgram dedicated to the R&D SMEs.These projects allow TIE to be intouch with partners like EADS, FIAT,Airbus, University of Vienna, SKFand Fraunhofer.

Participation in both European,

Regional and National innovation

initiatives has many advantages for

our organization and our customers,like being at the forefront oftechnology knowledge, inuencing

technical direction and using thetangible results in our products.We have a specic strategy designed

to contribute our vision and ourexperience and also extractknowledge and insight into oursolutions.

GUARDING INDUSTRY STANDARDS

TIE has always been active in EDIand ebXML community eorts such

as the United Nations CEFACTorganisation and the EuropeanStandards Institute (CEN). Morerecently, we have been involvedin NESSI which is the EuropeanCommission supported TechnologyPlatform for Software and Servicesas one of the formal partners, alongwith HP, IBM, Thales, Siemens,SAP, Telecom Italia, etc. We arerepresented in the Board by ourCEO Jan Sundelin and our CTO StuartCampbell who is also one of theSteering Committees Vice Chairs

and chair of the NESSI SME Activity.

PROUD TO CONTRIBUTETO INNOVATION

We are particularly proud tocontribute to programs and policiesthe European Commission (EC) isformulating, inuencing and, where

appropriate, implementing in orderto increase Europes innova-tiveness. The EC is trying to makesure innovation is thoroughly

understood and approachedcomprehensively, therebycontributing to greatercompetitiveness, sustainability andjob creation. These objectives haveour full support and perfectly t

Innovation is generally understood as the successfulintroduction of a new thing or method. It is the embodiment,combination, or synthesis of knowledge in original, relevant,valued new products, processes, or services.

IntroductionInn

ovationto

To raise newquestions,new possibili-ties, to regardold problemsfrom a newangle, requirescreative ima-gination andmarks realadvance inscience.

Albert Einstein

with TIEs vision.

CONTACT USWITH IDEAS

The TIE RDI team isvery knowledgeable inthe area of Researchfunding and activity

and has denedmethodologies forconstructingsuccessful andcreative proposalsand also, whereapplicable,coordinating themto success. If you areinterested in ourresearch activities orhave an idea and wishto partner with us ,we invite you to

contact us.

P16 RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION

TIE Kinetix participates in innovativeprojects with partners like EADS, Airbus,FIAT and University of Vienna

WRITTEN BY SUZANNE GLORIE ~ PHOTOGRAPHY EADS Airbus SAS 2013 All rights reserved.


17/20

P17CONTENT SYNDICATION

T he current state of theinsurance market is in ux

for many insurance carriers.Recently a member of the InsuranceAdvisory Service at the IDC remarked,With increased volatility and

complexity, the markets have

fundamentally changed, and one

cannot expect the future to resemble

the recent past. Businesses might be

hard pressed to return to the normalbusiness as usual mode, and as a

result, insurers will have to react by

responding more quickly to both

opportunities and threats.1

One of the drivers behind this shiftresides in the ever-changing digitallandscape. It is now morecommonplace for customers to shopfor insurance products and servicesonline and quickly adopt carriers that

deliver the most enjoyable user experiencealongside price. For some insurance providers,this was an opportunity pursued many years ago.Those that invested heavily online are currentlyin a commanding position. For other carrierswith extensive intermediary channels slower tothe digital game, customer retention andacquisition currently hang in the balance.

SAAS SOLUTIONS CREATE OPTIONSCarriers selling through intermediaries lookingto update their digital strategy need to nd the

quickest, most eective path to success. In the

past, that journey started in the IT department.Now, with the growth of SaaS solutions, decisionmakers are able to focus on strategy andprecision by leveraging marketing solutions inthe cloud. For example, distributing digitalcontent, collateral and other key selling assetsthrough agents and brokers was dicult, time

consuming and expensive without the propertools. With SaaS-based content syndicationsolutions, insurance carriers can easily publishpersonalized campaigns, assets and toolsseamlessly on intermediary websites. This typeof marketing automation allows insurers tocontrol and analyze exactly how their brand is

communicated through their indirect channel.

With content syndication minimizing

time to market and aiding contentdelivery, carriers now have access to anew source of revenue and information.Digital strategy, marketing andmanagement now are able to directlyanalyze consumer behavior and adjustbusiness strategy in real time. Withsome agent and broker communitieswell in into the thousands, SaaSsolutions can cost eectively unlock

big data with business intelligence.

NEW BUSINESS INTELLIGENCEOPPORTUNITIES

The concept and practice of usingbusiness intelligence and big data toenhance market and sales performanceare not new to the insurance game.The new opportunity lies in the cloudwhere solution providers can oer

another two new competitiveadvantages. First, cloud solutionsdramatically cut cost and processingtime when crunching and interpretingenterprise level data. This givesdecision makers action-orientedinformation in minutes rather thandays. The second advantage is the

ability to easily connect multiple datasources and replace manual analysiswith automated intelligence.Its now up to insurance carriers toclose the gap and regain market sharewith shelf-ready SaaS solutions.The same marketing and businessintelligence solutions alreadycommercially succesful deployed inother market segments will not onlyempower carriers to quickly get onpar with their competitors, but itwill make it much easier to respondmore quickly to future changes and

opportunities.

Marketing and Business Intelligencein the Cloud Fills Gap for InsuranceCarriers and their Intermediaries

Stay Competitive withInsurance Carriers

SaaSSolutions

Sources: www.IDC-Fi.com

WRITTEN BY BRIAN TERVO ~ ILLUSTRATION ISTOCKPHOTO


18/20

Source:Billentis

report,

2012

Moving from paper invoices to e-invoices

will generate savings of around EUR 240billion over a six-year period for the EU.Deutsche Bank estimates that 16 Billioninvoices are sent and received each yearwithin Europe.

Electronic and automated invoiceprocesses can result in savings of 60-80%

compared to traditional paper-based

processing. Projects typically result in apayback period of 0.5- 1.5 years. Thisreport will give the reader useful information for achieving these results.

Mainly private sector businesses andnumerous solution providers developed themarket during the last years. They were

partially supported by public sector

initiatives, but just in a handful of countries.The growth rates for electronic

exchange and archiving of bills/invoices areimpressive, but the potential is stilltremendous.

*Deutsche Bank Research, 2010

Primary Objective of Using Big Data Within Their Company

According to IT and Business Professionals Worldwide, 2012 % of total

Note: n=1, 061 Source: IBM Institue for Business Value and Sad Business

School at the University of Oxford, Analytics: The real-world use of big

data, Oct 17, 2012

Nearly 50% of IT and business professionals reported

achieving customer-centric outcomes as their primarygoal for big data this year.

Nearly 66% of US marketers surveyed indicated thatnding a way to manage Big Data was a factor driving

them toward data management platforms as a solutionto their marketing problems*.*Survey performed by Winterberry Group

FactsFigures&

E-Invoicing

Big Data

If electronic invoices replaced a major proportion of paper invoices, the saving potential in Europes public sector could be at least 40 billionEuro (for inbound and outbound invoices). Today, less than 10% of it is exploited.

Annual bill & invoice volumeestimated to be at least

Estimated electronic proportion oftotal volume in 2012

Estimated annual volume increaseof electronic bills/invoices

Recipient segment World Europe World Europe World Europe

Consumer 200 billion 17 billion 5% 12% 20% 25%Business & Government 150 billion 16 billion 18% 30%

Customer-centric outcomes49%

Employee collaboration 4%

New business model 14%

Risk/financial management 15%

Operational optimization 18%

P18


19/20


Leading Challenges of Online Retailers According to Online

Retailers Worldwide, Nov 2012 % of respondents

When, if at all, are you planning to change your eCommerce

platform technology solution?

Content Marketing Goals of B2C Content Marketers in

North America, Aug 2012 % of respondentsAccording to a study conducted by B2B Magazine,51% of the respondents identied content

marketing as being the most important tool forgenerating leads, outscoring brand awareness(38%), thought leadership (34%) and sales(29%).

Android / iOS have taken over Microsofts leadingrole in the market for Computing OperatingSystems: iOS + Android 45% vs 35% forWindows according to Gartner, six out of tenChief Marketing Ofcers and not their IT

managers decide on which IT their companyuses.

Only 36% of marketers said they

consistently manage their brand experienceacross all customer touch pointsSource: Forrester, Benchmark YourBrand-Building Capabilities,September 2012

Shoppers referred from Social Networks

such as Facebook,Twitter, LinkedIn andYouTube generated 0.34 percent of allonline sales on Black Friday in the US in2012, a decrease of more than 35 percentfrom 2011*.*Source: Black Friday Report 2012, IBMDigital Analytics Benchmark.

More than half of the companies plans to

replatform their eCommerce suite in thenext 24 months.****Source: The Forrester Wave: B2CCommerce Suites, Q3 2012

E-Commerce

Content Management

Customer retention/loyalty

Customer acquisition

Brand awareness

Engagement

Website traffic

Lead generation

Sales

Thought leadership

Lead management/nurturing

77%

75%

74%

66%

61%

52%

50%

32%

25%

Source: SU Systems, Global eCommerce and Site Search Survey, Dec 11, 2012

Source: Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and MarketingProfs, *B2C

Content Marketing: 2013 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends - North

America* sponsored by Pace, Nov 14, 2012

Improving conversions

Attracting more buyers to site

Improving logistics

Expanding internationally

Rising advertising rates

63.1%

61.8%

22.1%

16.4%

11.3%

18 to 24 months25%

Base: 140 eBusiness decision-makers

(Dont know responses have been removed from this analysis)

12 to 18 months12%

Within 12 months9%

We already have a project underway6%We are not planning toreplatform in the

foreseeable future17%

More than 36 months5%

24 to 36 months20%


20/20

Total Integrated E-Commerce solutions

Do you want to learn more about our Total Integrated E-Commerce solutions?

Contact us today.

1-800-624-6354

[email protected]

www tiekinetix com

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Effortlessly Market,

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TIE Kinetix Magazine #5