With the term eCatalog we mean a whichever application that supports the process of ricorsivo
purchase in the time, on Web catalogue, of products and services for which they are defined in the time the supply
conditions and that legacies to the planning of the "production" do not re-enter directly in the normal channels of supplying.
The activity of the process they can be outlined in following is made:
- Management of the catalogue, that it consists essentially in the loading and the modernization of the contents
of the catalogue.
- Generation of the demand for purchase, that is identification of the prodotti/servizi correspondents to the requirementses
by means of consultation of the catalogue, and obtaining of the estimate of expense with the eventual confirmation of the supply
conditions (times and modalitá of delivery).
- Authorization and emission of the order, that is verification of the authorization
to the expense, generally in function of the decisional autonomy of the buyer and the merceologica category in examination, and
emission of the order to the supplier (or the suppliers).
- Logistics, that is the preparation, shipment and delivery of the goods
to the point of stock/use, reception and verification of the conformity.
- Management of the cycle Administrative-accountant, that it includes the verification of the respect of the contractual
conditions, the reception of the invoice and the payment.
The instruments to the base of a application of eCatalog are:
- Web interface of the catalogue, that it defines its structure to level of categories and attributes and includes the
instruments of search of the products that agree to acquire.
- Support instruments of the management of the contents of
the catalogue (loading and modernization).
- Stumenti of workflow, for the management of the autorizzativo cycle of the
demand for purchase.
- Instruments of demand for offer to support of the purchase of products not included in the catalogue
or for the management of variations in the detailed lists.
- Instruments of integration with the managerial systems of the
company but also with those of the suppliers and eventually of the been involved logistic carriers in the delivery of the
products order to you.
With reference to the technological solutions adopted we can identify various models of eCatalog:
- Completely inner. All catalogue are load to you and managed on the business Intranet through it I use of one technological
platform of proprietá of the company.
- Consortile, catalogues is managed from a marketplace consortile, on the base of the
own technological platform shared with all the companies partners of understood them.
- External based on eCatalog Service Provider, catalogues is loads on one technological platform to you put to disposition
from an operator specialized in one modalitá similar to the affitto(application service providing) in order to manage the
purchases rerun to you. To times the provider it is taken care also of the management of the contents of the catalogue,
while the management of the cycle administrative-accountant and the logistics falls back in kind on the company
- External based on eCatalog Process Outsourcer. It catalogues are managed in toto, on behalf of the company customer (buyer),
from a specialized external operator, which one takes care not only of the management of the technological platform and the
loading and modernization of the contents, but also of the cycle administrative-accountant and to times, of the activity
logistic of delivery.
- External based on Marketplace. It catalogues uses you from the company are those present ones on a marketplace to which
the company it is enrolled. Draft in kind of is catalogued "generates them" publics, does not personalize you for the single
company.
The quantitative values you in game, in terms of volumes acquire to you via catalogue, are still extremely limit
to you: altogether equal to average billion of Euro, testimony of one embryonic situation.
Various they are the reasons of this situation:
A insufficient anchor spread of catalogues electronic in many companies also of great dimensions and multinationals.
Low volumes of the transato one also in the case of equipped companies giá of catalogue, consequence of one strongly focalization
of the single catalogue on some categories of prodotti/servizi.
Insufficient degree of I use of the catalogue because of behavioural inertias from part of customers who "find it hard" to
change the own habits, above all in lack of specific actions of change management in accompanyment to the introduction of the
eCatalog.