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Some companies make the leap to full-blown business-to-business (b2b) e-commerce in one step. That carries with it a fairly sizeable leap of faith into a transactional medium with a challenging learning curve. At Nexfor Fraser Papers, we are moving toward e-commerce more deliberately. Our first step, the Fraser Web order status system, recently went live for our customers.
The decision to start with order status was driven by customer interest and a resulting mandate from the senior management of Fraser Papers. We would start with our largest paper mill in Madawaska, Maine, where I supervise the information services (IS) needs of the mill. The first issues to deal with were what information would be made available to customers and how we would structure the project. It was important that we keep the customer in the forefront at all times. Our first critical move was the forming of a cross-functional team of sales, customer service, and IS employees. The Web order status project got started early in 2001.
Since we are working on a daily basis with the software programs on our IBM AS/400-based systems at the Madawaska mill, we agreed that Fraser IS would handle the information access programming. We would seek out a consultant to help us with creating and hosting the Web site that our customers would visit to get information on their orders.
GOAL: B2B E-COMMERCE SITE. From the start we did not approach this as simply the Web order status project, but the first module in what will become a fully functional b2b e-commerce Web site. In fact, we decided to build upon an existing, but non-Web-based, computer system that helps our customers track paper roll inventories and release paper for delivery from our warehouses. This system is known as the Paperland Info Link. We decided this would be the name of Fraser's future e-commerce domain. In addition, we decided the site would be accessed through our existing FraserPapers.com Web site. A simple click of a button on the opening page would take customers to Paperland.
Perhaps the most challenging part of the project was deciding on the right Web programming consultant for the job. This is an ongoing project with serious customer service ramifications. We needed a Web partner with experience that would be with us as we develop the full e-commerce service at Fraser. We selected Nextier Solutions of Irvine, Calif., to program the Web site and host it. We would control the content, and they would provide the means of access and display.
24/7 REAL-TIME ORDER STATUS. Our work began in February 2001 with a review of our existing systems to identify the sources of the order status information. On the advice of Nextier, we decided to compile and format the information in the relatively new XML database file format. XML is being developed as the standard data format for information transmitted over the Internet. Our goal was to have the information be as close to "real-time" as possible. Still, we were concerned about the volume of information we would transmit to the Paperland system. The way we set up the interface with our order entry information minimizes the volume and comes very close to real-time.
We wrote a series of programs to capture specific information from the "journaling" function of the AS/400. This program "reads" the transaction journal, selects order status information, and transmits it to the Paperland Web site. Captures occur every fifteen minutes, providing near real-time information on a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week basis. The Fraser Web order status system went live on April 2, 2001.
Here's how the system works: To gain access, a customer must apply for access and be assigned a user name and password. Having logged on to FraserPapers.com and clicked the "Track Your Order" button, a customer links to the Paperland site and enters the user name and password. Current orders for that customer are displayed with each being "clickable" to display order specifics and shipping information. While this is a relatively simple function, it provides customer access to important information that had previously required a telephone call and customer service assistance.
This is the first of a series of Web-based information access functions we are developing to better serve our customers. Our ultimate goal is fully transaction-capable b2b functionality.
 Wil Couture is supervisor of information services, Nexfor Fraser Papers Inc.
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