How to think about what an electronic commerce marketplace will look
and feel like.
We know that Webs move power downward, that there's auctions, that
there's agents, but we don't know the pros and cons...
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VICS: http://www.industrydirections.com/ma497.html
A working model of this concept was co-developed by Wal-Mart,
Warner-Lambert, IBM, SAP, Manugistics and Benchmarking Partners. In
the test pilot, two weeks of inventory was cut out of the supply
chain between Wal-Mart and Warner-Lambert. Now, product to support
this model is being developed by SAP, as part of a standards
subcommittee established by VICS (Voluntary Interindustry Commerce
Standards) out of Washington DC.
Logility, a subsidiary of American Software, has released a similar
type of product that addresses these two collaborative functions,
using their own systems approach.
VICS Mission: http://www.vics.org/mission.htm
The mission of the VICS Association is to take a global leadership
role in the ongoing improvement of the flow of product and
information about the product throughout the entire supply chain in
the retail industry.
http://www.vics.org/promo.htm
Since 1986, VICS, the Voluntary Interindustry Commerce Standards
Association, has worked to improve the efficiency of the entire
supply chain. VICS establishes cross-industry standards that simplify
the flow of product and information in the general merchandise retail
industry for retailers and suppliers alike.
VICS is made up of senior executives who've proven that a timely and
accurate flow of product and information between our companies
significantly improves our competitive position. We've proven that
cross-industry commerce standards facilitate better customer service.
And with the hundreds of small and large companies we've worked with,
we've proven that VICS implementation achieves excellent returns,
returns even far beyond expectations.
JOIN US, BECAUSE MEMBERSHIP HAS ITS PRIVILEGES.
Membership in VICS offers you unique resources and the important
advantages your company needs to stay competitive in a rapidly
changing environment. Implementing VICS technologies and quick
response (QR) partnerships is most successful when you have a
commitment and a desire to make changes that will improve the bottom
line. We'll provide the contacts and the ideas to make this happen.
You'll receive a newsletter on current issues. And, most importantly,
you'll have a one-stop source of invaluable information.
Please don't confuse our organization with the Uniform Code Council's
VICS EDI, another worthy group to which you may already belong. Our
organization addresses high-level, strategic standards requirements.
VICS EDI handles the maintenance and fine tuning of VICS standard,
and is a separate organization administered by the Uniform Code
Council.
Draft Standards : http://www.vics.org/ds.htm
1.)For information about the VICS Standard Bill of Lading and to
download the guidelines.
2.)To order the Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, and
Replenishment(CPFR) guidelines, please visit www.cpfr.org , or
contact jschenck@uc-council.org.
Additional Committee
1.)Download the report of the Synchronized Movement and Information Committee.
2.)Download the Direct to Consumer Manual
3.)Download the Internet Commerce Model
4.)Download the VICS Logistics Model
[I read #3 and it was fairly lame... RK]
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I am pissed.
I am pissed because I've just wasted an hour trudging around campus
in the heat.
I am pissed because tiny, lossy postage-stamp jpegs misrepresent real-life.
I am pissed because I have to return a tie to bluefly.com. It had
embroidery invisible from the e-catalog.
I am pissed because that requires moving atoms around.
I am pissed because that means I have to deal with the postal service.
I am pissed because my laptop was stolen in November, and I'm still
settling my claim with Allstate.
I am pissed because once I got my receipts scanned in and my
adjustment letter written and my fax connection in my office tested
out, I find that Allstate did not publish a fax reply number.
I am pissed because it takes two weeks of calling to get my Allstate
rep to get back to me and tell me that no, they can't sell me
business liability insurance for my home business.
I am pissed because I have to repair paper jams to produce physical
printouts because I can't submit email.
I am pissed because I found that in the modern age, ICS admins don't
have petty-cash postage.
I am pissed because I am not at Caltech, where all you have to do is
put your SSN in the corner to have mail delivered and billed for you.
I am pissed because I have to walk to the Student center to "Postal Pete's"
I am pissed because my traveling companion was Foreign Affairs, on
the pain Saddam is willing to let the sanctions inflict on the people.
I am pissed because I spent $8 for a single copy, but a year's
subscription is only $22.
I am pissed because I need paper money, and wait in a four-deep ATM
line to get cash I ought to be able to beam from Nokia.
I am pissed because I need paper postage, and in order not to be
stuck with Susan B. Anthony dollars, I have to buy $19.95 of postage
from the stupid vending machine.
I am pissed because I have to peer carefully into the machine to
avoid buying old 32 cent stamps, which fill two-thirds of the slots.
I am pissed because I'm warned their postage scale is "inaccurate".
I am pissed because "Postal Pete's" does not have envelopes.
I am pissed because "Postal Pete's" does not have a maildrop.
I am pissed because I got attitude from the Student Center
Adminsitration to bum an envelope.
I am pissed because I went to the computer store to check the
academic price of Office2000 for Jim ($149-$399, basic or developer),
and they said they don't know of a maildrop closer than the mall post
office.
I am pissed because one reason I got off my duff to hike over was to
check out a new bicycle. Since last week, the UCI bike shop has been
shut down for renovation.
I am pissed because the bookstore employees don't know of a UCI
maildrop nearby, either.
I am pissed because, having decided to go to the post office, I could
have bought just the 56 cents of postage I needed, and insure this
$50 tie.
I am pissed because, having arrived, the line snakes out the door.
I am pissed because the scales tell me I need an increment of postage
that, miraculously, I *DON'T* have in my $20 of postage in my pocket.
I am pissed because I have to buy a fifty-pack of penny stamps.
I am pissed because I had to slather on thirty-three individual
lick-on stamps onto my two envelopes.
I am pissed because I don't have enough e-commerce available:
e-postage, e-claims, e-faxing.
I am pissed because I have too much e-commerce available: ties that
don't match, e-payments (that require p-check blanks), stock
portfolios bleating in real-time with every loss.
Rohit